When you are a Class 1A baseball program, and play six games in three days, pitching can get a little thin.
Lisbon felt that Wednesday, June 24, in a 20-2 afternoon loss to West Branch at the Robert W. Plaster Athletic Complex on the Mount Mercy campus in Cedar Rapids.
“We’re throwing guys in there,” Lisbon coach Lance Kamaus said. “You have some rainouts and then get a tough schedule, you have JV games … it puts you in a negative spot.”
Kamaus is always charting pitch counts, trying to get the most out of his pitchers and plan for future games.
Wednesday was a bad start from the jump, as West Branch leadoff hitter Nolan Staker hit a deep fly ball inside the expansive college stadium that was misplayed and led to an inside-the-park home run.
That started a nine-run outburst as the Bears sent 14 batters to the plate in the first inning.
West Branch was helped by three Lisbon errors in the first inning.
“There’s not much to say,” junior Ethan Stone said. “We were not playing our best. We kind of lost it.”
The Bears kept scoring, with four runs in the second and seven in the fourth.
“You’ve got to make plays when presented with the opportunity,” Kamaus said. “It wasn’t one kid making mistakes. It was equal opportunity.”
Stone led the offense with a groundrule double and a triple to pace the Lions. Bryce Boots had a single and 2 RBIs.
After the game, the Lions had a playeronly meeting.
“We were trying to figure out what is going on,” Stone said.
Well, it seemed to work, as the Lions bounced back to win a second game at Mount Mercy, beating HLV/TC 20-5 Wednesday night.
The Lions had 13 hits, led by Stone, who hit 3-for-5 with a double and 7 RBIs. Klayton Kahl hit 3-for-3 with 3 RBIs, and Ian Whittenbuagh had two hits, including a double.
“We got down 5-0 in that second game, but end up scoring 20 runs,” Kamaus said.
“The guys took a little accountability and had a full BP (batting practice) session before the HLV game.”
The week started with a sweep of Easton Valley at Lisbon City Park. The Lions won 8-3 and 7-6 in 10 innings.
In the first game, Carew Kamaus pitched a complete game with seven strikeouts.
Kahl hit 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs and Caleb Ross hit 2-for-3. Kamaus had 2 RBIs.
In the nightcap, Easton Valley scored in the top of the seventh to tie it at 5-5. Then they scored in the top of the 10th to take the lead.
“We had opportunities,” Kamaus said.
“We had runners on in the seventh, eighth and ninth, but didn’t score.”
In the 10th, Jackson Knapp and Nathan Brown got on base then Elliott Moehlman singled. The tying run scored on a EV overthrow, then Stone hit a bloop single to walk it off.
“The whole night went the way we needed it to,” Kamaus said. “We knew Marquette was the next night, and we wanted to play for the conference title.”
Whittenbaugh pitched seven solid innings, and Moehlman got the win in relief, giving up just one hit over three innings.
The Lions had 12 hits, with Stone, Bryce Boots, Brown and Moehlman each getting two hits.
On Tuesday, in a rescheduled doubleheader, the Tri-Rivers East winners Bellevue Marquette beat the Lions 14-1 and 13-0 at City Park.
In the first game, Brown had a double. In the second, Defender pitchers Louis Gonner and Tate Kueter combined to limit Lisbon to one hit. Lisbon (15-9, 11-6) closed the week with a road trip to Starmont on Thursday, June 25. The Stars won, 15-5 in five innings.
Brown hit 2-for-2 with 2 RBIs.
The Lions start district play on Friday, July 3, against North Cedar in Delhi.
“The biggest thing for us is we can’t look past anyone,” Kamaus said. “The kids want to get a win in the postseason, and we have that opportunity. Our kids are excited about the possibilities.”