Clear Lake girls split four games; move record to 5-7 overall

(Above) Clear Lake’s Chelsey Holck brought the crowd and her team to their feet with a homerun during the Clarion-Goldfield-Dows game played on Monday, June 10.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

Clear Lake sandwiched wins between losses in six games played last week.  The Lions are now 5-7 overall and 2-4 in the North Central Conference.

C-G-D 6, CL 5

Clarion-Goldfield-Dows scored four runs in the first inning and then held on for a 6-5 NCC victory over Clear Lake Monday, June 10.

After the slow start, the Lions clawed their way back to even the game at four with two runs in the second and third innings.  The Cowgirls got two more in the fourth to regain the lead.  The Lions were stopped with just one run in the fifth.

“We are just struggling in the first inning,” said Lions Coach Austin Peterson.  “Over the last couple of games, we have dug ourselves a hole and tonight we couldn’t climb out of it.”

The Lions scattered 11 hits.  Julia Merfeld led the way with three hits, including a double.  Sara Faber and Chelsey Holck had two hits apiece. One of Holck’s hits was a homerun.  Holck picked up three RBIs and Macy Mixdorf collected two with one hit.

Rachel Thornton took the loss on the mound.  She gave seven hits ands truck out one in three and two-thirds innings pitched.  Alivia Hauge pitched three and one-third, with one hit and three strikeouts.

MC 6, CL 2

A rain delay Tuesday night helped the Lions settle down defensively against county rival Mason City, which jumped out to a 2-0 lead after one inning.  The Mohawks added four runs in the fourth and held the Lions in check until the seventh, when they pushed two runs across for a 6-2 final.

Offensively, the Lions were hitting the ball, struggled to string hits together to score runs until the final inning.

The Lions had nine hits in the game.  Macy Mixdorf connected in each of her three trips to the plate and had a stolen base.  Kaylee Nosbisch also had multiple hits and an RBI.

“I felt like we made steps in the right direction.  We hit the ball well, but need to string hits together to score some runs.  We can’t leave people standing at third like we had been,” said Coach Peterson.

Rachel Peterson was on the mound for four innings.  She gave up six runs on six hits, struck out one and walked two.  Alivia Hauge threw two innings.  She gave up one hit, stuck out one and walked one.

CL 9, St. Ed’s 2

The Lions got back on the winning track Wednesday with a 9-2 NCC victory over St. Edmond.

The team delighted their coach by being able to get out of the first inning without surrendering a run.  They were also able to string hits together, as they exploded for 14 hits and nine runs.

“We showed our potential tonight.  We showed what we can do at the plate and in the field when we are all clicking,” said Coach Peterson. “Defensively the Lions made some big plays in the field and had a strong pitching performance from Rachel Thornton.”

The Lions were the first to score with a single run in the first and two more in the second.  They built on a 3-1 lead with five more runs in the fourth and another in the fifth.

It was a team effort, as nine players had hits and four finished with multiple hits.

Julia Merfeld and Chelsey Holck had three hits apiece.  Merfeld scored twice and Holck earned two RBIs.  Sara Faber smacked a home run, good for two runs and Kennadi Colbert stroked a triple which also scored two.  Kaylee Nosbisch, Mikayla VanderPloeg and Layne Lester all had doubles.

Rachel Thornton was the winning pitcher.  She allowed just seven hits in seven innings.  She

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struck out one.

H-D 12, CL 5

Hampton-Dumont players were swinging hot bats when they hosted the Lions Friday, June 14.  The Bulldogs piled up 16 hits on their way to a 12-5 romp over Clear Lake.

The Lions scored one run in the first, but Hampton-Dumont responded with a three-run first inning.  The three runs came by two home runs.

The Bulldogs also hit another three-run homer later in the game.

“They are a good hitting team.  We had to match them for hits, and we couldn’t quite do that tonight,” said Coach Peterson.

Despite the loss, the Lions also had a good number of hits.  Sara Faber, Kaylee Nosbisch and Mikayla VanderPloeg each had two hits in Clear Lake’s 12-hit barrage. VanderPloeg, as well as Emeny Brattrud, pounded doubles.

Rachel Thornton gave up three runs on four hits in one inning on the mound.  Ashlyn Fread came in for two innings.  She was touched for three hits and a run.  She struck out two.  Alivia Hauge also threw two innings, giving up eight hits and eight runs. She walked one and struck out one.  Autumn VanHorn pitched one inning and gave up one hit.

Mason City Tournament

The Lions were back in Mason City Saturday to compete in a tournament.

In the first game, Clear Lake was able to get some revenge against the Mohawks from earlier in the week, as they won a close one, 4-3.

The Lions continued to swing the bat well and recorded 10 hits on the day.  They held a   4-1 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh inning.  Mason City hit a two run home run to cut the lead to 4-3, but that was all.

  Autumn Vanhorn started on the mound for the Lions and kept the Mason City bats at bay in her first varsity start.  Alivia Hauge entered in the seventh to save the game  for a Lions win.  The Mohawks recorded eight hits and three runs against Vanhorn in six innings.  She struck out one and walked four.  Hauge gave up one hit and walked one.

“I really like how we played.  Again, we showed our potential as a team, but we have to get consistent game to game and play like this every game,” said Coach Peterson.

The Lions had a tough draw for their second game of the tourney.  They faced undefeated Charles City.  The Comets’ pitcher threw a no hitter in an 11-0 five-inning win.   

Rachel Thornton took the loss on the mound.  She gave up seven runs on five hits in two innings pitched.  Ashlyn Fread gave up four hits and four runs in two innings.  She struck out one.

“I am really proud of our effort,” said the Lions coach.  “Charles City is a great team and we kept fighting throughout the whole game.”

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