Keeping the ball in play, vising Waterville-Elysian-Morristown led the Clipper U19 boys 5-3 before the Clippers revved up their offense in the fourth for a 10-6 triumph on Monday in the first round of the playoffs.
With the victory, Clippers will take on Watertown on the Gaylord field at 1:30 pm on Sunday. The winner of that game plays the winner of Cannon Falls vs Norwood-Young America on the same field at 4:00 p.m. while the losers face off at 5:00 p.m. in Arlington.
Kiptyn Coon, after taking the mound from Alex Kortuem in the third, suffered an injured finger on this throwing hand when a pop fly landed on it, but he survived the miscue and the upper 80-degree heat for the win.
“The beginning of the game was a little rough,” said coach Alec Rogers. “They put the ball in play, and they hit gaps. But Kip came in and shut the door, and we finally got our bats going.”
With the Clippers trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth, leadoff batter Pierce Lyons hit into an error, and Austin Tarkey walked. Lyons scored when Brennan Kortuem singled on a line drive to left field. Two more runs came in on a Caleb Connor single, and the Clippers never trailed from there.
“That’s one thing about this team: they don’t give up,” said Rogers. “When a situation arises that would make it easy to give up, they just battle and battle, and that’s what we did today.”
The Clippers, who, in the regular season, edged the Bucs 11-9 in Waterville before beating them 12-2 in Cleveland, padded their lead with a run in the fifth after Coon and Lyons walked and Jake Mueller snuck a grounder past the shortstop for an RBI single.
WEM posted another run in the sixth on two infield errors and a single but the Clippers added more cushion with three runs in the bottom of the sixth after three-straight walks, a Lyons RBI line drive single, a Max Freier infield single and a Mueller fielder’s choice that scored Tony Hollerich from third.
Still going strong, Coon struck out the first batter in the seventh before a groundout and a line out to Brennan Kortuem, who made nice plays all night in centerfield, ended the game.
“I had a lot of help from my outfield, and we swung the bats pretty well,” said Coon, who was not planning on pitching at all.
WEM took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first with the first run coming in on back-to-back hits, the second an infield single, and a dropped ball during a grounder and a play at second.
A hit batter loaded the bases, and, after a strikeout, the next batter walked on a full count, giving the runner at third got a free pass home before starting pitcher Kortuem struck out the next batter looking to limit the damage.
But the Clippers responded with three runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead. Leading off, Brennan Kortuem got four-straight pitches out of the zone, Miles Tomaszewski dropped a hit into left field for a single, and Connor walked to load the bases.
Brennan Kortuem was forced out at home when his brother a fielder’s choice, but Coon hit into an infield error, and Tomaszewski scored before Lyons zipped a line drive to right field for two runs.
But WEM quickly regained the lead with three runs in the second. The came on a single, a double, a wild pitch that allowed a runner home and a two-RBI single.
But again, Alex Kortuem limited the damage when he fanned the next two batters to get out of a bases-loaded quagmire.
The Buccaneers outhit the Clippers 10-9.
Lyons was three for four at the dish with two singles for three RBI and a walk. Connor went three for four with two singles, two RBI and a walk. Mueller hit a pair of singles and batted in two runners. Freier and Brennan Kortuem each had a single and an RBI. Tomaszewski had one single.
The Clippers struck out four times. Each team committed five errors.
Coon allowed three hits for one unearned run. He walked two and struck out three.
In his two innings, Alex Kortuem gave up seven hits for five runs, three of them earned. He walked three, beaned one and struck out four. From behind the plate, Connor caught two runners stealing.
The Clippers opened their season with a 8-5 road win over Kenyon-Wanamingo. From there, they lost twice to Sibley East, decisively at home, 17-1 and later more closely in Cleveland, 5-2. They fell to host Le Sueur-Henderson 11-1 but beat Pine Island on the road 8-0 and JWP 11-1.
Above: Kiptyn Coon celebrates the win.
Jake Mueller holds a runner at first.
Caleb Connor completed this play at the plate for an out.
Pierce Lyons tags a runner out at second.
Second baseman Brayden Seeman winds up for a putout throw to first.
Kiptyn Coon said his off-speed pitch was working well.