Clear Lake starting pitcher Brock Adams only allowed three baserunners after the second inning on his way to a complete-game shutout as the No. 3 Lions dispatched the No. 6 Treynor Cardinals 5-0 in quarterfinals of the Class 2A tournament.
The Lions snapped Treynor’s 17-game winning streak with the win on Monday night.
Adams improved to 7-1 on the season as the senior right-hander lowered his season-ERA to 0.48. Adams worked around five hits and one walk while striking out five and making a bare-handed snag of a ground ball in the fifth inning.
The two teams combined for three successful pick-off attempts in the first inning and a half as both teams were scoreless until the Lions broke loose for two in the bottom of the third inning. Adams helped his own cause with a two out triple to drive in Matt Stephany, before being brought in by a Mitch Keeran RBI single up the middle, making it 2-0.
The Lions tacked on three more in the bottom of the fourth, all of which were unearned.
The scoring started with a fielding error by Brett Daley at shortstop that allowed Parker Truesdell to reach second base as the ball was thrown into the first base dugout. Stephany then laced a single, driving in the sliding Truesdell. Leadoff batter Cooper Merrill then walked and scored on a wild pitch. Ben Mason topped off the scoring with an RBI double that chased starting pitcher Ben Chapin from the game.
Chapin (5-2) surrendered all five runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits and two walks in 3.2 innings. He struck out two. Grant Mantell worked 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball, striking out two while walking two.
Adams then retired nine of the next 10 batters as the Lions ran away with the game.
The Clear Lake offense was lead by Stephany who went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. He also made a diving play in left field as the Lions set down the Cardinals 1-2-3 in the sixth.
Treynor generated five hits, with the lone extra-base hit coming off of Tyler Radcliff’s bat, who went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.