CL girls fall in second round game to Waterloo Columbus

by Marianne Gasaway

Clear Lake challenged fifth ranked (3A) Waterloo Columbus Catholic in the second round of post-season play Friday night, but couldn’t come up with timely hits.  Columbus escaped with a 3-0 win.

“I was extremely proud of the way we competed tonight,” said Clear Lake Coach Austin Peterson.  “The girls played against a great team.  We had chances, but couldn’t find the one hit to score a run.”

The Lions recorded eight hits in the game, led by lead-off hitter Julia Merfeld who had three in her four appearances at the plate.  Macy Mixdorf, one of three seniors playing in the final game as a Lion, had two hits in the game.

The Lions were able to keep the hot bats of Columbus Catholic at bay with a solid pitching performance from freshman Ashlyn Fread.  She gave up three runs, all earned, on seven hits.  She struck out one.

The Lions finish the season with a record of 10-15 overall and 5-9 in the North Central Conference.

“I believe we played about 10 games that were decided by one or two runs,” said Coach Peterson.  “Out of those 10 games, we lost eight of them and I am pretty sure in all of those losses we had runners on base to tie or take the lead.  If we just win a few of those games our season record wise is a different story.”

The Lions say goodbye to three seniors— Macy Mixdorf, Kaylee Nosbisch and Mikayla VanderPloeg.

“I am proud of the girls at all three levels (freshman, JV, and varsity) for the work they put in this summer,” continued Coach Peterson.  “We had massive growth at every level in our program.  I want to thank the seniors for all their efforts over the years.  They went through some very tough seasons and games, but kept showing up early to practice and really demonstrated great leadership.”