Deja vu start to the 2014 season for the Clear Lake baseball team

It was deja vu all over again for the Clear Lake baseball team. The Lions opened the 2014 season in the same way they started the 2013 campaign-- with a win at Charles City and a loss to Newman Catholic. The loss did nothing to stop the Lions from going on to win a State title last year and Coach Seth

 Thompson is confident his team will respond with the same determination they had last year to return to State. Clear Lake begins the season ranked number four in Class 3A.

CL 7, Charles City 3
 The Lions kicked off the 2014 season with a road win. They topped Charles City, 7-3, on Monday, May 26, playing in the Koenigsfeld Classic in Charles City.
“It is always nice to kick off your season with a win, especially on the road,” said Coach Thompson. “Our hitters had a tough time finding pitches to hit tonight, with their pitchers having a tough time finding the strike zone. I thought we did a nice job though of being patient at the plate.”
Brandon Tofte got the start on the mound for the Lions. The junior was sharp in his first outing, pitching six shutout innings. He struck out seven and walked three. He was tagged for two hits.
Devin Uhlenhopp pitched the final inning for the Lions. He gave up one hit, truck out one and walked two.
The Lions scored two runs in the first and padded the lead with five runs in the third.
Brock Adams scored two of the runs. The junior walked three times and stole a base to get in scoring position. Rowdy Yates had two hits in the game, Tofte, Mitch Keeran and Ben Mason each had singles. Mason, Pete Swenson and Matt Stephany had two RBIs apiece and Uhlenhopp brought in one run.
The Lions had a defensive lapse in the seventh inning that allowed the Comets to get three runs.
“Hopefully we will get those wrinkles ironed out as the season progresses,” added Coach Thompson.

Newman 4, CL 1
The Class 3A Lions tangled with the Class 1A champion Knights Tuesday, May 27, at Lions Field.
“As expected, this was a well-played game between two state champion teams from last season. Both pitchers, I thought, pitched well and neither defense made any errors the entire game. Their hitters however found a way to scrape a few more hits together and that was the difference in the game,” said Coach Thompson.
The Knights won, 4-1.
Bryce Ball was a one-man wrecking crew for Newman. Ball smacked a line-drive home run over the right field fence in the third inning which gave Newman the lead and then batted in two more runs with two outs in the seventh.
Clear Lake struggled at the plate against Kaden Wadle. Wadle struck out nine and allowed just three Lion hits, all singles. Brandon Tofte had two hits for the Lions and Ben Mason had one.
Brock Adams took the loss on the mound for the Lions. He threw six and one-third innings, giving up hits, walking three and striking out three. Pete Swenson finished the sixth. The senior gave up a hit and struck out one.
Newman (2-0) advanced to play in the championship game of the Koenigsfeld Classic in Charles City on Friday night against Cedar Falls. Clear Lake was sent to play in the third-place game Friday against Charles City.

CL 8, Charles City 1
The Lions faced the same starting pitcher they had seen Monday in the opening game of the Koenigsfeld Classic when they met again Friday in Charles City. This time the Lions were able to get eight hits on their way to an 8-1 victory.
“We ended up playing the same starting pitcher two times this week, and it was nice to see our hitters make the adjustments they needed to in order to put together better at bats. We had a lot more consistency offensively, scoring in five of the seven innings, and our defense went errorless for the second consecutive game,” said Coach Thompson.
Even bigger than the improved hitting was the Lions’ Ben Mason on the mound. The sophomore pitched a very efficient, complete game, three-hitter in the first varsity start of his career.
“We will need guys to step up this year on the varsity mound having lost Gavin (Sheakley) and Jerry (Kockler) from last year, and Ben tonight showed that he can be one of those guys,” added the coach.
Juniors Brock Adams and Mitch Keeran stepped up at the plate. Each pounded three hits, with one of Keeran’s being a double. Mason and Devin Uhlenhopp provided the other Lion hits. Adams, Keeran and Mason had two RBIs apiece.

Class 3A
1. Sioux City Heelan
2. Davenport Assumption
3. Harlan
4. Clear Lake
5. Central Dewitt
6. Fairfield
7. Glenwood
8. Sergeant Bluff-Luton
9. Norwalk
10. West Delaware