Lisbon’s baseball team is headed to the state tournament, going from a nail-biter to a no-doubter in the Class 1A, Substate 3 championship. Lisbon downed Maquoketa Valley 9-2 Tuesday, July 20, in Solon.
They’ll open state tournament play at 4:30 p.m. Monday, July 26, in Carroll.
Pitcher Hunter Clark picked up another postseason win, scattering four hits.
The Wildcats struck first, with Preston Roling reaching first on a wild throw error, and scoring on the same error. The Lions, all of a sudden down 0-1, escaped the inning by catching TJ Cook in a pickle for the third out.
In the bottom of the inning, Tyler Scott reached base on a walk. Cohen Kamaus hit a line drive at the pitcher, who threw him out, but couldn’t stop Scott from advancing to second. Landon Stolte popped up to right field, which was caught, but again Scott advanced a base to third. Luke Czarnecki then belted an RBI single to left field on the first pitch he was thrown, scoring Scott and tying the contest at 1-1.
The Lions continued scoring in the bottom of the second, and started to put a little daylight between themselves and the Wildcats.
With runners on second and third, a sacrifice from Dillon Brayton scored Tyson Scott and advanced Clark to third.
Now 2-1, with Brandon Caspers at bat, a wild pitch sent Clark scrambling to cross home plate and make it 3-1.
In the bottom of the third, the Lions padded their score once again, when Alex Bock hit a sacrifice RBI to right field, scoring Stolte and giving Lisbon a 4-1 lead.
A two-RBI hit to center field from Stolte in the bottom of the fourth made it 6-1.
A hit from Caspers loaded up the bases for the Lions in the bottom of the following frame. Kamaus was up next, and was hit by a pitch on his left arm, moving him to first and scoring Tyler Scott from third base, making it 7-1.
At the bottom of the sixth, Maquoketa Valley changed pitchers for the fourth time, but it made little difference.
The score quickly became 8-1 on a wild throw to first base. When Brayton came up to bat, he was soon the fourth Lion to be hit by a pitch in the sixth inning. Another wild pitch went past the catcher, scoring Czarnecki to give the Lions a 9-1 lead.
The Wildcats attempted a seventh inning comeback, loading the bases. When Tim Harmon was walked, it scored a runner, and it was now 9-2.
But Lions pitcher Clark, facing down Nathan Beitz with two outs and a full count, pulled through, striking out Beitz to send the team to the state tournament in Carroll the following week.
Clark was soon mobbed by the rest of the team, a team without a single senior, as they celebrated their historic win and began to shift their focus to their state tournament trip.
Lions baseball headed to state tourney
Trent Bowman
July 29, 2021