Lions finish week strong with four wins

(Above) Clear Lake’s Caden Jones makes a play at first base against St. Ansgar.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

by Michelle Watson

Two losses early in the week were followed by four straight wins, pushing the Clear Lake baseball record to 6-4.

“We were 2-4 at one point and now we have won four in a row. I am so proud of this team coming together and believing in each other and just finding ways to have fun together,” said Head Coach AJ Feuerbach.  “They are picking each other up and gutting out wins.”

The Lions will be at home Wednesday against St. Ed’s, travel to Forest City Thursday and then host a big game Monday, July 6, against Humboldt.

Webster City 8, CL 1

The Lions fell behind early and couldn’t come back in an 8-1 loss to Webster City on Monday, June 22.

After a scoreless first inning, the Lynx scored on a single, two walks and a passed ball in the second inning.  They added another in the third and five in the fifth for a lopsided win.

The Lions struggled to contain the high-powered offense. Andrew Formanek took the loss for the Lions.  He lasted two innings, allowing three hits and four runs while striking out one.  Jett Neuberger went four innings, giving up six hits and four runs,  Noah Mason gave up one hit in one inning of work.

Erik McHenry went two-for-three at the plate to lead the team.

Clear Lake’s lone run came in the fifth, when Carson Krefft led off with  a walk and moved to second on a single by Connor O’Tool.  A fielder’s choice off the bat of Mitchell Raber sent Krefft to third and he scored on a single from Brecken Arndt.

Saint Ansgar, 9, CL 0

The Lions faced a tough Saint Ansgar team on Tuesday, June 23.  The Clear Lake defense struggled early to contain the Saints and the offense had trouble putting runs on the board.

St. Ansgar scored two runs in the first inning, one on a sacrifice fly and another on a groundout.  The Saints scored two more runs in the second inning, one on an error ad another on a groundout, 4-0.  St. Ansgar went on to score one more run in both the third and fourth innings and three runs in the sixth inning for the final 9-0 victory.

Conor O’Tool took the loss on the mound.  He allowed eight hits and six runs over four and two-thirds innings.  He struck out six batters and walked one.  PJ Feuerbach, Andrew Crane, Brecken Arndt and Eric Ritter also saw time on the mound.

Ritter smacked a double for the Lions in the second inning.  Feuerbach was the only other player to manage a hit for Clear Lake.

St. Ansgar had 11 hits in the contest.

CL 6, H-D/CAL 0

Eric Ritter had a stellar night on the mound for the Lions, throwing a no-hitter to defeat Hampton-Dumont/CAL at Lion’s Field on Wednesday, June 24.

Clear Lake got the game rolling in the first inning, when Andrew Formanek drove in two runs on a single.

The Lions scored two more runs in the top of the fourth.  Brecken Arndt scored on an error, which also allowed Mitchell Raber to advance.  Erik McHenry hit a ground ball and reached base on an error.  The error also allowed Mitchell Raber to score, 4-0.

The Lions scored their final two runs in the seventh inning.  Austin Warnke scored one of the runs on a wild pitch.  PJ Feuerbach scored the final run of the game on a ground out, 6-0.

Ritter pitched all seven innings.  He struck out 13 batters and walked three.

Feuerbach led the team at the plate going 2/4.  Both hits were doubles.  Formanek had one hit and three RBIs. McHenry, Warnke, Raber and Arndt all had one hit apiece.

CL 13, Lake Mills 3

The Lion bats were on fire Thursday, June 25, when the team traveled to Lake Mills.

Clear Lake came out early and never looked back.  Eric Ritter got the crowd on its feet with a homer in the first inning that also scored Eric McHenry, 2-0.

The Lions sat the Bulldogs down quickly in the bottom of the first.  Clear Lake went to work again, scoring three more runs in the second inning.  Austin Warnke knocked a single, scoring Jones.  Tyres Green-Harrington scored the next run on a shortstop error, followed by Warnke scoring on a wild pitch, 5-0.

With two outs in the third inning, Mitchell Raber smacked a double line drive to left field allowing Jones to score, 6-0.

In the fourth inning, Warnke got on base with a single and stole his way to second base.  Ritter hit a double line drive to left field and Warnke scored, 7-0.  Caden Jones scored another run, 8-0.

The sixth inning was exciting, with Clear Lake scoring five runs.  Andrew Crane and Joe Faber both scored, 10-0.  McHenry hit the second homer of the game, bringing in Mason and Monson, 13-0.  Lake Mills also had a good inning, scoring three runs, but it wasn’t enough as the Lions cruised to an easy 13-3 victory.

Jett Neuberger earned the victory.  He pitched six innings, allowed six hits and three runs and struck out six and walked one.

McHenry and Ritter had the big bats for the Lions.  Ritter smacked a homer and a double and he had three RBIs.  Henry had two hits, one being a home run and he had three RBIs.  Warnke and Conor O’Tool also had multiple hits.  The Lions racked up 13 hits in the games.

Lake Mills had six hits in the contest.

CL 3, C-G-D 2

All the action took place in the first inning when Clear Lake hosted Clarion-Goldfield-Dows on Friday, June 26.

C-G-D opened the game by scoring two runs in the first inning.

Clear Lake followed that with three runs. Austin Warnke was the first to cross the plate on an error.  Eric Ritter doubled on a line drive to center field, allowing PJ Feuerbach to score, 2-2.  The final and winning run of the game came from a double by Andrew Formanek that allowed Ritter to score.

Eric McHenry took the win for Clear Lake.  He surrendered two runs on four hits over seven innings.  He struck out 11 and walked one.

Carson Krefft led the Lions with two hits in two at bats.  Collecting one hit apiece were Warnke, Feuerbach, Ritter, and Formanek. Warnke led the team in stolen bases with three.

The Lions did not commit a single error in the field.

CL 7, Waterloo-Columbus 4

The battle was on Saturday, June 27, when the Lions faced Waterloo Columbus.  The Lions prevailed in a 7-4 victory.

The Lions got their defense started in the second inning when Mitchell Raber singled on a bunt and Tyres Green-Harrington scored.  Raber took advantage of a wild pitch to score the second run of the inning, 2-0.

Waterloo-Columbus knotted the game in the bottom of the third inning.

A line drive double by Conor O’Tool in the top of the fourth scored Erik McHenry and Eric Ritter, 4-2.

The Lions shut the game down in the seventh inning, bringing in three runs.  PJ Feuerbach and O’Tool powered the big inning with RBIs.

Noah Mason earned the win.  He pitched three innings, allowing two runs and three hits, while striking out three.  Feuerbach threw four innings in relief.  He recorded the last 12 outs to earn the save for the Lions.

O’Tool led the team with three hits, two being doubles.  He also had two RBIs.  Also collecting multiple hits were Warnke and Caden Jones.