What started as all Madelia, both on offense and defense, turned a 180 in the fourth inning and the Clippers downed the host Blackhawks 12-2 on Friday evening.
While Madelia’s pitcher, the same one they saw in Janesville, had a speedy riser, her defense was wobbly behind her. So, when the Clippers put the ball in play, good things happened. With a whopping nine Madelia errors, seven Clipper runs were unearned.
“We talked about that if we could get some bunts down, because we have girls who can run really fast, they’re probably going to be safe at first,” said head coach Mike Barten. “Everybody top to bottom got a bunt down when needed.”
Succumbing to pitches high in the zone, the Clippers struck out one, two, three in the first inning, but they fouled off a ton of pitches too, upping her pitch count early.
The Blackhawks put up two runs in the bottom half of the first on a walk, a single to load the bases. They scored a pair of runs when starter Kaitlyn Flowers walked another batter and hit a batter.
But the inning ended on a double play when shortstop Greta Hahn snared a sharply-hit ball and relayed it to Laci Hollerich at first to catch the runner off base.
Flowers regained control after that, her defense was perfect behind her, and the Clippers didn’t allow another run.
Meanwhile, Cleveland’s offense showed signs of life in the fourth when the Madelia shortstop couldn’t control a Hollerich grounder. The senior stole second and scored from there when Taylor McCabe shoved a grounder into left field for an RBI single.
The Clippers took the lead in the fifth when Schipper led off with a single, and, following up, Flowers airmailed an inside pitch in the center of the zone to just inside the left field pole for her first career homer.
“They probably should have beaten us when we played them earlier, but we got lucky, so I love the fact we didn’t panic, Barten said. “We got the run, and it just snowballed from there.”
Hollerich got on base when Madelia couldn’t handle her bunt. She stole second and scored when the third baseman overthrew first a Hahn grounder, and the Clippers were in front 4-2.
The Clippers gave Flowers some padding in the sixth with three more runs. Madelia’s infield overthrew first on a Lilly Lamont grounder. Back at the top of the order, Schipper and Flowers singled, with Flower getting the RBI.
Schipper scored when Cassandra Connor’s rocket, descending to a landing 10 feet down the first baseline, caromed off the catcher’s mitt. Flowers scored on a passed ball, and the Clippers extended their lead, 7-2.
In the seventh, Madelia’s wheels fell off with two walks, an error and singles by Connor and Hollerich for five runs.
Flowers tossed all seven. She gave up seven hits, walked four, struck out seven and pegged two batters. With a pair of singles and a round-tripper for four RBIs, the freshman also led the Clipper offense.
Hollerich and Schipper each hit two singles. The McCabe sisters, Greta Hahn and Connor each hit one single.
Third in the conference, the Clippers take on fourth-place St. Clair/Loyola in the Valley Showcase tournament at Caswell tonight (Friday) at 5:00 p.m.
Madelia was a section win. The Clippers are just behind JWP for the sixth spot and hoping for a win to boost their ranking.
Above: Kaitlyn Flower watches her first varsity homer clear the left field fence.
