Lions bow out early in District play

(Above) Eric Ritter suffered the loss on the mound for the Lions when they faced Mason City in the final game in the regular season.  Ritter surrendered six runs on six hits over two innings.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

By Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake Lions fell behind early and couldn’t come back in a 12-6 loss to Charles City on Friday.  The loss in the opening round of district play ended the season for the Lions.  They finished with a record of 15-15.

“Anytime you lose in the postseason it is a tough pill to swallow, especially for the seniors,” said Coach Seth Thompson.  “Our  three seniors, AJ Stevenson, Chase Stuver and Mac Adams, have been a ton of fun to coach for these past five years and they will be missed both on and off the field.  It would be impossible to count all the smiles they have brought to my face over the years, they really are a unique and amazing trio of kids that love baseball and it has been fun to watch them play and grow up into young men over their careers.  This game unfortunately just got away from us in the first few innings through a series of unfortunate events.”

The Lions opened the scoring in the top of the first inning when, with two out, AJ Stevenson singled.  The hit sent Erik McHenry, who had singled to start the inning, to third.   McHenry scored on a double by Andrew Formanek.  Stevenson was thrown out trying to score on the hit.

Clear Lake’s 1-0 lead was short-lived.  Charles City responded with three runs in the bottom of the first to make the score 3-1.

The Lions regained the lead in the top of second with three more runs.  Eric Ritter doubled to start the rally and scored the first run on a sacrifice fly supplied by Mac Adams.  Mitchell Raber walked and was sent home on another double, this time from McHenry, to even the score at 3-3.  Clear Lake took the lead when Austin Warnke singled to score McHenry.

The Comets again rose to the challenge in the bottom of the inning, scoring four runs on two hits.  Charles City was helped in the frame by three walks and a hit batter.

The Lions’ offense began to slow down in the third and fourth innings, as they only scored one run in each.  Caden Jones and Raber each singled in the third.  Formanek smacked his second double of the night in the fourth for a run.

Unfortunately, the Comets were still effective at the plate.  Their five runs in the bottom of the third were all they would need for the victory.

“I thought we hit the ball really well all night.  We just couldn’t get the outs we needed to on defense in some key spots,” said Coach Thompson.  The Lions lost despite out-hitting the Comets 10 to seven.

Formanek took the loss on the mound.  He lasted one and one-third innings, allowing two hits and seven runs while striking out one.

The Lions had 10 hits in the game, led by McHenry, Formanek and Ritter with two apiece.  Formanek had two RBIs, while McHenry, Warnke, Adams and Raber each had one.

Mason City 15, CL 0

The Lions were off their game in the regular season finale played Tuesday, July 16, against Mason City.  The Mohawks rushed to a 5-0 lead after one inning and cruised to a 15-0 victory in five.

“This is a game we just need to find a way to flush before postseason starts on Friday.  We didn’t really do anything well all night,” said Coach Seth Thompson.  “And when you are walking batters and every time they hit the ball, whether it is hit well or not, it seems to find a hole - it just makes it really tough to win against a team like Mason City that was playing with some fire on their Senior Night.”

Eric Ritter took the loss for the Lions.  He surrendered six runs on six hits over two innings, striking out one.  Chase Stuver was on the mound for one inning and gave up one run on two hits and four walks.  AJ Stevenson walked four and struck out one in one-third of an inning.

Mason City finished with 12 hits in the game.  The Mohawks also had an im     pressive eight stolen bases.

Stevenson and Erik McHenry had the only hits for Clear Lake.