In their season opener, the varsity baseball boys jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but it was all New Ulm Cathedral after that, and the host Clippers fell 4-1.
The Greyhounds are always a section contender, but head coach Mike Krenik was glad to have his Clippers on the field for only the second time this season.
“We got a chance to be outside on what turned out to be a nice day. We didn’t have to contend with the wind, but the things were a little rough.”
While each team had three hits, the Clippers suffered under eight errors and fanned 11 times."
“We’ve got to be a little more aggressive at the plate,” Krenik said. “It’s early. We've got some young spots filling in, and we just have to gain confidence. Defensively, we made some physical errors that with reps will get better in time.
While Krenik was missing a couple of seniors who would be starting: Jackson Meyer and Kaleb Timlin, he was glad to give some play time to younger players.
“This is a key time to have them fill in. They just have to be ready.”
After Lucas Walechka struck out the first batter and got the next two to ground out, the Clippers’ lone run came in the bottom of the first. With two outs, Walechka took a base on balls. Centerfielder Tanyon Hoheisel sent a line drive to right field, and catcher Gabe Sullivan also airmailed a liner to right to bring home Walechka from second.
On two Clipper errors and a single, the Greyhounds posted two runs in the top of the third. With the bases juiced and only one out, they might have added some more, but the Clippers curtailed the damage when Walechka recorded his third strikeout, and a ground out to Blake Lyons at third ended the inning.
But the Greyhounds had a lead they would never relinquish
For the second-straight inning, the Clippers went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the third, and NUC added another run in the fourth after a couple of Clipper errors. The run scored on a steal.
After the Clippers again went down 1-2-3, and with shortstop Carter Dylla taking over the mound, the Greyhounds posted another run in the fifth on an error and a triple.
Both the fifth and the sixth were three up and three down for the Clippers, but trailing 4-1, they threatened in the seventh.
Hoheisel led off with a hard-hit ball to center field and Sullivan walked. Lyons reached first on a catcher’s interference call to load the bases, but with the tying run on first, the next two batters fanned.
Hoheisel led the offense with two hits. Sullivan had one hit. The Clippers walked twice. Sullivan earned one walk, Walechka the other.
Walechka took the loss. In his three innings, he gave up two hits and one walk and struck out four. Dylla allowed one hit and struck out three. Throwing in the seventh inning, Colin Krenik, who started the game at first base (above), walked two and struck out two.
“Lucas pitched well,” Krenik said. “He just tired in the third inning. His legs you could see were starting to go, and that was why he started to miss the strike zone. But we were trying to keep him down to 50 pitches or less, the same with Carter.”
Other starters were Alex Garcia at second, Kyle Connor in left field and Brady Bostic in right field. Ethan Fuller took over in right in the fifth.
Thursday’s scheduled game in Janesville was postponed. The Clippers return to action in a home round-robin tournament on Saturday. The Clippers face Nicollet at 10:00 am and Randolph at 2:00 pm.
Tanyon Hoheisel fields a grounder in center field.
Shortstop Carter Dylla winds up for a putout throw to second. Beside him is third baseman Blake Lyons.