by Scott Watson
The Clear Lake softball team (11-13) had three games last week, going 1-2 in the stretch. The Lions played Webster City, Hampton-Dumont-CAL, and Algona.
Webster City 1, CL 0
The Lions softball team, (10-12) traveled to Webster City on June 26 to take on the Lynx (13-15), losing the game by a score of 1-0.
“I thought this was a great softball game and very well-pitched by both pitchers,” said Coach Seth Thompson. “We did manage to get runners on base in quite a few innings off a pitcher that was bringing pretty good velocity, but unfortunately we just couldn’t get the key hits with runners on base as we needed.
The Lynx scored in the first inning and that run proved to be all it would take. Both teams struggled to get hits, as Clear Lake had one hit for a single, and Webster City had two for singles with one RBI. Jezzie Thompson had the Lions’ lone hit.
The Lions held an advantage in walked batters with four, while Webster City had one. Both teams had one error.
Jezzie Thompson did the pitching for the Lions, throwing 68 times against 20 batters, allowing two hits for one run, one walk, and eight strikeouts.
Coach Thompson praised the play of Thompson and Annika Nelson who he said worked well together to keep Webster City from scoring more.
CL 15, H-D-CAL 4
The bats came alive for the Clear Lake softball team (11-12) the they took on Hampton-Dumont-CAL on Wednesday, June 28, winning the game by a score of 15-4. This was the most runs in a game this season for the team.
Clear Lake got off to a hot start, scoring three runs in the first inning and four in the second. The Bulldogs contested the lead by scoring four runs in the third inning, but the Lions held them off for the remainder of the game en route to a lopsided win.
The Lions racked up 19 hits with 12 going for singles, five for doubles, and two went the distance for home runs. They had a whopping 14 RBIs, three walks, five stolen bases, and five errors. For their part, the Bulldogs had five hits for singles, three walks, two hit batters, and eight errors.
Makella Jacobs went two-for-four with three runs, two of which were home runs. Jacobs also had three RBIs and was walked twice. Madi Ott went two-for-three at the plate for one single, a double, an RBI, and was hit by a pitch en route to scoring run three runs.
Taylor Schwenn went three-for-six for two singles and a double for two runs. She also had an RBI and two stolen bases. Cheyanne Schroeder went three-for-five for a single, two doubles, and two RBIs for two runs. Scoring a run each were Annika Nelson, Alivia Paine, Jezzie Thompson, Alaina Hartl, and Josie Lester. Thompson also had three stolen bases.
Thompson got the win for the Lions at the mound, throwing 97 times against 33 batters for six hits, four runs, three walks, and two strikeouts.
“This was a great win on the road against a team that had beaten us at home earlier this season,” said Coach Seth Thompson.
Algona 11, CL 8
The Lions (11-13) hosted the Algona Bulldogs (9-13) on Friday, June 30. The Lions battled hard, but dropped the game 11-8.
Clear Lake held a 4-3 lead going into the fourth, but six runs from Algona at the top of the inning gave the Bulldogs the momentum they needed to pull off the win.
“The six runs in the fourth inning was the difference in the game,” said Coach Seth Thompson. “Those happen in softball and I think it is a credit to these girls that they managed to go the entire season without allowing an inning like that. It was a tough way to end the regular season.”
The Lions had nine hits in the game for seven singles, a double, and a home run. They also had seven RBIs, were walked 10 times, and hit by three pitches.
Makella Jacobs went one-for-one at the plate for a home run, while collecting four total runs, two RBIs, and was walked four times. Alivia Paine went one-for-two for a base hit, two runs, was walked once, and hit by two pitches. Annika Nelson went one-for-five for a base hit and run. Jezzie Thompson went three-for-five for two base hits, a double, three RBIs, and a stolen base.
Thompson did the pitching for the Lions, throwing 158 times against 43 batters for 12 hits, 11 runs, five walks, four hit batters, and seven strikeouts.
“The team ended up in the top half of their conference standings, and no Clear Lake team has done that in at least 17 years and probably longer. I think for a team that only returned three of its 10 starters from last year and no pitcher that had even pitched one varsity inning that we had a pretty impressive season,” said Thompson.
The team opens 3A Regional action on Thursday at 7 p.m. at home against Forest City.
