Lions move to 4-1 in NCC with a solid week on the diamond

(Above) Clear Lake’s Eric Ritter makes the play during the Humboldt game Wednesday night at Lions Field.  The Lions beat the Wildcats, 3-2.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

By Marianne Gasaway

The Clear Lake baseball team had a solid week, posting a one-sided non-conference win over St. Ansgar and picking up a 3-2 victory over North Central Conference foe Humboldt.  The Lions ended the week with an extra-inning loss to Bondurant-Farrar to move to 8-9 overall and 4-1 in the NCC.

CL 12, St. Ansgar 2

Four hits from Erik McHenry paved the way to 12-2 victory for Clear Lake over St. Ansgar on Tuesday, June 18. McHenry singled in the third and fourth, doubled in the sixth, and doubled in the seventh.

The Lions got things started in the second inning when an error scored two runs. AJ Stevenson reached base on a hard-hit ball to left field, then advanced on a line drive off the bat of Aaron Formanek.  Mac Adams hit a pop fly which scored Stevenson and Brecken Arndt, who was running for Formanek.

The Lions added two more runs in the top of the third when McHenry singled, Austin Warnke doubled and the bases were loaded up when Chase Stuver was hit by a pitch.  Stevenson stepped to the plate and was also hit, scoring McHenry. Warnke scored on a pop fly provided by Eric Ritter.

Three more runs came across in the fourth, again thanks to a hit by McHenry which scored Adams, who had walked.  Warnke slapped a ball to left field which scored Carson Krefft, who reached base on a walk.  McHenry came home on a fielder’s choice hit by Stuver.

The hitting barrage continued in the sixth, as Warnke doubled, scoring McHenry, who had also doubled.  Stevenson continued to swing a hot bat and brought Warnke home for a 9-0 lead.

The final runs came after Mitchell Raber singled to start the inning, advanced on a hit by Adams and scored on a double from McHenry.  Adams also came home on a pop fly by Warnke for the final 12-0 score.

Formanek got the win for the Lions.  He allowed three hits and one run over six and two-thirds innings, striking out 11. Stevenson threw one-third of an inning in relief out of the bullpen.

“It was great to see Andrew come out and be so dominant against a really good team in St. Ansgar (ranked seventh in Class 1A). Every inning he just seemed to get stronger and he really wanted to finish the game but unfortunately the new pitch count rules didn’t allow him to get the last out of the game,” said Clear Lake Coach Seth Thompson.  “To be that impressive on their field I think showed he can be an elite pitcher and should give him a ton of confidence to feed off of as the season unfolds.”

As a team, the Lions collected 16 hits. McHenry, Warnke, Formanek, and Stevenson all had multiple hits, with Warnke and McHenry each collecting four hits.

“Our offense was really, really good all night and even left quite a few runners on base,” said Thompson.  “To get 16 hits against a good pitching team is great to see and means that the whole team was putting together quality at bats all game long.”

CL 3, Humboldt 2

The Lions came out as the winner in a pitcher’s dual with Humboldt Wednesday, June 19.  Clear Lake’s Mac Adams allowed just two hits to help his team to a 3-2 victory.  Adams went seven innings, allowing two runs on two hits, striking out eight.

“This was just a really good baseball game with two teams and two pitchers that were playing really well,” said Lions Coach Seth Thompson. “For Mac to only allow those runs against a really good offense was very impressive. Mac was fantastic all night, and had a very efficient last two innings to be able to finish the complete game and get a huge conference win for his team.”

The Lions wasted no time getting on the board.

In the first inning Erik McHenry walked and went to second on an Austin Warnke single.  A fielder’s choice hit by Chase Stuver took Warnke out, but pushed McHenry into scoring position.  He came home on a line drive from AJ Stevenson.

Humboldt took a 2-1 lead in the top of the third with a big two-run double with two outs.    

“That ended up being their only runs of the night and honestly was the result of a bad pitch call by me,” said Thompson.  “I loved how our offense responded right away in the bottom of the 3rd inning with two runs to take the lead right back.”

With one out Warnke singled and scored on a timely hit by AJ Stevenson.   Stuver, who reached base on a walk, scored the other run in the inning.

Warnke and Stevenson led the Lions with two hits apiece.

B-F 5, CL 2

Saturday’s game against Bondurant-Farrar was a heartbreaker for the Lions, as they lost the lead late in a 5-2 defeat.

“This turned out to be a really fun game that had a lot of pivotal moments,” said Clear Lake Coach Seth Thompson.

The Lions had runners on base in scoring position in both the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings with a chance to get a walk-off win, but unfortunately just couldn’t get the runs across home plate.

The Lions responded with runs when needed throughout the game, but Bondurant-Farrar managed to get three runs in the top of the ninth, then held the Lions in check in the bottom of the inning for the win.

Eric Ritter toed the rubber for the Lions.

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He allowed three hits and two runs over five innings, striking out six.  Connor O’Tool threw four innings in relief out of the bullpen.

B-F scored their first run in the top of the third.  The run came as the result of a walk and two-out error.

“Eric pitched outstanding and Connor did a great job, I felt, in relief of battling through some tough spots. It was really frustrating for the second straight game though to not allow a single earned run over the first seven innings and lose the game,” said Coach Thompson.

The Lions tied the score in the bottom of the fourth when Austin Warnke singled and then scored on a line drive single by Chase Stuver.

The lead changed hands in the top of the fifth on a lead-off single, that resulted in a score with a hard-hit ground ball to left field.

The Lions had nine hits on the day.  Austin Warnke, Ritter and Chase Stuver each managed multiple hits.  Warnke led the offense with three hits in four trips to the plate.  The Lions stole six bases during the game, led by Warnke with two.

In the bottom of the sixth the Lions tied things up again at 2-2 when Eric Ritter singled on a 2-2 count, scoring Warnke, who had singled to lead off the inning.

With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Lions looked to set up the win with a two-out walk issued to Warnke.  Stuver was intentionally walked, putting two runners in place.  However, AJ Stevenson lost his battle at the plate and the threat was squashed, sending the game to extra innings.

It was more of the same in the bottom of the eighth, as Ritter doubled to start things off and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Mitchell Raber.  Andrew Formanek and Mac Adams were intentionally walked to load the bases.  A strikeout and fly ball ended the inning.

“We need to be more consistent on defense and hopefully we can tighten things up a bit defensively over the next few weeks,” said Coach Thompson.

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