Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

TIFFIN – As a result of an abbreviated schedule there will be no official WAMAC conference champions this summer.

That fact is of no concern to Clear Creek Amana these days even as the Clippers continue to established themselves as the class of the WAMAC West Division.

“I’m not the one to ask about that, I don’t know how it all works,” Clear Creek Amana junior Brock Reade said about the conference championship. “Honestly, we’re just trying to win games, I’m not thinking about that.”

If there was a conference championship to be had this season surging Clear Creek would be in the drivers’ seat at the halfway point.

Clear Creek Amana stretched its winning streak to five with a doubleheader sweep of Class 3A ninth-ranked Solon on Thursday winning the opener 8-3 and taking the nightcap 5-4 in nine innings.

Reade fanned 11 in a complete game gem in the opener and Ben Swails had the walk-off winner in the nightcap with a bases loaded single as Clear Creek Amana improved to 7-2 on the season and 7-1 in WAMAC play.

Solon dropped to 5-4 with its third loss in two days.

“This is pretty big for us,” Reade said. “It feels good to finally get a sweep over Solon, they’ve always been getting us over the years so it feels good.”

Reade allowed just three runs, one earned, on three hits in the opener and also went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI in the 8-3 win.

“I was hitting spots with my curveball,” Reade said. “Early on I was rushing myself a little bit but I was able to start hitting some spots.”

Grant Jensen, TJ Bollers and Swails all had two hits in the first game as the Clippers hammered 11 hits as a team.

“Coach tells us to play well and there are three things that go into playing well, throwing strikes, playing catch and putting the ball in play,” Swails said. “We really focus on those things every game and it’s starting to turn out for us.”

Solon took an early lead in the nightcap when Sully Steen capped a four-run first inning with a two-run single.

Clear Creek Amana pulled even with its own four-run rally in the third.

Parker Smith had a sac fly ad Reade had an RBI single before Bollers tied the game with a run-scoring double to right center field.

“We’ve been down before this year and we play pitch to pitch and play inning to inning and try to give ourselves a chance to win,” first-year Clear Creek Amana coach Nick Zumsande said. “I think that’s the way you are supposed to play.”

It remained 4-4 until the ninth when Swails singled up the middle to plate Reade with the game winner.

“We knew deep down that we were coming back,” Reade said. “We know we aren’t out of games.”

Reade reached on an error with one out in the ninth and Jensen followed with an infield hit.

An intentional walk to Bollers loaded the bases for Swails who lined a Lucas Walker fastball back up the middle for the walk-off winner.

“I was looking first pitch fastball and he kind of jammed me inside a little bit and I wasn’t looking for that,” Swails said. “He came back with another one right down the middle and I jammed it right back.”

Cade Armstrong worked six innings of shutout relief to earn the win.

The senior left-hander allowed just one hit, a two-out infield single by Brady Jeworrek in the fifth inning, in his six innings.

Armstrong retired the final 10 batters he faced.

“He pitched good, they have kind of a left-handed hitting heavy lineup so we thought it was a good matchup and it worked out,” Zumsande said. “He did well.”

The work by Armstrong kept the game tied until the Clippers could muster a rally against Walker who was stellar in his own right striking out seven in 4 2/3 innings of relief.

“We may get down a little bit but we stay relaxed and do the little things, that’s what we focused on and we know we can come back,” Swails said. “We knew we weren’t out of that game.”

Game 1

Solon                                     101  010  0  –  3   3   7

Clear Creek Amana              230  102  x  –  8  11  1

W – Brock Reade                   L – Drew Turner

2B – CCA: Brock Reade (2)

Game 2

Solon                                     400  000  000  –  4  5  2

Clear Creek Amana              004  000  001  –  5  8  2

W – Cade Armstrong             L – Lucas Walker  

2B – CCA: TJ Bollers

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