While the Clippers had to share the Valley Conference title with Martin County West, when it came to the Tomahawk-Valley Conference championship, played during a showcase tournament at North Mankato’s Caswell Park on Thursday, the Clippers were the sole shareholder as they avenged a season-opening loss by beating last year’s champion New Ulm Cathedral 10-6.
The Clippers led 9-0 after two innings, but, with the exception of a run in the sixth, the rest of the game was all Cathedral, and the Greyhounds had the tying run on deck before pitcher Delaney Thompson fanned the final two batters to secure the victory.
As the Clippers have mostly dominated in the 17 wins they came to Caswell with, the last inning was a little bit more nerve racking than what Thompson is accustomed to, and she didn’t get the ball in the zone as much as she usually does.
“We wanted to win this as a team, but all that pressure came to me,” Thompson said. “But I have to remember I have a whole team behind me, and it’s not all on me, and I can rely on my teammates.”
The Clippers jumped out of the gate with six runs. Thompson led off with a hard hit to third for a single. Kaitlyn Flowers got a free ticket when she got hit by a pitch. Both scored when Keira Schipper lined a double into left field.
Taylor McCabe walked, and, after Brooke Bosse hit into a fielder’s choice, she and McCabe scored when Hadley Thompson FedExed a hit into center field.
Annistyn Dauk singled. Addie Sandhurst also got beaned, and both eighth graders crossed the plate when, up for the second time in the frame, Delaney Thompson sent a ball into center field for a double.
Cleveland added three more runs in the third after Natalie Flowers led off with a single and reached third when McCabe’s hit into right field caromed off the fielder’s glove. Next up, Bosse sent a flyball to the right fielder too. This time she caught it, but Natalie Flowers scored as did McCabe when the catcher errored on the sacrifice fly.
Next up, Hadley Thompson walked, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a Dauk single for a 9-0 Clipper lead.
The Hounds switched to their ace in the third inning, and the Clippers went down one-two-three. After striking out eight times, Cathedral got on the board with two runs in the fourth with three-straight hits to start the frame: a single, an RBI double and an RBI single.
The Hounds scored another run in the fifth on an infield error and a double.
The Clippers put up another run in the sixth to lead 10-3 when the Flowers sisters started the inning with back-to-back singles, and McCabe sent a sacrifice fly to right field.
Cathedral forwarded the first bottom-of-the-sixth pitch over the over the fence and did the same thing again in the seventh. After a groundout to continue the seventh, Thompson gave up a walk, a single and another walk to fill the bases. A run scored on a wild pitch before Thompson whiffed the next two batters to escape the quagmire.
After, head coach April Thompson told her team that a struggle like this builds character.
“It’s not always going to be 15-0, so handling the pressure is going to be important.”
Each team totaled 10 hits. Delaney Thompson hit a double and a single and scored a pair of runners. Natalie Flowers and Dauk each hit a pair of singles. Schipper and Hadley Thompson each hit a double and batted in two runners. Sandhurst and Kaitlyn Flowers each had one single. Bosse and McCabe each batted in a run. The Clippers struck out seven times, walked three times and got beaned twice. They left six on base.
Thompson faced 34 at bats. She struck out 14, walked two and gave up 10 hits. Cathedral marooned seven on base.
Cathedral slogged through four errors, three more than the Clippers.
Cleveland 16, Mountain Lake Area 1
On Friday, the Clippers road tripped to Mountain Lake where they whipped up on Mountain Lake/Comfrey/Mountain Lake Christian 16-1 to close their regular season.
Outhitting the Wolverines 15-5, they posted for runs in the second, one in the fifth, four in the sixth and seven in the seventh.
Mountain Lake Area’s run came in the fifth after they bunted into an error, stole second and scored on another infield error.
Totaling four RBIs, Natalie Flowers rang up a grand slam in the sixth and hit a single for good measure. Kaitlyn Flowers hit two doubles and a single and batted in one run. Delaney Thompson hit a three-run homer in the second and also singled. Bosse hit a single and a double and had one RBI. Schipper and Hadley Thompson each hit two singles and batted in one run. Taylor Wolf hit a pair of singles. Cecelia Gair walked twice.
The Clippers walked four times, got beaned once, struck out twice and left six on base. Mountain Lake Area errored four five times, one more than the Clippers.
Bosse went the distance in the circle. She walked four, struck out six and didn’t allow an earned run. The Wolverines stranded 10 on base.
Playoff picture
The Clippers are ranked fourth in the section tournament and take host 13th-seeded Alden-Conger/Glenville Emmons on Tuesday. The winner takes on fifth-ranked Sleepy Eye vs. 12th-ranked Red Rock Central/Westbrook-Walnut Grove at the high seed. The winner of that game plays at Caswell on Saturday.
After the first round, the tournament is double elimination with the first and second rounds at Caswell on Saturday. The semi-final game is also on Saturday.
Top seeded Martin County West is on the Clipper side of the bracket, has a first-round bye and will host JWP vs Springfield. On the other side, USC is seeded second while New Ulm Cathedral is third.
Above: The Clippers with the Tomahawk-Valley Conference championship trophy. The Tomahawk-Valley Conference is an association between the two conferences for most sports with the teams mostly sticking within their conference although playing teams from the other conference skews as a priority. In the major sports, boys and girls basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball, the winner of each conference compete in a championship. In other sports, like track & field and cross-country, the conferences are more combined.
Delaney Thompson slides into second at Caswell.
Left fielder Anistyn Dauk readies to scoop a NUC hit.
Shortstop Kaitlyn Flowers sets up for a throw to first as a Cathedral runner heads to third.
After the game at Caswell, Kaitlyn Flowers won the home run derby. In round one, she hit two out of seven hits over the fence, the same as teammate Keira Schipper. In the tiebreaker between her and Schipper, she hit two out of three over the fence. That brought her to the championship, where she squared off with Nicollet’s Jazmyn Goettlicher. Flowers hit three of five balls out of the park for the win. (Photo courtesy of April Thompson)