Clare baseball drops pair of games in Freeland

By BEN MURPHY

Cleaver Sports Writer

The Clare baseball team battled tough in a pair of non-league road games at Freeland on Thursday. The Pioneers unfortunately weren’t able to pick up a win though, as they were swept at the hands of the Falcons, 12-8 and 2-1.

“In the first game, we gave up five in the second, we kept plugging away but allowed them to do the same,” head coach Dave Gould said. “10 walks and five errors didn't help.  We still haven’t practiced on our field and need to get some work in on a field to feel more confident on defense.  The weather is still not looking good.”

Blake Sian took the loss pitching in the opener, giving up five unearned runs on one hit while striking out five and walking three. Andrew Moreno tossed three innings of relief and gave up four runs, three earned on five hits, two strikeouts and two walks and Dane Alexander threw the final one and one-third innings, striking out one batter.

On offense, Moreno had a double and a walk, Brody Allen doubled and scored a run, Parker Smith had one hit, one RBI and one run and JR Mast had one hit and scored one run as well. Blayn Bigelow also came in to score a run and Trent Francisco had one RBI.

Game two was a much closer contest, but the Pioneers weren’t able to find enough offense to pull off a win.

“We played better and got more strikes on the mound,” Gould said. “We turned a couple double plays and fielded the ball better.  Again, we need reps on a field to improve.  We still gave up five walks in game two but cut the errors to only one.  We will continue to get better and learn from each game.”

Allen threw the first two innings, and he gave up one unearned run on one hit, two strikeouts and one walk. Smith threw the final three innings and gave up one unearned run on three hits, one strikeout and four walks.

The contest was called after five innings due to darkness.

Moreno had one double and one RBI and Bigelow singled and scored their only run.

Clare is scheduled to host Shepherd today (Thursday) and they’ll head for Farwell on Tuesday.