CLARINDA — After three wins to start the season, the Clarinda A’s fell for the first time Friday, June 5, in a home game against Carroll.
The Merchants scored seven runs in the fifth inning to break the game open in an 11-3 win. The game was called after the bottom of the fifth due to lightning.
For the A’s, the loss came a night after they traveled to Kirksville, Missouri and easily dismissed one of the newcomers to the MINK League, the North Missouri Nattys, 16-6. A’s manager Ryan Eberly said it’s early-season inconsistency, something he has seen several times from his teams over the years.
“Guys are trying to do too much and impress their teammates,” Eberly said. “You want to impress everybody instead of just going to do what you do. And the wood bat, of course, and learning to stay on it with two hands. It’s simple stuff that always gets worked out.”
The A’s stayed close to the Merchants early. After giving up two runs in the top of the second, Clarinda got them right back in the home half. After a hit batter and an error, John Petrie ripped a double down the left field line to score Clarinda High School graduate Cole Baumgart. A groundout off Andy Gill’s bat scored the tying run.
Carroll put two runs up in the third, which ended Clarinda starting pitcher John Lent’s day, as he gave up five hits, four walks and four earned runs in three innings.
The A’s got one of the runs back in the home third. Cooper Knight walked to start the inning, advanced to second on a groundout, stole third and scored on Baumgart’s groundout.
After new pitchers on both ends, Jack Ohler for Clarinda, pitched scoreless fourth innings, the game got away from the A’s in the fifth. The seven runs came home on four hits, two of which didn’t even leave the infield, and the Merchants led 11-3.
Clarinda was retired in order in the home fifth and the umpires decided the lightning was too close. The game was delayed for several minutes before the managers and umpires decided to call it. Since full innings were played, the game counts in the standings.
The A’s fell to 3-1 on the season and 2-1 in the MINK League and Eberly was asked what he has learned about his team at this early point of the season.
“We’re seeing kids that are willing to do the little things to win,” Eberly said. “Things like squaring to bunt and taking a pitch for a guy to take a base. The biggest thing is competing on the mound and we’re learning who can and who will be able to.”
It’s been an unusual start of the season for the A’s as they started the season Saturday, May 30, played again the next day and then had three days off before the win over North Missouri. Eberly expects now that they can play most days, they should be able to get into a rhythm.
During their three days off, the players took part in the A’s annual youth camp, which had more than 100 young baseball players learning from the athletes that play college baseball.
“They did a great job at the baseball camp,” Eberly said. “I have had a lot of compliments and that says a lot about the kids personally. We always want to help the kids grow to be better ball players but being a better person is more important and we’re happy with that so far.”
The loss to Carroll evens the season series between the A’s and Merchants. They won’t play again until June 24. The Merchants improved to 6-3 overall and in league play with the win.
Clarinda A's at North Missouri
After a stretch of three days off the Clarinda A’s had the offense rolling early and often Thursday, June 4, in a 16-6 win at the North Missouri Nattys.
North Missouri is one of new teams in the MINK League this year and is based in Kirksville, Missouri, and the A’s welcomed them to the league with four separate four-run innings, with the game called after seven innings because of the league’s run rule.
The game started in grand fashion with Brayden Olsen hitting a grand slam, the only hit of the inning for Clarinda.
After North Missouri pushed a run across in the first, a hit batter and an Evan Bradshaw double opened Clarinda’s second inning. Andrew Young got the run back with a sacrifice fly. An error brought another run home and then Cole Baumgart doubled in a run and Parker McNeal singled him in for an 8-1 lead.
Bradshaw’s second double of the game drove in a pair of runs in the fifth inning for Clarinda to push the lead to 10-2. He scored on Cooper Knight’s RBI single. A wild pitch brought in another run.
The final four runs came in the sixth frame when an error, a walk and a hit batter loaded the bases. Oscar Yuhas was hit by a pitch, driving in a run and then another scored on a wild pitch. Knight singled in two to make it 16-4.
North Missouri scored two in the home sixth for the final margin.
Knight and Bradshaw led Clarinda’s bats with three hits each with Knight driving in three and scoring twice and Bradshaw driving in two and scoring one.
Olsen added a hit for a two-hit game, finishing with two runs and four RBIs. McNeal also had two hits. Baumgart, Sean Bazmore, Grant Lokken and Andy Gill all scored twice for Clarinda, who improved to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in the MINK League.
Amari Berry and Luke Bevelin split the pitching duties for the A’s. Berry struck out three over four innings, giving up one hit, six walks and three runs, two earned. Bevelin struck out four in three innings, and gave up four hits, one walk and three earned runs.
Clarinda A's at Carroll
The Clarinda A’s scored three runs in the ninth inning to come back for a 4-2 win Sunday, May 31, at Carroll.
Trailing 2-1 entering the final inning, Grant Lokken singled and then Cooper Knight walked. After a line out, Cole Baumgart singled, with an error on the play scoring a pair of runs and giving Clarinda the lead. After a groundout moved Baumgart to third, Oscar Yuhas singled in a run.
Sean Bazmore came on in relief and worked a perfect ninth, with a pair of strikeouts, for the save.
Bazmore drove in Clarinda’s first run, scoring Andrew Young on a groundout in the third inning.
Clay Hedges started on the mound for the A’s and struck out five Merchants in four innings, working around four hits, two walks and one earned run. Dylan McIntyre came on in relief and pitched three innings of one-run ball, striking out two. Luke Bevelin pitched himself into and out of trouble in a scoreless eighth, with two strikeouts.
Andy Gill finished with two hits to lead Clarinda’s offense.
