Clarke baseball finishes in round two of substate play

Clarke (11-22) upset third-seeded Creston (16-17) Friday night 6-1 to advance to Monday’s Class 3A Substate 1 semifinals at Harlan. There, they took on the No. 2 seeded Harlan (24-11) after the Cyclones won over Atlantic Friday, losing 12-2.

Clarke v. Creston

The opening 10 minutes of the game set the tone of Clarke’s upset victory. The first four batters for the Indians reached base on a walk, two hits and an error for a quick 1-0 lead made by Brock Watson. A groundout and fielder’s choice sent two runners home - Seth Oswald and Eli Fry - to build an early 3-0 advantage.

Creston answered with its only run in the bottom half of the inning. Tanner Ray, who had two hits in the game, reached safely on a bunt. Parker Varner and Gabe Blazek followed with singles to load the bases with one out, but the Panthers came away with only one run on Brady McDonald’s sacrifice fly.

The second inning had Ethan Danley ground out at first followed by two strikeouts. Creston was able to achieve a single to first before a third out to end the inning. 

Creston’s Varner and Clarke freshman Bryce Giza were settled into a good pitching duel after that first inning, as Clarke only added one more run for a 4-1 lead entering the seventh, made by Oswald with Fry on third as Deegan Neese struck out. Neither team scored in the fourth, fifth or sixth innings.

Creston’s third and fourth errors of the game came in Clarke’s two-run seventh to extend the lead to 6-1.

Joey Turpin reached first on an error by Creston’s Camden Smith, advancing to second on a passed ball. He made it in to score on a hit by Oswald. A steal to second and a score on error had Oswald in for Clarke’s sixth point.

The Panthers seemed to be on the verge of a rally in their last at-bat. Ray singled to right field and Varner doubled down the left field line. Varner finished with nine strikeouts, three walks and only four hits allowed before hitting the 110-pitch limit in the seventh. McDonald drew a one-out walk, but the uprising ended on a called third strike and groundout.

Clarke v. Harlan

Monday’s game at Harlan had the Indians able to hold the Cyclones to a 4-2 lead going into the sixth inning before an eight-point run by the home team activated the eight-run mercy rule to end the game.

The top of the first inning began with Watson striking out after two fouls and two balls. Oswald hit a single that put him on first and advanced to second with Fry at bat. With Fry striking out, Luke Wade came in to run for Oswald with Gauge Gaskill up to bat. Connecting with the ball, Gaskill’s hit was caught by Harlan shortstop Colton Schneider.

On the pitcher’s mound, Oswald hit the Harlan’s Brett Heese on his fourth pitch. A hit by Schneider out to center field was caught by Watson, and Oswald walked Hayden Soma. Hitting batter Cade Nelson found the bases loaded with Harlan looking for the first run. A double-play ended the first inning as Jonas Reynolds ground out and Nelson was out advancing to second.

The top of the second inning had Giza ground out at first. Pitcher Weston Reisz made quick work of Neese and Casey Wade, both of whom struck out. Switching out his mitt for bat, Reisz’s fly ball was caught by Watson for the first out in the bottom of the second. An error by first baseman Casey allowed Harrison Kjergaard to reach first, and a single by Landen Kaufan put runners on first and second. Watson caught another fly ball for Harlan’s second out, and a strikeout by Heese concluded the inning.

Cole Jacobsen ground out on his turn up to bat with Turpin striking out after. Watson hit a single on a line drive, and stole for second with Oswald up to bat, who walked to first. Despite an advancement to third for Watson on a wild pitch, Fry ground out at first.

Harlan put three runs on the board in the bottom of third. Schneider reached first on error and moved along to second as Soma hit a single. A fly out by Nelson was caught by Watson, and with Reynolds up to bat, Schneider and Nissen each stole a base before Schenider scored on Reynolds’ single. With a walk for loaded bases, a wild pitch had Nissen in for a run and Reynolds across the plate on a play that also earned an out for Kjergaard. A hit ball was caught by Giza for the last play of the third.

Gaskill scored Clarke’s first run of the game in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs on the team, Giza advanced to third on a wild pitch to Jacbosen but was unable to make a run as Jacobsen hit a line drive to Reynolds for the third out. Harlan would score one point of their own in the bottom of the fourth.

The top of the fifth inning found Turpin on base with a single and Watson walking. With Oswald up to bat, Turpin was able to score on error as Oswald ground into fielder’s choice. The inning ended with Luke on second and Fry on first as both Gaskill and Giza struck out.

The Indians were able to keep the Cyclones from scoring in the bottom of the inning, taking both Reynolds and Kaufan out for a contested double play to end the inning.

Going into the sixth inning trailing by two points, Clarke looked to close the gap. Neese hit a line drive to left field that got him out, while Casey was hit by pitch to make it to first and Jacobsen reached first on error.

With Danley in for Casey, he advanced to second and then third as Jacobsen tried for second. However, Harlan was able to get Jacobsen out on his advance as batter Turpin’s bunt hit got him out at first.

Harlan would go on a running spree in the bottom of the sixth. With the first three Cyclone batters reaching base on an error, single and error, bases were loaded as Soma stepped up to the plate. A wild pitch allowed Argatsinger at third to score, and a single by Soma brought Heese in. Two more runner scored on the next hit, with a sacrifice fly by Reynolds bringing Nelson in to increase the score to 9-2.

Batters made slow work around the diamond, getting a second out on a caught ball. With bases again loaded, a single hit by Heese allowed Kjergaard to score, Argatsinger scored on error and Reisz scored the final point to end the game.

The Indians finished out their regular season 10-22, with post season games making them 11-23.

Larry Peterson, Creston News Advertiser freelance writer, contributed to this article.

See more photos from the Clarke v. Creston game online at: https://cnanews-photos.smugmug.com/Sports/20242025-Sports/Creston-vs-Clarke-baseball

July 11: Clarke 6, Creston 1

CLARKE (6) 3-0-1-0-0-0-2

29 AB, 6 H, 7 R, 6 1B, 1 2B, 5 RBI, 3 BB, 2 ROE, 10 SO, 4 SBA/3 SB, 7.0 IP, 104 PC, 30 OAB, 8 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 2 HB, 4 SO.

CRESTON (1) 1-0-0-0-0-0-0

28 AB, 1 R, 8 H, 6 1B, 2 2B, 1 RBI, 2 SAC, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 2 ROE, 4 SO, 1 SBA/SB, 1 TOS, 7.0 IP, 123 PC, 29 OAB, 4 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 10 SO.

July 14: Harlan 12, Clarke 2

CLARKE (2) 0-0-0-1-1-0

23 AB, 2 R, 5 H, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 7 SO, 5.2 IP, 12 H, 12 R, 6 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO.

HARLAN (12) 0-0-3-1-0-8

28 AB, 12 R, 12 H, 8 RBI, 5 BB, 2 SO, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO.

The Indians hosted Newton last Monday and came away with an 8-6 loss in nine innings. They fell 11-4 at Winterset last Tuesday.

July 7: Newton 8, Clarke 6

CLARKE (6) 0-1-2-1-0-2-0-0-0

32 AB, 6 R, 8 H, 6 RBI, 1 SAC, 6 BB, 2 HBP, 8 S0, 2 SBA/SB, 1 TOS, 9.0 IP, 134 PC, 37 OAB, 12 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 HB, 8 SO.

NEWTON (8) 0-1-1-3-1-0-0-0-2

35 AB, 8 R, 10 H, 5 RBI, 1 SAC, 1 SB, 3 BB, 4 HBP, 2 ROE, 7 SO, 3 SBA/SB, 9.0 IP, 141 PC, 41 OAB, 6 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 HB, 8 SO.

July 8: Winterset 11, Clarke 4

CLARKE (4) 0-0-1-0-2-1-0

27 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 2 RBI, 1 SAC, 5 BB, 1 HBP, 3 ROE, 9 S0, 4 SBA/SB, 6.0 IP.

WINTERSET (11) 0-4-1-3-1-2-0

28 AB, 11 R, 11 H, 7 RBI, 2 SAC, 6 BB, 4 HBP, 1 ROE, 2 SO, 5 SBA/SB, 1 TOS, 7.0 IP, 106 PC, 34 OAB, 7 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 1 HB, 9 SO.