Lions earn runner-up honors in NCC

The Clear Lake baseball team earned a pair of North Central Conference victories last week which provided the Lions with a runner-up finish in the NCC final standings.  However, a loss to Central Springs ended the week on the downside.
    Clear Lake is currently 25-9  and ranked ninth in Class 3A.  The Lions finished their conference season 15-3, in sole possession of second place for the second straight year and improving from last year’s conference mark of 14-4.

CL 9, IF-A 5
    Ozzie Adams hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to help lift Lions to a 9-5 win Tuesday, July 5, on the road.  Adams’ home run came with two outs and  broke a 5-5 tie.  They added two more in the seventh inning for a comfortable win.
    “I thought our kids responded well on the road against a good Iowa Falls team after a rough week last week,” said Coach Seth Thompson.  “We were down 4-1 at one point and our offense put up two runs in each of the last four innings to come out on top.”
    Colin Lobdell came in to relieve starter Gavin Sheakley with two outs in the third inning.  Sheakley had been touched for five hits and had walked two, helping the Cadets to score four runs. 
    “Colin did a wonderful job of coming in and keeping us in the game while our offense just kept putting pressure on their defense,” said Coach Thompson.
    The Lions jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, but the Cadets answered with a run in the bottom of the second and three more in the bottom of the third.
    Clear Lake began to come alive in the second half of the game, scoring two runs in each of the final four innings.  Their 10-hit barrage was led by Tanner Truesdell’s three hits.  Tanner Tusha and Colin Lobdell each had two hits in the game.  Adams, Michael Keeran and Gavin Sheakley each had one hit. 
    Coach Thompson said he felt that Adams’ huge homerun in the sixth gave his team the momentum it needed to finish the game.

CL 8, C-G 2
    The Lions put together a good, all-around attack in defeating Clarion-Goldfield 8-2 on Wednesday, July 6. 
    Zac Bendickson and Gavin Sheakley had three hits apiece for the Lions and ace Ozzie Adams came on in relief in the third and effectively shut the Cowboys down in picking up the 8-2 win.
    “I thought that we did a nice job of putting together quality at-bats against a - Read More via e-Edition