After the Section 2A fourth seed Springfield finally succumbed to New Ulm Cathedral in 10 innings last Saturday, the Tigers had to immediately go to the next Caswell Park field over to take on the Clippers in the second round of the elimination bracket.
Coming off a win over Madelia an hour earlier, the Clippers were poised to capitalize on the Tigers' loss, especially since they would face the same pitcher who had thrown all 10 frames against Cathedral.
And for a while, it looked like the Clippers might pull off the upset, but the Tigers, on a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth, put up four runs and never looked back en route to an 8-5 triumph.
The defeat ended the season for the Clipper girls.
“Right there were the highs and lows of softball in a nutshell” said head coach Mike Barten. “A couple of pitches here or there…we had three line drives that were foul by just inches, and if they fell in that might have changed the outcome, but the girls battled, and that’s all you can ask. It was a fun season.”
The Clippers jumped out to an early lead when the Tiger at third couldn’t hook up with the Tiger at first on a Cassandra Connor grounder. Laci Hollerich walked, Connor reached third when the Tigers missed a pickoff attempt, Hollerich stole second, and both scored when Ava Hahn dropped a hit into right field for two RBIs.
But the Tigers put up one run in the first on a hit batter that advanced on a ground out and scored on a single. They added one more in the second on a single, a fielder’s choice and another single, and posted one more run in the third on a single, a stolen base and a single to take a 3-2 lead.
Fighting back, the Clippers went up by a run after the top of the fourth when Hollerich slammed a double to left field and scored when Lilly Lamont swung a hard hit to the second baseman for an infield single.
Greta Hahn reached first on a fielder’s choice, made it to third when she broke for second and the catcher’s throw bounced into the outfield and scored when the catcher errored again, this time during a throw to try to get her at third.
But with two outs, Springfield had the tying run on third when the Clippers couldn’t come up with a catch in the outfield for an error. Ater a walk, a pair of RBI singles followed by a two-RBI single, the Tigers were in front 7-2.
The Clippers put up a run in the sixth when the Tigers couldn’t handle a putout throw on a Hollerich grounder. Hollerich took second on the miscue, advanced to third on an Ava Hahn bunt and scored when the Tigers mixed up at third during a Lamont fly out.
On a walk and a pair of singles, the Tigers scored a run in the bottom of the sixth and then held on for the win.
Only striking out twice and walking three times, the Clippers put the ball in play. Ava Hahn, Keira Schipper, Lamont and Kaitlyn Flowers all had singles. Hollerich ripped a double.
Springfield outhit the Clippers 11-5. Flowers started in the circle and threw for two innings. Lilly Lamont threw the entire third inning, but Flowers got the circle back in the fourth. She allowed nine hits and seven runs, three of them earned while striking out two, walking three and beaning two. Lamont faced six batters. She gave up two hits and one earned run.
Schipper and Anna Lamont split duties behind the plate.
“We were trying to see what combos were working and not working against a really good hitting team,” Barten said.
Springfield overcame seven errors, four more than Cleveland committed.
Cleveland 5, Madelia 3
In the third meeting with Madelia this year in the first game at Caswell, it was a much tighter score than when the Clippers downed the Blackhawks 12-2 on May 16.
With a pair of runs in the bottom of the first, the Clippers took a 2-0 lead. Ava Hahn beat out a bunt single. Madelia’s centerfielder dropped Flowers’ fly, and she took second on the error while Hahn advanced to third.
Hahn scored on a Connor sacrifice fly. Flowers crossed the plate when the Blackhawks left fielder let a short fly drop onto the grass for an error.
Madelia took a brief lead in the third on a Clipper infield error, a single, a two-RBI single and an RBI single.
But the Clippers responded right away with two runs. Schipper snuck a grounder into left field. Flowers took four balls for a free pass, and both scored when Connor smashed a line drive to the centerfield fence.
The Clippers added an insurance run in the fifth when Flowers and Connor walked and advanced on a Hollerich sacrifice bunt. Flowers touched the plate after Greta Hahn laid down a sacrifice bunt.
The Blackhawks had the tying run on base in the seventh, but the game ended when pitcher Lilly Lamont, who threw all seven innings, caught a short fly. Behind the plate, her sister Anna Lamont got her through it, Lamont said.
“She just encourages me. Usually, I tell her to stop talking, but today I didn’t do that.”
Madelia outhit the Bulldogs 7-3, but the Clippers took advantage of six errors and four walks. Three of their runs were unearned. They struck out 10 times.
Lilly Lamont walked one, struck out three and beaned two but marooned eight Blackhawks runners. All Madelia’s runs were earned.
USC 13, Cleveland 1
In Wells on May 24, the Clippers fell to second-seeded USC 13-1.
Trailing 5-0, the Clippers’ lone run came in the second, when, with two outs, Lacey McCabe walked and scored on an Anna Lamont triple.
The Rebels tripled in their first at bat and went on to score five runs in the first. The Clippers had four errors in the frame, two on bunt plays.
The Rebels went on to post three more runs in the third and five in fifth to end the game in four and a half innings.
Flowers had the only other hit for the Clippers, a double in the second, but the other three batters in the frame struck out. In total, the Clippers struck out 10 times and walked once.
Flowers started in the circle, tossing the first two innings and facing five batters in the third. During her inning and a third, eight runs scored but just one of them was earned. Flowers allowed three hits walked three, beaned one and stuck out one.
In an inning and two thirds, Lilly Lamont gave up five hits for five runs, two of them earned. She walked one and struck out none.
The Clippers were plagued by seven errors, spread among six players.
At Caswell, on May 25, USC fell to Martin County West 4-3. But the following Tuesday, USC knocked Springfield out of the tournament with a 1-0 win and then avenged the loss to MCW by eliminating the Mavericks, who had lost to NUC 10-0 in the semifinal, with a 3-1 triumph.
USC had to beat NUC twice on May 30 to win the section. The Rebels won the first game 3-0 but, two hours later, they lost the second 4-0, and Cathedral took home the Section 2A title.
While next spring the Clippers will miss the giant bats of Connor and Hollerich, the speed and agility of Greta Hahn and the pitching and clutch hitting of Lilly Lamont, with Delaney Thompson expected to be back in the circle and Flowers with another year of experience behind her, the Clippers should be strong in the pitching department.
“Replacing seniors is difficult,” Barten said. “They’ve got the experience, and they’ve got the talent. Cassie Connor, Laci Hollerich, those are two big bats. Lilly Lamont really stepped up this year, and Greta Hahn is such a good athlete that she can play anywhere, so we will miss that group a lot, but I look forward to the core coming back. They’re going to be really good.”
Above: Seniors Laci Hollerich, Ava Hahn and Lilly Lamont (far right) depart the field after their season ends. Anna Lamont is next to her sister.
