Tygers bite Clear Fork
BELLVILLE — Only a handful of fans — and a few buckets of snowflakes — where present to watch the Clear Fork High School baseball team take on Mansfield Senior in Bellville on Wednesday. The air was cold, but Mansfield Senior was able to keep its bats hot in the extra inning of play to win the game, 12-9.
“We came out pretty flat — I think we were thinking about how cold it was rather than playing until about the sixth inning,” said Clear Fork head coach Jeremy Riddle. “We finally turned it on and scored five, but you can’t just turn it on and turn it off. You’ve got to play consistent baseball and we weren’t very consistent today.”
The Colts led the game, 1-0, for the first three innings of the game. In the fourth inning of play, Mansfield Senior stole the lead by scoring two runs. Only one inning later, the few Colts fans in attendance were disheartened to see the scoreboard reading 7-1 in favor of the Tygers.
“It was a learning experience,” said Riddle. “You can’t take anybody lightly, and you can’t worry about the weather. You have to make the plays just like they do.”
The Colts were cold — and probably could have used a little hot chocolate — but they still fought back to tie the game at eight in the bottom of the seventh inning. Mansfield Senior didn’t give Clear Fork much hope of a win in the final inning, as it scored four runs to take a 12-8 lead. The Colts answered with one run — not enough to keep the game from ending with Mansfield Senior ahead, 12-9.
“They are pretty resilient,” said Riddle of his team. “They came back and put runs on the board when they had to. Unfortunately, it was 8 with nobody out and our No. 2 and 3 hitters both strike out. They needed to get the ball in play and move some guys over. This one stings, but we’ll bounce back from it.”
Jesse First picked up the win for Mansfield, as he pitched the first 5 2/3 innings. He allowed six hits and five runs, while striking out two and walking three.
Josh Kline was given the loss for Clear Fork, as he pitched the first 4 2/3 innings. He allowed four hits, seven runs and six strikeouts. Justin Fellure threw the final 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and four hits, while collecting two strikeouts.
Justin Hissong led the Colts at the plate with two singles. Greg Pore had a double, while Seth Oyster, Wes Coursen, Sam Staab and Eric Kline had a single apiece.
“Our defense has been good the past five games, but for some reason today it decided to sit back a little bit,” said Riddle. “You’ve got to make up for those things and put the ball in play, and we didn’t do that when we needed to.”
Clear Fork will play at home on Monday against West Homes at 4:30 p.m.
