Clear Lake Lions test themselves against strong competition

(Above) Clear Lake’s Mac Adams makes a play at second base.  The Lions fell to St. Ansgar, 12-0, on Tuesday night.  -Reporter photo by Chris Barragy

To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.  The Clear Lake team is preparing to be the best by testing themselves against some strong competition this season.  In addition to a tough North Iowa contest, the Lions played three of their games in the Des Moines area against larger schools last week.  They ended the week with a 13-9 record.

St. Ansgar 12, CL 0

The Lions fell behind early and couldn’t come back in a 12-0 loss to St. Ansgar on Tuesday, June 19.

“It would be safe to say that we did not have our best night of baseball on this particular night.  We just made way too many errors to win a game against a good St. Ansgar team,” said Lions Coach Seth Thompson.

The first batter of the game set the tone for a game that just got away from the Lions.  The Saints scored on an error, a ground out and a single in the first inning.

Clear Lake’s only hit came in the second inning off the bat of Jackson Hamlin.

The Lions committed seven errors in the loss, while the Saints didn’t commit a single error.

Nathan Tofte took the loss for the Lions.  He lasted two and one-third innings, allowing seven hits and 11 runs while striking out one and walking one.

Collin Kramer was credited with the victory for the Saints.  He went five innings, allowing zero runs on one hit, striking out seven and walking none.

DM Roosevelt 8, CL 1

Unfortunately the Lions’ defensive struggles continued against Des Moines Roosevelt on Friday, June 22.  Five Clear Lake errors helped Roosevelt to an 8-1 victory.

“It is just really tough to win baseball games against good teams when you are making errors on defense,” said Coach Thompson.  “We gave up 20 runs in the two games combined and only four of them were earned.  With all the rainouts, I think we lost our rhythm a little defensively and hopefully we can work on that and see improvement over the final weeks.”

Once again the onslaught started early.  Roosevelt scored on an error, a double and a single in the first inning for a quick 3-0 lead.  Two more runs in the fourth and three in the fifth sealed the win.

Jackson Hamlin took the loss for the Lions.  He allowed two hits and three runs over two innings, striking out two and walking one.  Nathan Tofte came in to throw three innings.  He gave up five runs on six hits and walked one.  Eric Ritter saw one inning of work.

Ben Finn, Zach Lester, Austin Warnke and Nathan Tofte each managed a hit for the Lions.  Warnke picked up the RBI in the fourth inning, scoring Lester.

CL 6, Coon Rapids-Bayard 3

The Lions got back into the win column with a 6-3 score over Coon Rapids-Bayard on Saturday, June 23.

“It was great to see us come out and play a good game against a good team in CRB.   We are starting to drive the ball better offensively,” said Coach Thompson.

The Lions took the lead late in the game with a four-run fifth inning and added an insurance run in the seventh to notice the victory.

Clear Lake got its offense started in the second inning and CRB evening things up in the bottom of the third when a walk scored a run.

In the top of the fifth Erik McHenry singled on a one-two count, scoring a run.  McHenry had two hits in the game, including a double.   Nathan Tofte also had a pair of hits.  The remainder of the Lions’ eight hits were provided by Ben Finn, Jackson Hamlin, AJ Stevenson and Zach Lester.  Lester also had two stolen bases.

Finn earned the win.  He went four innings, allowing one run on zero hits and striking out six.  Brecken Arndt and Lester entered the game out of the bullpen and helped to close out the game in relief.  Lester recorded the last three outs to earn the save.

“Even though Ben was a little wild with six walks, he did a nice job of keeping runs off the board and Brecken and Zach did nice job of finishing the game for a win,” added Coach Thompson.

Des Moines Christian 8, CL 2

Defense again let the Lions down in a game against Des Moines Christian on Saturday, June 23.  The game slipped away early, as the Des Moines team scored five runs in the first inning

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on their way to an 8-2 win.

“Unfortunately the story once again was a defense that gave up some early unearned runs - and our offense, even though out-hitting the other team, could not string enough hits together to get back in the ball game,” said Coach Thompson.  “I think we did a nice job over this weekend of getting a lot of defensive errors out of our system so when we play four conference games next week we should be good to go.”

The Lions lost despite out-hitting Des Moines Christian eight to six.

Erik McHenry accounted for three of Clear Lake’s hits.  He had a double and two singles.  Ben Finn, Jackson Hamlin, Zach Lester, Mitchell Raber, and Austin Warnke had one hits apiece. Finn and Hamlin were credited with RBIs.

Mac Adams took the loss for the Lions.  He allowed six hits and eight runs over five innings, striking out five and walking one.

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