Clarkston Baseball Coach Phil Price knows defense wins games ? and he has not been pleased with his team’s performance. The Wolves defeated Rochester 6-5 and battled to a 10-10 tie, with the game being suspended due to darkness.
The Wolves? offense played well, but their defense allowed Rochester to stay in both games.
‘The offense is fine, but if our defense doesn’t get better anybody can beat us,? Price said. ‘Our defense has to improve. We have to stop beating ourselves and make the other team beat us.?
Clarkston had a two-run lead heading into the bottom of the seventh in the second game, but Rochester scored two runs in the inning to tie the game at 10. The Wolves almost gave back the first game too.
Dave Brelinski hit an RBI single and Ty Taylor hit an RBI double in the first to give the Wolves a 2-0 lead. Rochester’s Bill Cribbs hit a home run in the third to cut the lead to one.
The Falcons tied the game when Cribbs knocked in Grant Vanslembrouck, who reached base on error and then took the lead when Brandon Luczak hit a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth.
Clarkston’s offense was able to regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Brelinski hit a double, which scored two runs and Taylor hit an RBI singles to give the Wolves a 5-3 lead.
However, Rochester was not done yet. In the top of the sixth, the Falcons? Josh Cannon hit a grounder to third with the bases loaded and one out. Clarkston’s third baseman tagged third for the second out, but made a throwing error to first looking for the double play, which allowed a second run to score to tie the game.
Luckily for the Wolves, their offense was determined not to let the game slip away. Eric Ogg hit an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to regain the lead for Clarkston.
Steve McIsaac came in to pitch the seventh and allowed just one hit to earn the save.
Starting pitcher Mike Kittle struck out five to earn the win. Kittle pitched his way out of an important jam in second inning. Rochester had the bases loaded with not outs when Kittle struck out the next three batters.
‘Kittle did a nice job today,? Price said. ‘He has command of his slider and his curve. He has three pitches he can throw, which will help you out tremendously in high school. Our pitching was solid, but it’s hard to pitch when they get four outs every inning.?
The Wolves are now 8-7-1 and 3-4-1 in the league. Price said the team has to start correcting defensive mistakes in the next couple games.
‘We are going to have some long practices where we just work on fielding,? Price said. ‘We just have to work our way out of it. We are an experienced team. We just have to get out of it and get our confidence back.?
Clarkston takes on North Farmington on May 10 and hosts Rochester Adams on May 11. The Wolves then host the Roy Warner classic on May 12.