Back-to-back wins for softball team

by Marianne GasawayClear Lake’s varsity softball team recorded back-to-back wins in a busy week which saw the Lions play five games in five days.  The team is now 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the North Central Conference.This week the Lions were slated to be in Algona Monday and host county rival Mason City on Tuesday and Hampton-Dumont-CAL Wednesday.  Thursday, June 16, they step out of conference to play at Charles City.  Fans can cheer on the Lions at home Monday, June 20, when they challenge NCC-leader Webster City.  On Wednesday, June 22, they will look to avenge a loss to Iowa Falls-Alden on the road.St. Ed’s 6, CL 1On June 6, St. Ed’s traveled to Lions Field to play seven innings.  The Lions jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but were shut down for the remainder of the game and fell, 6-1.St. Ed’s out hit the Lions 14 to 4 and put up two runs in the third inning, three in the fifth and one run in the sixth.Annika Nelson led the Lions, going two-for-two at the plate with a double and a single on the night.  Pitching for the Lions was Alivia Hauge, who gave up 14 hits, no walks and one strikeout.Central Spring 12, CL 3The Lions took on top rated (2A) Central Springs on Tuesday.  The Lions’ Makella Jacobs and Annika Nelson hit solo home shots to start the game.  Unfortunately, the team struggled with the bats for the remainder, striking out 15 times.  The score was 6-3 heading into the seventh inning when Central Springs went on a run and scored six more times.  “The score doesn’t show the true effort of the Lions, who played solid and cut down the amount of errors from previous games,” said Coach Shelly Zeitler. Pitching for the Lions was Ashlyn Fread, who gave up 16 hits, had two walks and two strikeouts for the night.CL 7, C-G-D 1The Lions traveled to Clarion Wednesday, June 8, to play on their new turf field and get into the win column for the year.    Going into the fourth inning the Lions were down 1-0 until Annika Nelson started the inning with a double and Layne Lester followed her with a sacrifice bunt.  Makella Jacobs then came up and belted a triple to score Nelson.  Autumn VanHorn then came to bat and hit Jacobs in with a single to bring the score in favor of the Lions.  The Lions went on to score two more runs in the sixth inning and three more in the seventh for a 7-1 victory.  The Lions ended the night with seven runs on seven hits.  Nelson had a double, Lester had two hits with two RBIs and two doubles on the night.  VanHorn had two RBIs on the night.  Pitching for the Lions was Alivia Hauge, who gave up one run on six hits and five strikeouts and one walk.CL 9, GHV 4On June 9, the Lions played GHV at Clear Lake to try and produce another win.  The Lions scored three runs in the first, one in the second, four in the fourth and one run in the sixth to beat the Cardinals, 9-4.  The Lions had a very productive night at the plate, with 15 hits with three coming from Makella Jacobs, Autumn Van Horn (with a triple), Alivia Paine and two from Cheyanne Schroeder.  Layne Lester had a double, as did Alivia Paine.  Leading the RBIs for the Lions was Paine with three.Ashlyn Fread was credited for the win on the night and gave up four runs, with one walk and four strikeouts.IF-A 8, CL 4On the 10th, the Lions played Iowa Falls-Alden at Clear Lake.  The Lions struggled at the plate with 10 strikeouts from the IF-A pitcher.  The Lions scored one run in the fist and three in the third, but were then held scoreless for the rest of the night and fell, 8-4.In the third inning Annika Nelson hit a shot over the fence for the Lions.  Alivia Paine also contributed in that inning with a double to knock in two RBIs.  Alivia Hauge pitched the full game for the Lions, giving up eight runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts on the night.