CL girls finish 5-8 in NCC

by Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake softball team finished off three straight days of games with a win over St. Ed’s Wednesday, July 3.  The Lions, who are 5-8 in the North Central Conference were at league-leading Humboldt (26-2, 12-1) Monday night to wrap up the regular season.  Tonight (Wednesday, July 10) they will host Garner-Hayfield-Ventura in the opening round of post-season play.

Algona 6, CL 0

The Lions couldn’t seem to get the bats going Monday, July 1, against Algona.  That, combined with some timely miscues in the field, caused the team to fall, 6-0.

“We just didn’t come to play tonight,” said Clear Lake Coach Austin Peterson.  “We couldn’t hit the ball well and I feel like that carried over to the defensive side of the game.”

The Lions had four errors in the field which led to runs for Algona.

At the plate, the Lions could not find consecutive hits to score runs and only had one person reach second throughout the whole game.

The Lions’ four hits were provided by Kennadi Colbert, Sara Faber, Julia Merfeld and Mikayla Vanderploeg.

Autumn Vanhorn was on the mound for the Lions.  The Bulldogs scored six runs, five of them earned, on 12 hits.  Vanhorn struck out three and walked one.

St. Ansgar 2, CL 1

An exciting game between Clear Lake and St. Ansgar went down to the wire Tuesday.  The Lions fell 2-1 in nine innings.

The Lions had chances to win the game, but couldn’t find the key hit with runners in scoring position.

Both teams put single runs on the board in the fourth inning, with a double by Kaylee Nosbisch scoring Sara Faber for Clear Lake’s only score.

Despite the low score, the Lions had 12 hits in the game.  Julia Merfeld belted four hits, including a double, in five trips to the plate.  Chelsey Holck and Nosbisch each had two hits.

The Lions had a solid pitching performance from Ashlyn Fread and Alivia Hauge.  Fread threw nine and two-thirds innings, giving up two runs on seven hits.  She struck out four.

The Lions played a solid defensive effort in the field to back up the pitching.

“I was really impressed with our defense tonight.  We have to find a way to win these close games.  We have to take advantage of base runners in scoring position,” said Coach Austin Peterson.

CL 8, St. Ed’s 1

The Lions made the long trip to Fort Dodge and battled some soggy conditions, but came away with an 8-1 win over St. Edmond Wednesday, July 3.

The Lions came out swinging and had one of the best defensive efforts of the season.  St. Edmond’s only score came on a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning.

  “We played a solid all-around game,” said Coach Austin Peterson after the win.  “We easily could have been distracted for this game, but we came out focused and played one of our best games of the year.”

Clear Lake used eight hits to score eight runs in the game.  Sara Faber smashed doubles in two of her four trips to the plate, helping her to bring home two runs.  Macy Mixdorf and Chelsey Holck also had doubles and two RBIS apiece.

Autumn Vanhorn had a solid pitching performance for the Lions, going all seven innings.  She surrendered four hits, walked one and struck out one.