Clear Lake softball team suffers four losses

(Above) Megan Paine waits for the ball while a Webster City player attempts to steal second.by Michelle WatsonIt was a tough week for the Clear Lake softball team as it suffered four losses, moving its record to 3-13.Webster City 8, CL 2A strong Webster City team (13-8) came to town on Monday, June 20, and handed Clear Lake an 8-2 loss.The Lynx collected two runs in the second and three in the third to take a 5-0 lead before the Lions got on the board in the bottom of the fourth.  Annika Nelson scored on Autumn Van Horn’s single.   Webster City scored a run in the fifth and two in the sixth inning to seal the victory.  Clear Lake’s only other run was scored in the sixth inning on a homer by Makella Jacobs.“The offense for the Lions came up short tonight,” said Coach Shelly Zeitler.  “We only managed five hits and we struggled against the WC pitcher.”Collecting one hit apiece for the Lions was Annika Nelson, Layne Lester, Makella Jacobs, Macey Holck and Grace Meyer.  A highlight of the game was a home run by Jacobs that scored Annika Nelson.Alivia Hauge and Ashlyn Fread shared pitching duties.  Hauge started the game and pitched 2.2 innings, giving up seven hits and five runs.  She recorded two strike-outs.  Fread came in and pitched 4.1 innings, giving up four hits and three runs.  Delanie Bargfrede pitched a solid game for the Comets, striking out 12 batters.IF-A 8, CL 2The Lions traveled to Iowa Falls on Wednesday, June 22, to face the 5-12 Cadets.   IF-A’s defense proved too much for the Lions as the Cadets rolled to an 8-2 victory.Clear Lake was held scoreless until the fifth inning when Josie Lester and Makella Jacobs both scored.  Those were the only two runs the Lions had.  IF-A scored one run in both the second and third innings.  They scored two more in the fifth and pounded out four runs in the sixth inning for the win.Jacobs had two hits to lead the Lions on offense.  Ashlyn Fread started pitching for the Lions and was relieved by Alivia Hauge in the sixth inning.  Fread gave up seven hits and eight runs.  She walked three and struck out one.  Hauge gave up two hits.Newman 10, CL 4Clear Lake faced a solid Newman Catholic team (17-8) at home on Thursday, June 23.The first four innings were close.  The Lions held the Knights to just one run in the second inning. Grace Meyer and Emily Theiss both scored in the third inning on a single by Autumn VanHorn to take a 2-1 lead.  In the fourth inning, Macey Holck scored on a bunt by Theiss to move the score to 3-2 in favor of the Lions.    Newman found its groove for the remainder of the game, collecting nine runs in the last three innings for the 10-4 victory.  Alivia Paine managed one more run in the bottom of the seventh for the Lions for the final score of 10-4.VanHorn was the lone Lions that had multiple hits with two and the team with two RBI’s.  Layne Lester had the only extra base hit with a double.Sharing pitching duties were Alivia Hauge and Ashlyn Fread. “The girls did a great job playing small tonight.  Our bunting is what kept us in the game early, but the errors we gave up were big and the base runners from Newman took advantage of them,” said Coach Shelly Zeitler. St. Edmond 6, CL 1Another night of tough competition plagued the Lions when they traveled to Fort Dodge to face St. Edmond (19-4) on Friday, June 24.Both teams were held scoreless after the first two innings.  St. Eds scored two runs in the third inning and two more in both the fourth and sixth innings.The Lions’ lone run came in the sixth inning when Annika Nelson scored on a single by Autumn VanHorn.  The Lions had six hits on the night, with two coming from Nelson, one being a double.“The team was plagued by 10 strikeouts and five errors on the night,” said Coach Shelly Zeitler.Ashlyn Fread started the game pitching.  She gave up four runs on three hits and walked one and had one strikeout.  Alivia Hauge came in as relieve and she gave up two runs on three hits.The Lions (3-13) have a busy week with games every night.  They will enter Regional tournament play on Wednesday, July 6, against GHV at Garner.  Game time is 7 p.m.