Their bats came through again.
In a season which has been powered by the big offensive plays of Sam Palace, Addison Turk and Aaron Powell, those three combined again to help the Clarkston varsity baseball team pick up its biggest win this season, a 12-5 win over arch rival Troy May 10 at Clarkston High School.
The three combined for six RBI, went 5-for-eight, drew four walks and scored 10 runs. Turk’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, which scored Palace and Eric Bryan made it 7-5 Clarkston. Shiel made it 8-5 one his RBI single which brought home Powell. Additionally, the Wolves drew an offensive boost from Nate Davis, who added a late-game RBI hit scoring Brett Gallagher and Steve Shiel.
Clarkston couldn’t have started the game any better. Powell ended the day with four strikeouts, but three of them came against the first three Troy batters, Price said.
‘That totally set the tone. He came in and started us off with three straight strikeouts. From there, we just rolled,? Price said.
The win against the Colts, who entered the game with a state-wide no. 3 ranking a record of 20-2, improved the Wolves? overall record to 14-5 overall and more importantly, puts them alone in first place in the OAA I. Both the Wolves and Colts boast 6-1 league marks, but the Wolves now hold the tie-breaker. The Wolves close the season with the Colts May 26.
‘Sheil and Davis gave us a great boost tonight and it was great team effort. You could see it in on the kids? faces before the game that they were excited and focused for this one. They were really into it,? Price said.
The Wolves have rolled out four straight wins including wins over Kimball, Rochester Adams and Harrison. However, mental mistakes remain a primary concern for Price.
‘We have to start playing better defense,? he said. ‘We gave up another four unanswered runs tonight. It should’ve been 12-1 and Troy’s a good team, but we just can’t beat ourselves. We haven’t played anybody better than us, but at the same time we have five losses. This win could get us ranked. If we take away the mistakes, I think we’re awfully tough to beat.?
The Wolves won three games last week including a 6-4 victory against Royal Oak Kimball.
The win over Kimball put the Wolves at 13-5 overall and gave them a 5-1 league mark. Pitcher Jim Coleman went the distance to pick up the win.
‘All those runs were unearned. Jimmy Coleman did a great job pitching. You know, what a gutsy performance. Our two, three, four hitters ? Palace, Powell and Turk just did a tremendous job for us,? Price said.
Palace went 3-for-4 including an RBI single in the bottom of the third to put the Wolves on the board after falling behind early 3-0.
What has been a disturbing trend for the Wolves this season is their inability to score runs early in games.
‘I don’t know. I haven’t figured it out yet. I’ve switched our no. 2 and no. 5 hitters and that didn’t work out as well today, but our kids found a way to win the game and that’s the bottom line,? Price said.
Clarkston got the bats going with a four-run fifth inning. But no hits were more important in the win over Kimball than a bunt by leadoff hitter Mike Kittle, Price said. Kittle’s bunt followed a single by Nate Davis, who went three-for-three from the number nine spot. The inning started with Bryan Morin getting on first due to a Kimball fielding error. Jono Moehlig then hit a 2 RBI single to cut the deficit to 4-3.
‘The biggest part of the game was Mike Kittle’s bunt. That was the whole difference in this game,? Price said.
The Wolves tied the game at four on Palace’s RBI double and then took a 5-4 lead when Devin Fuller scored with the bases loaded after Addison Turk drew a walk. Chad Zelinski drove home Palace to give the Wolves a 5-4 lead. The Wolves added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth when Davis stole home to give them the 6-4 advantage.
The Wolves resume action today at Lake Orion at 4:30 p.m. They return home May 17 at 4 p.m. against Rochester.