Lions shake off two losses and end week on the upswing

(Above) Clear Lake’s Connor O’Tool celebrates as catcher Erik McHenry tags out a Waverly-Shell Rock runner.  -Repoerter photo by Chris Barragy

by Marianne Gasaway

The Lions shook off two losses to start the week and finished with wins against Iowa Fall-Alden and Waverly-Shell Rock to head into the final week of the regular season on the upswing.

Humboldt 6, CL 5

Clear Lake stayed in it until the end, but Humboldt pulled away late in a 6-5 victory Monday, July 8.

The game was tied at 5-5 with Humboldt batting in the bottom of the sixth when a ground out scored the go-ahead run.  The Wildcats won, despite being out-hit by the Lions, six to five.

The Lions jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second inning, but couldn’t get a runner home after that.

The offensive outburst started with a single from Andrew Formanek.  Eric Ritter was hit by a pitch and joined Formanek on the base paths.  A single by Caden Jones and a double by Mitchell Raber brought home both runners.  Erik McHenry followed with another double, scoring Jones and Raber.  He score when Chase Stuver singled on a hard ground ball to right field.

“This was a really good game and unfortunately we just couldn’t get any more offense going after a really good second inning,” said Coach Seth Thompson.  “We put some really good at bats together and made some really good swings against a good pitcher in the second inning, but just couldn’t continue that momentum the rest of the game.  They made some great defensive plays and had a few hits in key spots that were not well but found holes.”

Mac Adams took the loss for the Lions.  He allowed five hits and five runs over six innings, striking out four.

“Mac made some big pitches in key spots and got them to make some very defensive swings, but they happened to fall for hits and that is just how things go in this beautiful but sometimes frustrating game of baseball,” said Thompson.

Stuver led the team with two hits in three at-bats.  McHenry had two RBIs.

H-D/CAL 3, CL 3 (8)

It came down to the last play, but the Lions were on the wrong end of a 4-3 defeat to Hampton-Dumont/CAL Wednesday, July 10.

“This was a well-played game, I thought, by both sides and unfortunately they just stepped up and got some big hits down the stretch and we were not able to do the same,” said Clear Lake Coach Seth Thompson.

The low-scoring game featured most of its scoring in the early going.

The Lions took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first when Erik McHenry started things off with a walk, followed by a single from Austin Warnke.  Chase Stuver also stroked a single to score McHenry.   Warnke scored on a wild pitch.

The Lions added another run in the second, as McHenry’s single scored Mac Adams, who had reached on an error.

Unfortunately, that was the end of Clear Lake’s scoring.

The Bulldogs scored single runs in the second, third and seventh inning to knot the score.  In the seventh, Dustin Miller hit a solo homer to make the score 3-3. Miller also provided the heroics in the eighth to win.

“Sometimes a key break here or there will determine the outcome of a game like this and they happened to send a flyball to right field with a short fence and the wind blowing out with nobody on base and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning.  The same kid found a hole with a ground ball an inning later with two outs and a runner on second base to get them the walk-off win,” explained Coach Thompson.

Andrew Formanek led things off on the mound for the Lions. He surrendered two runs on four hits over four and one-third innings, striking our seven.  McHenry threw three and one-third innings out of the bullpen.

“I thought both Andrew and Erik pitched well enough to get our team the win, we just couldn’t get enough offense to make that happen,” said Thompson.

CL 6, IF-A 3

An early lead helped the Lions defeat Iowa Falls-Alden on Thursday.

The Cadets took a 1-0 lead after the first inning, but five second inning runs gave the Lions all the cushion they would need.

In the second, an error scored one run for the Lions.  Erik McHenry tripled on the first pitch of his at-bat, scoring three runs, and Austin Warnke Singled on a 3-2 count to drive home another.

Eric Ritter started on the mound for Clear Lake. He lasted six and one-third innings, allowing seven hits and three runs while striking out five.

McHenry and Aaron Formanek each racked up multiple hits for the Lions.  McHenry had three hits in four at-bats.

“Erik McHenry has been on an offensive tear lately, and continued that tonight with three hits and the one out he made was probably hit better than any of his hits,” said Coach Seth Thompson.

“It is always tough to play a team twice within a week, and although we 10-runned them the week before, we knew at their place it would be a tough win and that is exactly

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what it was,” said Thompson.  “Eric Ritter pitched well all game and our defense made some nice plays to help him out.  Chase did a great job of coming in and closing things out for the win.”

CL 5, W-SR 2

The Lions stepped out of the North Central Conference to take on always-tough Waverly-Shell Rock Friday night.

“This was really fun game of baseball to watch and I couldn’t be happier for our seniors on Senior Night to get probably their toughest win of the year thus far in their last home game,” said Coach Seth Thompson.  “Our defense was solid all night.  Connor (O’Tool) was doing a great job of keeping their hitters off balance, and our offense pieced together a few innings of production to get enough runs for the win.  These seniors have been a ton of fun to coach not just this year but throughout their entire careers, and I hope for their sake they have more than a few games left to play as Lions.”

  The Lions opened up the scoring in the first inning.  They scored two runs when Chase Stuver singled.

The team had eight hits in the win.  Erik McHenry continues to be on fire and he went two-for-four with a run to lead the team. Stuver was the only other Lion with multiple hits.

O’Tool got the win.  He allowed seven hits and two runs over seven innings, striking out five and walking one.

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