Had the Cleveland softball field received enough rain and sunshine to need a grass clipping on Thursday, Emily Kern would have probably mowed it down too, but as it was, she struck out 11 of the 16 at-bats she faced, and the Clippers routed visiting Lester Prairie 10-0 in five innings.
The senior said she mostly was moving a fastball around the strike zone. She tossed a couple of change ups but stayed away from the curve.
“I was trying a lot of different spots because when you are up by that much it’s a good time to do that instead of in a close game.”
The Clippers totaled eight hits. Harley Connor had a pair of singles and a double. Ashley Connor had two singles. Kern had a double. Sophie Shouler had a double, a sacrifice fly and got hit by a pitch. Emma Sweere had a single.
“I’m glad the girls saw what Emily was doing and took advantage of that and kept aggressive, carrying it over from Tuesday, which was great to see,” said head coach Mike Barten. “We didn’t sit back.”
Kern hit a two-out double to the left-field fence, and Harley Connor batted her in with a grounder to center field for a 1-0 advantage going into the second.
“We took the lead and just built on it from there,” Barten said.
After Kern struck out her sixth batter in a row, Sweere, leading off the bottom of the second, got on board when the third baseman bobbled her grounder. Lexi Waldron walked, and Shouler got hit by a pitch to load the bases.
Sweere scored on a wild pitch, and Casandra Connor got on first after a third-strike passed ball to again saturate the bases. Kern hit into a fielder’s choice, but Waldron scored on the play. Harley Connor sent a pitch to the right-field fence for a double and two RBIs.
Following up, Ashley Connor hit a line drive to score Hailey Plonsky, who was running for Harley Connor, and the Clippers were comfortably in front 6-0.
Shouler led off the fifth inning with a double and scored when a Harley Connor fly caromed off the center fielder’s glove. With another line drive, Ashley Connor again scored Plonsky and put the Clippers in front 8-0.
The Clippers walked off with a win in the fifth. Sweere led off the inning with a single and stole second. The third baseman booted a Waldron bunt to put two runners on base. Back at the top of the order, Shouler hit a sacrifice fly. Cassandra Connor and Kern each got a free pass, and Harley Connor bashed a hit alongside the shortstop for the game-ending RBI.
Kern gave up one walk and one hit. Shouler fielded the only two ground outs, the first as the shortstop and the second at third base. At third, Laci Hollerich caught a short infield fly and whipped it to Grayce Kortuem at first to catch the runner off base for a fourth inning double play.
The Clippers return to action on Saturday at a tournament in Nicollet. Their first game is at 9:30.
Going three for four at the plate, Harley Connor had a hot bat.
Laci Hollerich funnels an infield fly to third that she would turn into a double play.
Lester Prairie’s only two ground balls went to Sophie Shouler.