Lisbon baseball has come a long ways from that five-win team of a year ago.
On Thursday, June 19, they were leading No. 7 (1A) North Linn 6-5 at City Park when the wheels came off.
The Lynx scored nine in the top of the fifth and went on to win, 18-7.
“They had a big inning,” Lisbon coach Lance Kamaus said. “We played four innings about as good as we can. We’ve got to figure out a way to clean it up a little bit.”
The Lions (7-10, 5-5 Tri-Rivers East) had nine hits, with Bryce Boots and Carew Kamaus each having a pair. Ian Whittenbaugh had a home run and four RBIs.
The loss capped an 0-3 week for the Lions.
Lisbon was leading Monticello 5-3 and had the bases loaded on Tuesday, June 17, when rain delayed, and then postponed the game. It is scheduled to be finished July 2 with a second game to follow.
Another game, against New London on Wednesday, June 18, was postponed, and then cancelled.
The week started with a pair of Tri-Rivers losses, 4-3 and 9-5, to Easton Valley in Miles.
“That was disappointing,” Kamaus said. “We had a couple of hard-luck losses.”
In the first game, the Lions rallied with two runs in the top of the sixth and had runners on in the top of the seventh to tie or take the lead … but came up short.
Dakota Clark scored twice. Boots and Kamaus had RBIs. Ian Whittenbaugh took the loss, giving up just four hits and no walks, while striking out seven.
In the second game, Ethan Hoekstra had two hits. Carew Kamaus took the pitching loss, despite giving up just one earned run.
Errors were the culprit.
“We wanted to improve this year in all phases of the game,” Kamaus said. “We’ve definitely done that offensively. We had a team batting average of .226 last year, and it is now at .320.
“We just need to buckle down in the field. We are giving up too many unearned runs.”