It was another rock ’em, sock ’em slugfest when the Cleveland varsity girls bused down Highway 99 to rematch Nicollet on Tuesday, but this time the Clippers came out on top in a 21-17, two-and-a-half-hour marathon.
The two teams matched runs in the first and second, but the Clippers scored four runs in the third while holding the Raiders scoreless and then posted five runs in the fifth to the Raiders’ one for a 17-9 advantage.
Nicollet outscored the Clippers 6-4 in the fifth and 2-0 in the sixth, but taking over for starter Lilly Lamont, who left the game after six innings and 151 pitches, freshman Kaitlyn Flowers halted the upheaval when she mowed down the seventh, eighth and ninth batters, one-two-three in the seventh, and the Clippers held on for the triumph.
“I think that’s the most pitches I’ve ever thrown,” Lamont said. “I think I could have finished, but I am glad Kaitlyn got to finish. She did a great job.”
Making the pitching change wasn’t a slam-dunk decision for head coach Mike Barten, but most of the Raiders had seen Lamont five times, and her arm had to be tiring, he said.
“A hundred and fifty-one pitches early in the season, that’s a lot, but now we’re throwing a freshman in there in a tough situation, and I want the girls to be successful, but I asked Kaitlyn, and she said ‘yeah, I’m good.’ But I thought Lilly did a fantastic job throwing good pitches and getting out of trouble when she needed to.”
The early-in-the-season victory was a timely one for Lamont, who last year threw under the belly of Hailey Plonsky, who graduated, and eighth grader Delaney Thompson, who is out this year with an injury.
“It boosts my confidence a tremendous amount,” said the senior. “We had Hailey and Delaney last year, but I am happy to be back and be a leader.”
Nicollet’s varsity field was too wet to play on, so the game was shifted over to the field next door. The shorter distance to the fence made for the football-score final, Barten said.
“It maybe isn’t quite as big as their regular field, and with the wind flying out to left field, I am glad we had a little bit of a lead because I though the last at bat would win it.”
Keira Schipper led off the game with a walk. Cassandra Connor reached first on a fielder’s choice where the Raiders didn’t make the play at second. Laci Hollerich swatted a line drive that scored Schipper, Taylor McCabe walked, and, when Greta Hahn took a pitch for the team, Connor strolled home.
Lacey McCabe hit a line shot to center field to bring home Hollerich and her sister and advanced to second on the throw. Hahn scored on a passed ball, and the Clippers led 6-0 when Lacey McCabe scored on a pickoff attempt that went amiss.
But jumping hard on the ball, the Raiders hit a pair of doubles, a pair of singles and two home runs to deadlock the game 6-6.
Connor and Hollerich singled in the second, and Taylor McCabe hit a grounder to right field for two RBIs, but the Raiders took advantage of a walk, two errors and a single to tie the game 8-8.
But the Clippers took a lead they would not relinquish in the third. Lacey McCabe and Ava Hahn hit infield singles, and both scored when Schipper hit her first varsity homerun. Flowers doubled and scored on a Hollerich single.
Lamont, with two strikeouts in the mix, hung a goose egg in the bottom of the inning, and the Clippers piled on five more runs in the fourth.
Leading off, Hahn found a vacant lot in center field, stole second, reached third on a Lacey McCabe ground out and scored when Ava Hahn nine-ironed a hit into short center field. Back at the top of the order, Schipper pounded another home run, and Connor did the same. Flowers doubled and scored on a Hollerich single, and the Clippers were in front 17-8.
Taking advantage of a single and an error, the Raiders responded with a run, but the Clippers scored four more runs in the fifth when Lamont led off with a single, Lacey McCabe reached first on an error, and both scored when Schipper doubled. With Connor’s second homer of the game, the Clippers upped their advantage to 21-9.
The rest of the offense was all Nicollet though. On five hits and a walk, they scored six runs in the fifth, but Lamont threw back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning. On an error and a homer, the Raiders put up two more runs in the sixth, but the inning ended when Lamont seized a bullet comebacker.
“It kind of stung a little bit.”
“The girls did a fantastic job not panicking, and even when they saw the lead diminish from 12 down to four, they just stayed with it, and so I am really proud of them,” Barten said.
Cleveland’s entire starting lineup had at least one hit. Five for five, Hollerich was a certified weapon. Schipper had three hits in five at bats with a walk and batted in seven runs. Connor was three for six. Flowers, Lacey McCabe and Ava Hahn had each recorded a pair of hits. Flowers’ were doubles. Lamont, Taylor McCabe and Greta Hahn each had one hit.
Barten said it was fun to watch the 20 hits.
“This time it wasn’t just the top four or five, and it was consistent where Ava Hahn came up and got on base a couple of times, and Lacey McCabe got up and got a couple of times, and they drove the ball well. I think once they saw the fall flying around, they wanted to get in on it too.”
Lamont allowed 16 hits, walked two and fanned 10. The Raiders marooned seven runners, two more than the Clippers. Nicollet had three errors, half as many as the Clippers.
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