The Claremont Legion and 14U baseball teams kicked off their summer campaigns in the past week.
The Legion nine dropped a twin bill to Warner-Ipswich-Northwester (WIN) 8-0 and 16-5 last week Monday and fell to Leola-Frederick in a single inine-inning contest 10-5 on Thursday. Clark swept two from the 14U Honkers last week Wednesday 12-0 and 7-4.
“Step one is pitching strikes, and we’re doing that,” said Claremont boss Joe Gustafson. “But step two is we have to field, and we’re working on that and that can be fixed.”
Legion Games
WIN 8-16
Claremont 0-5
WIN broke open a tight 3-0 contest with four runs in the fourth inning of the opener on a cold, blustery night, taking advantage of five Honker errors. Kassen Keough and Nick Cutler both singled for Claremont’s only hits. WIN hurlere Devon Fischbach fanned 11 batters in six and a third innings.
In game two WIN exploded for five runs in the first and the Honkers answered that with four in their half of the frame. But Claremont managed just one run the rest of the way and was again guilty of five miscues. Korbin McKane had a hit and a pair of walks, scoring both Claremont runs, and Nick Cutler added a safety.
WIN 102 401 0 - 8 6 0
Claremont 000 000 0 – 0 2 5
Devon Fischbach, Mac Heintz (7) and Logan Fischbach; Colby Dauwen, Kassen Keough (4) and Chris Cutler
WIN 521 53 – 16 12 1
Claremont 401 00 – 5 2 5
Quinn Huetl, Drew Blakeburg (3) and Mac Heinz; Rennan Bruns, Korbin McKane (2), Nate Schuller (3), Bentlee Zerr (5) and Chris Cutler
Leola-Frederick 10
Claremont 5
Claremont led 2-1 after five innings but Leola-Frederick took charge with a five-run sixth inning rally in the nine-inning contest.
The Honkers out-hit L-F 7-6 but nine errors proved costly. Colby Dauwen ripped a triple and single to lead Claremont at the plate. Keough, Chris Cutler, Case Reints, Nick Cutler, and Carter Glines added base hits. Four L-F pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts.
L-F 010 005 103 – 10 6 3
Claremont 002 000 012 – 5 7 9
Eric Losure, Braden Huer (4), Jax Holmes (8), Noah Huor (9) and Braden Huer, W. Clark; Kassen Keough, Bentlee Zerr (7), Case Reints (7) and Chris Cutler
14U Games
Clark 12-7
Claremont 0-4
Clark jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two innings and cruised to the opening win. Korbin Mckane laced a double and single and Harry Cutler added a safety for the Honkers, who committed nine errors in the game.
In the nightcap Clark pushed across two runs in the second and three in the third to break a 2-2 deadlock and held on for the win. Claremont played errorless ball in the field and came up with seven hits, led by a Reints double. Nick Cutler, Mckane, Wes Morehouse, Ryker Bruns, Dalton Anderson, and Tony Cutler each singled.
Claremont 000 00 – 0 3 9
Clark 264 0x – 12 8 1
Nick Cutler, Wes Morehouse (4) and Case Reints; Cade Gaikowski and Miles Olson
Claremont 200 11 – 4 7 0
Clark 223 0x – 7 8 1
Bentlee Zerr, Wes Morehouse (3) and Nick Cutler; Grant Nelson, Kaden Wookey (4) and Benny Pommer
