With a pair of losses to host Nicollet on Tuesday, the varsity girls drop from tied for first in the Valley Conference to third place.
With a dozen errors between them and loads of stray pitches, neither game was a defensive masterpiece.
“Both games didn’t go our way, but we’ll live and learn,” said head coach April Thompson. “I tell the girls to stay positive.”
Nicollet 8, Cleveland 7
The teams traded blows in game one. Off to a good start, the Clippers posted a pair of runs in the first inning. Delaney Thompson led off with a single, Keira Schipper walked, and both scored on a Kaitlyn Flowers double.
But taking advantage of a pair of walks, an RBI ground out for one run, a wild pitch for another run and a single with an error tacked on for another run, the Raiders took a 3-2 lead going into the second.
Brooke Bosse led off the second with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball, took third on a Lacey McCabe ground out and scored on a wild pitch to deadlock the game 3-3 in the top of the second, but the Raiders capitalized on an infield error, a pair of wild pitches and a single to lead 4-3 going into the third.
Flowers led off the third with a home run, and after a Cecelia Gair walk and a McCabe triple, the Clippers led 5-4. Taylor Wolf walked, Thompson got hit by a pitch, and McCabe scored on a wild pitch to put the Clippers in front 6-4.
After a hit batter, a single and a walk, the Clippers walked in a Raider run in the third but pulled a head 7-5 in the fifth on a Bosse single, a pair of walks and a Thompson single.
But it was all Raiders from there. On a base hit, a walk and an outfield error, in the fifth, they narrowed their deficit to one before scoring two runs in the sixth on a walk and an RBI double followed by a hit batter and an infield error.
The Clippers outhit the Raiders 11-5, but with the Clippers suffering through four errors, half of the Raider runs were unearned. Thompson walked seven, hit three batters, struck out eight and stranded nine on base.
“We had a lot of runs scored on us on passed balls in both games,” Thompson said, “so that is something to clean up between pitchers and catchers.”
Thompson hit three singles. Bosse had two singles. Flowers had a double and a homer. McCabe had a triple. Schipper, Gair and Ava Hahn each had singles. The Clippers walked five times, struck out five times and left 11 on base. The Raiders committed one error.
Nicollet 11, Cleveland 8
Trailing by a run, the Raiders scored four runs in the top of the ninth to go in front 11-8 in game two. After singles by McCabe and Hahn, the Clippers and a Schipper RBI single, the Clippers got one of the three runs they needed for a tie, but that was it, and the game ended on a ground out with two runners stranded.
The Clippers assembled a two-out rally in the first. Schipper got hit by a pitch, and Flowers walked. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Schipper scored on a Bosse single. The third baseman interfered with Flowers as she rounded third, so she was awarded a run. Taylor McCabe walked. Nicollet committed a pair of errors when trying to catch Taylor McCabe stealing, and she and Bosse scored to put the Clippers in front 4-0.
Taking advantage of an infield error, thee singles, another infield error and another single, Nicollet posted 5-runs in the top of the second for a 5-4 lead, but the Clippers put up a pair of runs in the third after three-straight walks, a wild pitch for a run and an Anna Lamont ground out for another run.
The Clippers extended their lead in the fourth when Thompson and Hahn walked, and Thompson scored on a Schipper double. Flowers walked to load the bases. Hahn scored on a Bosse single. Schipper got thrown out at home on the play, but the Clippers were in front 8-5.
With a pair of runs on three singles in the fifth, the Raiders narrowed their deficit to one before scoring four runs in the seventh when they loaded the bases on three walks and two singles and a fielder’s choice.
In her pitching debut, Bosse (above), an eighth grader who recently moved up form the junior high team, threw six and two thirds innings. She allowed a dozen hits and seven earned runs while striking out three and hitting one batter. She left eight on base.
Thompson faced the final batter, who grounded into a fielder’s choice. The Clippers committed four errors, one more than the Raiders.
“It just wasn’t our night,” Thompson said.
Cleveland totaled eight hits. Schipper hit a single and a double. Bosse and Lacey McCabe each hit two singles. Thompson and Hahn each had one single. The Clippers walked 11 times, struck out four times and were left on base 10 times.
The Raiders are now tied with MCW with a 4-1 conference record. They take on MCW again today (Thursday) while the Clippers host 8-8 Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey today.