With an 8-0 win over 14th-ranked Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda in the first round of the section tournament on Thursday, the third-seeded Clipper boys host sixth-ranked Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s in a 5:00 game today (Tuesday).
After the game, head coach Charlie Haugen recognized Brennan Kortuem, Kyle Connor and Kale Kelley (above) on senior night.
“What a great group of seniors: leaders, dedicated, work their tails off every day,” Haugen said.
“That’s all you can ask for as a coach, and these guys set the tone and are a great example for our younger players. We would not be where we are without them, and we are super thankful for them. We hope we can just keep playing with them as long as we can. What a treat it is to be their coach.”
The Clippers outhit the Coyotes 8-2. With a single and a double and three RBI, Miles Tomaszewski led the campaign. Caleb Connor hit a single and a triple and brought in two runs. Alex Kortuem hit two singles. Nathan Seeman had one single and an RBI. Brennan Kortuem had one single. Kyle Connor brought in one run on a sacrifice fly.
Tomaszewski started on the hill and struck out four in his three innings pitched while allowing one hit and one walk. He left three runners on base. Brennan Kortuem tossed the fourth and fifth innings. He only gave up a walk while striking out four and leaving two on base. Alex Kortuem came in to close. He allowed one hit and no walks while striking out three and stranding one runner.
Tomaszewski led off the second with a single. Braeden Smith walked, and Alex Kortuem bunted his way to first to load the bases. Kyle Connor hit a sacrifice fly to score Kiptyn Coon, who was courtesy running for Tomaszewski.
Smith stole home, and Seeman singled to bring Alex Kortuem across the plate for a 3-0 Clipper advantage.
The Clippers padded their lead with three more runs in the third. Brennan Kortuem led off with a single and scored on a Caleb Connor triple. Tomaszewski skyed a sacrifice. Smith got hit by a pitch but got picked off at first. Alex Kortuem singled, stole second and scored when Kyle Connor hit into an infield error for a 6-0 Clipper lead.
One more orange & black run came in the fourth when lead-off hitter Seeman got hit by a pitch. After a Carson Lyons sacrifice, Brennan Kortuem and Caleb Connor both got beaned to load the bases. Seeman scored on a Tomaszewski sacrifice fly. Smith got hit by another pitch to again load the bases, but the inning ended on a ground out and the Clippers up 8-0.
The final run came in the sixth when Caleb Connor led off with a single and scored on a Tomaszewski hit that stayed just inside the left-field line for a double.
The Clippers struck out four times, walked once and got hit by pitches six times. They left nine on base.
The winner of Cleveland-Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s takes on the winner of second-seeded Springfield vs seventh seeded Sleepy Eye at the high seed. The loser heads to the elimination bracket for a game at the high seed.
Springfield had a first round bye. SESM eliminated ML/GHEC/Truman with an 18-8 win. Sleepy Eye beat BOLD 6-2.
On the other side of the bracket, top seeded NUC had a first-round bye. Eighth-seeded Mankato Loyola eliminated ninth-seeded GFW with a 6-3 win. Fifth-seeded MVL topped 12-th seeded MCW 10-0, and fourth-ranked Madelia beat Mountain Lake Area/Comfrey 10-0.
The Clippers were scheduled to take on host Heron Lake-Okabena on May 16 during the regular season, but that game got canceled due to field conditions. The game against WEM three days later got rained out.
Shortstop Brennan Kortuem sets up to field a grounder.
