Softball team gaining confidence

    The Clear Lake softball team is gaining experience and confidence as the season progresses. The Lions picked up their second win of the season Saturday, topping Rockford 11-8 at the Mason City Tournament.  Their record is now 2-7.
    “Overall, we are playing much better in all aspects of the game,” said Coach Nikki Petersburg.  “Our younger players are getting more experience and confidence and our returners from last year are really becoming leaders.  We have even more games next week than we did this past week.  However, we look to not let the other team dictate how we play.  Win or lose we aim to do so with dignity and pride in our effort.”
   

WC 12, CL 0
    Webster City broke open a close game in the third inning with eight hits and five earned runs and went on to defeat the Lions 12-0 in four innings Wednesday, June 13.
    “We started alright defensively, but Webster City’s bats erupted in the third inning.  That inning really took our spirit away,” said Coach Nikki Petersburg.  “Going into the game we knew Biery was a good pitcher, so to face a 10-run deficit in the top of the fourth was too much for our hitters to overcome.”
    Biery faced 12 batters, five of which were strikeouts.
    “That is a ratio we aimed to remedy Thursday against another tough team, Mason City,” added the coach.

Mason City 11, CL 1
    The Lions had a much better outing Thursday at Mason City, but the strong Mohawk team handled Clear Lake, 11-1.
    “As we expected, Mason City’s offense came out strong and never looked back,” said Coach Petersburg.  “Our goal was to play hard regardless of the score and we did that.  Even though we had four errors, our defense did a much better job of getting the outs when the opportunity presented itself.”
    Coaches Petersburg and  Kiefer said they were most happy about the improved effort at the plate by the Lions.
    “Neither the score, nor our number of hits reflect it, but we had several good at-bats throughout our lineup,” said Petersburg.
    There were three Lion hits in the game.  Hannah Bartlett had two hits and Megan Loux followed one with a hit which scored Bartlett in the third inning.
    Sara Barlow was on the mound for the Lions.  She gave up 13 hits and struck out one.

Eagle Grove 9, CL 6
    Clear Lake’s game with Eagle Grove was suspended in the sixth inning Friday, due to lightning, with the Eagles leading 9-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning.   The teams will resume the game when the Lions travel to Eagle  Grove June 29.
    “Until the 6th inning we were in the lead playing good defense and great offense.  I was very happy with our hitting and our baserunning, both were probably the best we’ve had all season.  On the 29th we’ll hopefully be able to continue hitting and scoring to take the lead back and get another win.

Mason City Tournament
South Hardin 5, CL 1
CL 11, Rockford 9
    The Lions played a pair of games Saturday as part of the Mason City Tournament.  The team opened with a 5-1 loss to South Hardin, Eldora and then bounced back with an 11-8 in over Rockford. 
    “Unfortunately, our bats were a little slow to start the day,” said Coach Petersburg.  “We did get a run across in the first, but didn’t do much after that.  Defensively we played very well and with intensity.”
    The Lions had just three hits in the game. Tori Fyfe, Jenna Peterson and Kaitlyn Pitzen reached base.  Pitzen’s single scored Hannah Bartlett in the first inning.
    South Hardin, Eldora evened the score in the second inning, then plated three in the fourth and added an insurance run in the sixth.