by Scott Watson
The Clear Lake Lions softball team (12-13) played in the Class 3A Region 5 Quarterfinals on Thursday, July 6 against Forest City (4-18). The Lions cruised to an easy 11-1 victory.
“Any win in the postseason is a huge win, and these girls played a great game both offensively and defensively,” said Clear Lake Head Coach Seth Thompson.
Forest City was first on the board, scoring their lone run in the first inning. Clear Lake couldn’t counter in the same inning, but dropped five runs on the scoreboard in the second inning for a commanding lead that wouldn’t be relinquished.
“After a tough break in the first inning where they made a great play to turn a double play, our offense just kept applying constant pressure to end the game early with the 10 run rule,” said Coach Thompson.
The Lions had nine hits in the game, with six coming as singles and three as doubles. They also had 11 RBIs, were walked eight times, and hit by a pitch once. Each player on the Clear Lake team crossed home plate at least once.
“Our amazing seniors went out with a bang in their last game on Lions Field with big hits in the last inning to seal the deal. We did a nice job in our approach at the plate, drawing a lot of walks and making good swings on the pitches they wanted to swing at,” concluded Coach Thompson.
Cheyanne Schroeder and Camryn Allsbrook each scored two runs and had an RBI each. Schroeder was walked twice and Allsbrook once. Taylor Scwhwenn went a perfect two-for-two at the plate, each hit going for a single. She also had two RBIs, was walked once, and scored a run, while stealing three bases.
Makella Jacobs went two-for-three, hitting a single, a double, two RBIs, and scoring a run. Alivia Paine went two-for-four at the plate for a single, double, three RBIs, and a run.
Scoring one run apiece were Annika Nelson, Jezzie Thompson, Madi Ott, and Alaina Hartl.
Jezzie Thompson got the win from the pitching mound, throwing 91 times against 20 batters for a hit, a run, two walks, one hit batter, and eight strikeouts.
Softball
season ends in Grinnell
The Clear Lake softball team (12-14) played in game three of the Class 3A Region 5 softball tournament on Saturday, July 8. The Lions played the Grinnell Tigers (22-13) and lost the game by a score of 5-3.
“I thought the girls played their hearts out on the road against a very good Grinnell team,” said Clear Lake Head Coach Seth Thompson. “They came up with a big hit with runners on in the sixth inning, and that ended up being the difference in the game.”
The Lions had seven hits for six singles and a double, along with two RBIs. They were not walked or hit by a pitch in the game, and didn’t commit a single error.
“Their pitcher was good and we had a rough first two innings offensively, but I thought they did a great job of adapting and were able to get some runners on base with some big hits to bring them in. Our defense was not perfect, but made some really nice plays in big spots — Jezzie did a great job of keeping the ball off their barrel all game long,” said Coach Thompson.
Alivia Paine went one-for-three for a double and a run. Taylor Schwenn went one-for-three at the plate, hitting a single and scoring a run. Jezzie Thompson scored a run.
Alaina Hartl went two-for-three at the plate for two singles and an RBI. Annika Nelson went two-for-four both were singles.
Thompson did the pitching for the Lions, throwing 113 times against 30 batters for 10 hits, five runs, six walks, and two strikeouts.
“Our seniors did a great job leading tonight and all season long with a very young team. Annika and Makella are amazing young ladies and helped us build a foundation this year for our softball program we will try to keep building on that each year,” said Coach Thompson.
