Back on track after tough defeats in Nicollet, the Clipper girls defeated visiting Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 2-0 on Thursday.
“We got rid of the errors that happened in Nicollet,” said head coach April Thompson. “We played good defense. Our pitching was much better.”
The Clippers' one run in the first was enough. Delaney Thompson led off with a walk. Ava Hahn dropped down a sacrifice bunt, and Thompson made it all the way to third on the play before scoring on a Keira Schipper sacrifice fly.
The Clippers added an insurance run in the third. Ava Hahn beat out a swinging bunt back to the pitcher for an infield single. Hahn stole second and scored from second when Schipper sent a line drive to center field.
The Clippers dodged a bullet in the sixth when the Wolverines led off with a single that, with an error tacked on, put the runner in scoring position. After a fly out, the next batter singled, and it looked like the runner on scored scored, but the Clippers won the appeal at third for the second out.
Not giving up, the Wolverines singled again and then walked to fill the bases, but the Clippers escaped unscathed when the frame ended on a groundout.
Thompson threw for the duration. She allowed six hits and four walks while striking out 10 and stranding nine base runners. The Clippers made one error. Mountain Lake/Comfrey didn’t yield an error.
The Clippers collected six hits. Schipper swung for a pair of singles. Taylor McCabe hit a double and a single. Lacey McCabe and Hahn each had a single. Keeping the ball in play, they struck out three times and walked once.
“We were not as disciplined at the plate as I would have wanted us to be: knowing the strike zone,” Thompson said. “But we were able to capitalize when we had runners on.”
Closing out the Valley Conference season, the Clippers host Madelia at 10:00 am on Saturday.
Above: The Clippers celebrated youth night after the game.