Determination leads to another State title

(Above) It was a big celebration for the Clear Lake Lions after they claimed their third title in four years at the Class 2A State Baseball Tournament.  The Lions defeated Kuemper of Carroll on Saturday, July 30, at Principal Park in Des Moines. -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

The Clear Lake Lions captured their second straight Class 2A State title and their third title in four years with an 8-1 win over Kuemper of Carroll on Saturday, July 30, at Principal Park in Des Moines.  Clear Lake became the 20th school in Iowa to win three or more State Championships in summer State Tournament history.

According to Head Coach Seth Thompson, the Lions simply would not be denied.

“They dominated the game with their defense, great pitching by Ben (Mason), and an offense that was a nightmare for pitchers and defenses the entire tournament,” said Thompson. “Ben pitched what was probably his best game as a Lion on the biggest stage of his entire career.”

Mason, who pitched in Clear Lake’s opening win in the tournament and was used for an inning and one-third in the semifinals, allowed just four hits and an unearned run in the title game. He struck out three.

  It was an all-around team effort, as seven Lions reached base at least once and six had at least one RBI.

The Lions pounded out eight hits in the contest, leading 3-0 after three straight hits and an RBI groundout in the bottom of the first. Lead-off batter Cooper Merrill reached on a hard hit ball to the left side.  Parker Truesdell followed suit and Mason doubled down the left field line, scoring Merrill.  A wild pitch sent Truesdell scampering home and Mason to third.  Ethan McHenry’s ground ball to the shortstop was enough to score Mason and put the Lions up, 3-0.

Mason held Kuemper off until the third. Rease Snyder singled with one out, moved to second on a ground out and came around to score on a dropped infield fly to give the Knights their first and would-be only run of the game.

The lead stretched to 6-1 after three innings.  With two out in the fourth, Mason walked and stole second.  He scored on Ethan McHenry’s double to left.  Another walk put Zach Lester on base and another double, this time by Tanner Huey, kept the Lions rolling.  Kuemper was helped by Huey’s ball bouncing into the stands, keeping him at second and Lester at third.  When Erik McHenry’s shot to the third baseman was mishandled, the Lions’ third run of the inning crossed home plate.

One more run, again with two outs, scored in the fourth.  Merrill reached base for the second time with a double, advanced to third on a called balk, and scored on a sacrifice fly to left field off the bat of Parker Truesdell.

Ethan McHenry provided an insurance run in the fifth, as he started the inning with a triple and scored on Zach Lester’s base hit to right centerfield.

Second-ranked and top-seeded Clear Lake ended the season with a record of 31-7.  Third-seeded Kuemper finished at 26-12.

The statistics show that Clear Lake’s seniors really stepped up in their final game.

Ethan McHenry was 2/3 with two runs batted in, including a triple and a double; Merrill was 2/4, including a double and scored two runs; in addition to pitching a gem, Mason helped at the plate with a run-scoring double; Truesdell was 1/3 with an RBI; and Brad Burns got on base with a walk in the championship and was steady at first base on defense.

Junior Tanner Huey had a double in the game and sophomore Zach Lester was 1/2 with an RBI.  Junior David Vohs scored two runs as a courtesy runner.

Coach Thompson noted that even though the opposing team batted one more inning every game, the Lions outscored their opponents 53-15 in their six postseason games.

“It is hard to describe how proud I am of these kids and what they have accomplished.  It was truly a blessing to watch these kids play and I can’t wait to see what kind of amazing things these seniors will accomplish in their next steps of life.”