Humboldt takes control of NCC with win over Clear Lake

(Above) Clear Lake’s Ben Mason gives a fist bump to assistant coach AJ Feuerbach in celebration of a good play against Algona.  Mason had two hits in the game.  -Reporter photo

Clear Lake’s hopes for a North Central Conference baseball title were dampened last week with a loss to Humboldt, but the Lions hope to finish the regular season strong this week with five NCC games and a non-conference tilt at New Hampton.

The Lions will begin District play Tuesday, July 12, against the winner of the Forest City vs. Eagle Grove game.  The District game will be played in Clear Lake at 7 p.m.

“These kids are a ton of fun to watch and I would encourage as many from the community as possible to come out and check them out this last week of our regular season and in the post-season, which we are lucky enough to host on Lions Field,” said Clear Lake Head Coach Seth Thompson.

Humboldt 5, CL 3 (9)

Clear Lake held a 2-0 lead through six innings, but Humboldt escaped with a 5-3 extra-innings win on Monday night, June 27.

“Humboldt is a great team and on this particular night we just couldn’t get the last out of the game before they managed to tie the game in the seventh inning and then they came up with a key hit in extra innings we couldn’t come up with ourselves,” said Coach Seth Thompson.

Humboldt suddenly took the lead in the top of the seventh with three runs, but the Lions found a way to even the score in the bottom of the frame and sent the game to extra innings.

Ethan McHenry went six and two-thirds innings on the mound, giving up two runs on seven hits.  He struck out 11.  Thompson brought in Cooper Merrill to shut the door on the Wildcats in the seventh, but he got into trouble with three walks and allowed five hits while taking the loss.

“It is amazing over the years how often these Lions have been on the opposite ends of games like these,” said Coach Thompson.  “I told the kids after the game that as good as you think you are as a team, games like these are bound to happen.  The goal is to come from behind more often than you let the other teams do so.  These kids definitely have done that this season and over the years.  Ethan pitched very well, with no walks and 11 strikeouts, unfortunately our offense couldn’t get enough support for him to get the win.”

Clear Lake had just two hits in the game, provided by Tanner Huey and Zach Lester.  Lester had three stolen bases and an RBI.  Merrill also picked up an RBI.

CL 3, Algona 2

The Lions responded to the disappointing loss to Humboldt with a much-needed win at Algona Tuesday.

Coach Thompson said he was impressed by his teams’ hard-fought win after such an emotional loss the night before.

“They were up against some really good pitching for the second night in a row and found a way to score two runs in the bottom of the last inning, as they have so many times this year to erase a 2-1 deficit to earn a 3-2 win.”

Ben Mason did the job on the mound, allowing two runs on nine hits.

“Ben pitched a great game against some really good hitters from Algona, with nine strikeouts and only one walk,” said Thompson.  “Our offense luckily woke up in time to get enough runs for the win.”

The Lions spread out the hits.  Cooper Merrill, Ethan McHenry, Mason, Parker Truesdell, Zach Lester, Jacob Peterson and Brad Burns each had hits, with Mason and Lester smacking doubles.  Merrill moved around the base paths with three steals.

CL 4, Algona 1

The Lions found a way to win again when they faced Algona for the second time in as many days.  They topped the Bulldogs, 4-1.

“It is really tough to beat a good team on back to back nights, especially when you are playing your third big conference game in a row, but these kids found a way to do it,” said Coach Thompson.

The Lions used an offensive explosion in the first inning to score four runs on six hits.  After that, Lion pitching and defense played very well to keep Algona off the scoreboard,  resulting with a big conference win on the road.

“We have some very fond recent memories of that field, having seen a walk-off grand slam to get to State last year, and I honestly think that positive memory helped us start this game in such a positive way,” said Thompson.

All of the scoring in the game happened in the first inning, as Brad Burns and Cooper Merrill kept Algona’s bats in check.  Merrill got the win, allowing just one hit, walking one and striking out one.  Burns went three innings and gave up three hits, walked three and struck out two.

Ben Mason and Parker Truesdell each had two hits in three trips to the plate.  One of Mason’s hits was a double which scored a run.  Ethan and Erik McHenry both had RBIs in the game.

CL 11, Forest City 0 (5)

The Lions seemed to take out all their frustrations on a long week against Forest City on Thursday night.  They blanked the Indians, 11-0, in five innings.

“This might be the most impressed I have been with these kids all year thus far,” said Coach Thompson.  “They were playing their 14th game in 14 days, and I was concerned they would show a little mental and physical fatigue, especially after three tough conference games the three days prior.  But they came out with a ton of energy, and played both the best defensive and offensive game probably of our season thus far.”

Jacob Peterson earned the win on the mound.  The junior surrendered just four hits in five innings of work.  He struck out two and walked two.

The Lions bombarded the Indian defense with 14 hits.  Brad Burns led the way with three hits, good for two RBIs.  Zach Lester, Ben Mason, Parker Truesdell, Tanner Huey and Erik McHenry had two hits apiece.  One of Mason’s blasts was a triple.  Lester was the RBI leader with four.