A late-inning comeback didn’t hold up for the varsity softball girls on Friday as St. Clair/Loyola avenged an earlier season loss when they edged the Clippers 11-9 in the Valley Conference showcase tournament, which was held at Caswell Park on Friday.
Tournaments pairings were based upon how the teams placed in the Valley. The Clippers finished in third place while St. Clair/Loyola was fourth. TCU also competed in the tournament as the Valley has seven teams.
It was their last game of the regular season. Ranked seventh out of the 16 Section 2A teams the Clippers, in a rain-postponed game, are scheduled to host 10th-seeded Mountain Lake Area tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5 pm.
Trailing St. Clair/Loyola 8-4, the Clippers took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Leading off, Cassandra Connor got hit by a pitch. Next up, Laci Hollerich wore a pitch for the team as well. Both advanced on a passed ball, and, after Taylor McCabe walked, all three scored when Lilly Lamont rose to the occasion with a triple.
Back at the top of the order, Greta Hahn walked, and, when she and Lamont scored on a Keira Schipper double, the Clippers were suddenly up by a run.
But with a pair of singles and a double with a couple of pitches that got away in the mix, the Spartans responded with three runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead.
Connor doubled to start the bottom of the seventh. Hollerich hit a sharp line drive, but the third baseman was there to snare it. It was the last of four similar plays the Spartans made as well as a nice running catch.
“They had some girls who made some plays, but we did too,” head coach Mike Barten said. “Lacey McCabe made a nice running catch in left field.”
The game ended when the next two Clippers struck out, first swinging and then looking.
“St. Clair hit the ball in the first game we played against them,” Barten said. “We always expect a double-A team to put the ball in play, and they did. But I like our no-quit attitude. That was fun to watch.”
Hahn led off the bottom of the first with a line drive to right field. Schipper got a free pass. Both stole a base, and Hahn scored on a wild pitch while Schipper crossed the dish on a Kaitlyn Flowers ground out.
But with a homerun, the first of a pair she would have, Connor would have cleared the base paths anyway, and the Clippers were in front 3-1 after the Spartans scored in the top of the first on a pair of singles.
With three-straight hits and back-to-back homers, the Spartans posted five runs in the second to pull in front 6-3. They added two more runs in the third on an infield error, a walk and two singles.
The Clippers put up a run in the third when Connor airmailed another homer, her eighth this season.
With two homers and a double, Connor led the Clipper offense. Schipper had a single and a double. Hollerich, Lamont and Hahn each added a single.
Lamont threw the first three innings. She gave up 10 hits and one walk for eight runs, six of them earned, while striking out one. After seven innings the night before, Flowers took over to start the fourth. She allowed four hits and one walk for three runs, two of them earned, while striking out six.
The Clippers committed two errors, one more than the Spartans, and totaled five passed balls and one wild pitch.
After the games, the Valley coaches held the conference award ceremony. For the Clippers, they were Schipper on the first team), Connor and Hollerich on the second team and Lamont with an honorable mention.
While the season is over for the losing team, the winner is guaranteed two more games: the winner of second-seeded USC vs 15th ranked Heron Lake-Okebena/Fulda at the field of the high seed with the next game at Caswell Park.
New Ulm Cathedral is the section top seed. Martin County West is ranked third, and Springfield is fourth. Sleepy Eye is placed in the fifth spot, and JWP is sixth.
Host Mountain Lake walked off with a win over the Clippers on May 9. USC beat the host Clippers 7-1 on April 6.
Above: All-Conference award winners were, from L-R Laci Hollerich (second team), Keira Schipper (first team), Lilly Lamont (honorable mention) and Cassandra Connor (second team).
