Lions show promise in opener

The Clear Lake baseball team opened the season with a promising performance, then tested their mettle against Class 1A’s preseason number one team in the opening week of the season.

CL 11, Charles City 1

The Lions opened the season with a bang, shocking Charles City 11-1 Monday, May 20, at Lions Field.

“I thought this was a very promising start to our season and a little surprising to see such an offensive explosion in our first game against a perennially good team in Charles City,” said Clear Lake Head Coach Seth Thompson.  “It was nice to see a number of kids in our program get a chance for the first time to see varsity starts, and I was happy with the way they responded individually and as a team.”

The Lions jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning, added two more in the second and one more in each of the next three innings to end the game after five. 

Gavin Sheakley pitched the gem, allowing only three hits and striking out seven.  Sheakley also helped his cause at the plate by smacking three hits and collecting one RBI.

“Gavin did a nice job on the mound of establishing his command early and as a leadoff hitter of setting the stage for the rest of our lineup by getting on base all four times he stepped to the plate,” said Coach Thompson.

Pete Swenson also reached base on three hits, including a double.  He had a team-high four RBI in the game.  Brock Adams and Mitch Keeran had two hits apiece and Jerry Kockler, Luke Schiller and Brandon Tofte each had one to bring the Lions’ total to 13.  Keeran and Tofte each had doubles.

“Defensively, we played error-free, and in the first game of the year we are very happy to see that,” added Coach Thompson.

Newman 9, CL 1

Pre-season number one (1A) Mason City Newman struck early and often against Lion pitching and took a 9-1 victory from the Lions.

“Newman showed tonight why they were one game away from a State title last year and why they enter this season ranked number one in the state,” said Coach Thompson.  “Their pitcher located very well and their defense was flawless.”

The Lions managed just three hits off Knight pitcher Seth Hestness.  Sophomore Matt Stephany had two of the hits and Brock Adams had the other. Stephany scored on Adams’ hit in the sixth inning.

“At the plate I was disappointed with our tentativeness, with eight of the 11 strikeouts we had happening with the bat still on our shoulder,” said Coach Thompson.  “We have to do both a better job of adjusting to the strike zone that exists on any given night and not letting what we deem to be poor calls by the 

umpire affect our performance the rest of the game.”

Brock Adams pitched five innings for the Lions. He gave up four runs on five hits.  He