by Scott Watson
In the back half of the week, the Clear Lake softball team played Garner-Hayfield-Ventura and Hampton-Dumont-CAL. The Lions topped GHV, but fell to Hampton-Dumont-CAL, bringing their record to 5-7 after a busy week of softball.
CL 11, GHV 9
The Clear Lake softball team (5-6) traveled west on Thursday, June 8, to take on the Cardinals of Garner-Hayfield-Ventura (4-7). The Lions came out victorious with an 11-9 win.
Clear Lake got off to a quick start, taking a 3-1 first-inning lead. The Cardinals began working away at the deficit, taking a 5-4 lead going into the fifth inning. Not to be outdone, the Lions put on a seven-run clinic in the sixth inning to secure the lead for good.
“We came out offensively and had some really good swings in the first inning, but unfortunately fell asleep for a few innings on offense to let them back in the game,” said Clear Lake Head Coach Seth Thompson. “We managed to wake up in a big seven-run sixth inning — with two outs — to get a big road win against a team that beat us in the postseason a year ago.”
Jezzie Thompson went three-for-three at the plate with three singles, two walks, and she crossed home three times. Annika Nelson went three-for-four with a single, two doubles, three RBIs, one walk, and two runs. Taylor Schwenn went two-for-five with two singles and scored twice. Alivia Paine went four-for-five with three RBIs.
Clear Lake batters made good contact all night by not taking a single strikeout on the day, with a total of 16 hits and a team batting average of .432.
Jezzie Thompson led the team in stolen bases with four. Paine followed close behind with two. The the team had a total of 10 stolen bases.
Defensively, The Lions only had one error. Jezzie Thompson secured the win, allowing eight hits, four earned runs, five walks, and nine strikeouts.
H-D-CAL 7, CL 6
The Lions (5-7) played their last game of the week at home, taking on Hampton-Dumont-CAL (3-8) on Friday, June 9. Clear Lake lost the game by a narrow margin of 6-7.
The game went back and forth for its entirety, with three lead changes and a tie. Ultimately, the Lions were unable to overcome the shadow of a Bulldogs’ five-run second inning.
“Sometimes the team that hits better and pitches better doesn’t always win the game, and tonight we did both of those, but unfortunately gave up a big number in the second inning that we never fully recovered from,” said Coach Seth Thompson.
Taylor Schwenn made a huge appearance, going two-for-four with a triple and a homerun. She also recorded four total RBIs and two runs.
Jezzie Thompson went one-for-three with one walk, a stolen base, and one run. Annika Nelson went two-for-three with a single and a double. Makella Jacobs went one-for-three with a single, an RBI, a walk, one stolen base, and two runs. Alivia Paine was a perfect two-for-two, both singles. The team totaled 11 hits.
Defensively, the Lions had five errors. Thompson allowed nine hits, two earned runs, and had six strikeouts.
“This game isn’t always a fair one, and these last two nights, every time the other team puts the ball in play it seems like it always finds the perfect spot to fall. Hopefully that means we will get some bounces that go our way next week,” concluded Coach Thompson.
