The St Clair/Loyola Spartans softball team entered its final week of the regular season streaky as of late with a string of losses then followed by two straight victories, but they were able to end their regular season with a pair of two dramatic victories that required late-game heroics to seal the deal.
The start of the week against the Le Sueur Giants wasn’t an ideal one for the Spartans as they were clobbered 3-16 in a game that was filled with strife for the young team. Natalie Kasprowicz scored two runs, while Madison Winkler knocked in an RBI. Of course, it isn’t how you start a week that matters; it is how you end it, and the Spartans were able to bounce back in a big way.
For much of their game against the Sleepy Eye/St. Mary’s Knights on May 16, the Spartans appeared to be in control as they gained an early 3-0 lead in the game’s first inning. Adeline Lotton started the inning for the Spartans with a four-pitch walk, with Winkler following with a slapshot down centerfield. The real fun began when Maria Miller, hitting in the cleanup,
delivered a shot down deep center field to bring both Lotton and Winkler home.
St. Clair/Loyola kept their foot on the gas as Addison Nicolai hit a choppy grounded, Lydia Klaseus RBI’d Miller home. All that led to a three-run lead after the first.
The Knights tried to mount a returning salvo in the top of the second as some close calls at first created some pressure early into the inning; however, Klaseus maintained her
composure and danced out of danger with a pop-out to end the inning. The game screeched to a halt as both struggled to capitalize off some well-placed hits.
The Knights showed some signs of life in the fifth inning as they were able to score their first run of the game. Klaseus walked two batters, but after a pep talk by Coach Ashley Sander, she regained her composure and popped the batter out to Kasprowicz to maintain a 3-1 lead. A fantastic response by the Spartans saw them double their score for a 6-1 lead.
Not much doing in the sixth inning for either team as the Knights entered their final frame, and, boy, they had a mountain to climb down five runs. But they tried. After getting the bases loaded, SESM tallied two runs off of hits that the Spartans couldn’t quite handle. It became a ball game alright, and despite Klaseus striking out one for the first out, an off throw to second gets a third run across for the Hnight. A strikeout and a fly out caught by Lotton ended the stressful inning.
The Spartans and home fans breathed a sigh of relief as the team clinched a much-needed victory. Klaseus would finish the game with eight strikeouts and she would eclipse 100 strikeouts on the season–a truly impressive milestone.
Coach Sander felt a great sense of relief her team was able to walk away with a win despite some hair-raising moments in the top of the seventh. “This team definitely likes to keep things interesting.”
Klaseus has been a force all season, and Sander especially took notice of her poise during the game’s more intense moments. “Lydia battled tonight, and I was happy to see her take control out there on the mound.” The youngsters Blount and Winkler have played extremely
well, and Coach has been impressed with them as well as the success of their bats.
In one of the most exciting games of the season, the Spartans gave up a five-run lead in the bottom of the sixth but were able to take back the lead and hold off a surging Cleveland Clippers team to secure a well-earned 11-9 victory during the Conference Showcase at Caswell Park on May 17.
The two teams faced off earlier in the season, with the Clippers seizing an 8-5 victory,
so the Spartans went into the contest hoping to get some payback, and they got the game off to a hot start as a liner to center field by Miller brought in the team’s first run. The Clippers replied in the bottom of the first as some costly fielding decisions by the Spartans brought in the tying run, and Cleveland’s slugger entered the frame. Klaseus did all she could to fend off the cleanup hitter’s power, but she got a hold of a fastball inside, and it sailed high for a two-run shot to give the Clippers an early two-run lead.
The game was a slugfest, with both teach punching each other. After the Spartans cut Cleveland’s lead down to one run, Winkler took the charge and she swung on a high fastball that lifted deep into leftfield and over the wall for a three-run home run, the first homer of her career. Winkler didn’t realize it until she was at second base, but her teammates shared a hearty celebration with her at home plate. It also marked the Spartans’ first home run of the season and Coach Sander’s first home run of her coaching career.
After going 6-3, the team added two more runs in the third inning with some crafty
baserunning by Nicolai to steal home, and Mathiowetz turned a hard shot to right field to bring in a second run. The Spartans held a comfortable 8-4 lead against Cleveland heading into the sixth inning, but disaster would soon strike as the Clippers mounted a five-run inning of their own to reclaim the lead. A questionable non-call on a timeout sign by the Clippers caused a bit of confusion and frustration as a pitch that could’ve been called a strike was waived void, and the following pitch led to a passed ball by Winkler, which helped advance two runners on base. Two more runs later, and the Spartans were in a tight spot in the top of the seventh.
The seventh proved to be some of the finest play by the Spartans in the regular season as Rihana Irvin would steal two consecutive bases as her team was within striking distance of tying the ballgame. Nicolai belted a shot to deep center field and it just missed being a home run as Irvin crossed the plate to tie the game at 9-9. Although Cleveland’s coach tried to mull things over with the team on the mound, it did nothing as a dropped third strike resulted in Kruse beating the throw to first and Breezee would be called safe at home. The bottom of the seventh saw two Clippers make it to bases, but a rocket to third hauled in by Blount followed by two clutch strikeouts by Klaseus helped the team secure the 11-9 victory and payback in the rematch.
The Spartans end their regular season with a 10-6 record and will serve as the sixth seed for the Section tournament in a matchup against the NRHEG Panthers on May 21.
