A day shy of two weeks separated the Clippers’ season opener, a 14-4 loss at St. Clair on April 11, and when they finally played again, an 8-3 defeat by visiting Waterville-Elysian-Morristown on Monday.
In both games, allowed walks and lackluster efforts at the plate doomed the young Clippers, but head coach Mike Krenik said they showed improvement over the 13 days when they faced the Buccaneers.
“It was a better game than last. We need to get our pitching to settle down and not walk so many people and create situations. I think we looked overall better defensively. We’re starting to get a little more comfortable even though we’ve got one outfielder, Blake Gibbs, who has never played out there.”
The Bucs scored a run in the first on a walk and a single. They added four more in the second on three walks and two hits. Walks haunted the Clippers again in the fourth, three of them and a single for another Buc run and a 6-0 lead. They went up 8-0 in the fifth on an error and two singles.
Meanwhile, not much was happening at the plate for the Clippers.
“Our bats. We need to be a little more patient,” Krenik said. “The pitcher wasn’t throwing anything crazy. It was right down mainstreet. We just need on getting our bats more level and being patient but not looking at a third strike.”
The Clipper did manage to get on the board with three runs in the seventh though. Pinch hitting, Derek Miller dropped a hit into shallow centerfield. Up next, Jack Voit got on board on a comebacker when the pitcher’s throw skipped over the first baseman’s glove. Blake Lyons got just in front of the third-baseman’s throw for an infield hit and an RBI. Kale Kelly reached first and Voit made it to third when the third baseman dropped the shortstop’s throw. Up next, Kyle Connor found a slot of vacant real estate in right field to score Voit.
With the bases loaded, Lyons got a free pass to home plate when Gabe Sullivan got hit by a pitch. That put the Clippers within five, and with the bases loaded, they were poised to add more runs with power hitter Tanyon Hoheisel at bat, but for the second time in a row, the senior skied the ball near home plate for an easy out by the catcher.
A strikeout ended the rally, and the Cyclones hung on to the victory.
Voit hit a double in the third and Sullivan had a single in the sixth to account for the Clipper’s five hits. The Clippers walked three times and whiffed eight times.
Starting pitcher Hoheisel suffered the loss. In his three and two-thirds innings, he gave up five hits and eight walks while striking out five. Taking over, Lyons allowed three hits and one walk and struck out four. Each team had four errors.
The Clippers got a good start in St. Clair. Leading off, Lyons led got to first when the first baseman couldn’t handle the throw, reached second on an a botched pickoff attempt, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on an Alex Garcia ground out.
With two outs, Hoheisel snuck a hit through the outfield and Sullivan reached first on an infield error. Hoheisel scored when Kelley hit a ball deep to right field that just glanced off the fielder’s glove.
But taking advantage of six walks and a sacrifice fly, the Cyclones responded with three runs in the bottom of the first to go up 3-2. They would never trail after. Four more runs in the second, one in the third were padding, and the Cyclones effected the 10-run rule after an RBI double brought in the fifth run in the fifth.
The Clippers managed a run the fourth when Brady Bostic walked, moved to second when Nathan Seeman sent a line drive to right field, advanced to third when Voit laid down a bunt the pitcher couldn’t handle and scored when Voit got caught stealing.
A catcher interference call when Alex Garcia was at bat led to another Clipper run in the fifth. Garcia moved to second on a Hoheisel flyout, advanced to third on a Sullivan sacrifice bunt and scored on a Kelley ground out.
The Clippers had six hits, just one fewer than the Cyclones, and struck out twice and walked three times. Hoheisel and Kelley each had two singles. Voit and Seeman each had one single.
Starting out on the mound, Hoheisel took the loss. Facing seven batters, he gave up six walks, no hits and struck out one.
Lyons took over with two outs in the first and ended the inning with a strikeout. He went another third inning and struck out three more, walked four and gave up three hits.
With one out in the fifth, Connor took over. He surrendered four hits and one walk.
The Clippers had two errors, not bad for a first outing. The Cyclones fought their way through seven errors.
The Clippers will look for their first win when they host Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther today (Tuesday).
Above: Third baseman Alex Garcia sets up for a putout throw to first. Backing him is Kyle Connor.
Second baseman Nathan Seeman moves toward a hopping grounder.
Tanyon Hoheisel got the start for against WEM and also at St. Clair.
Blake Gibbs sets up for a throw from right field after a WEM hit. Beside him is Brady Bostic.
Blake Lyons relived Tanyon Hoheisel at home vs. WEM.
Blake Lyons snuck a ball through to get the Clippers off to a good start at St. Clair.
Alex Garcia made up for an error when he caught a Cyclone runner during a rundown. (Photo courtesy of Patty Sullivan)