All signs so far this season indicate if Clarkston is going to win games they’re going to have to rely on their bats. They did just that in last week’s win over West Bloomfield.
The Wolves have been struggling to limit their opponents? offense thus far this season. Not because of poor pitching, but because of an overabundance of mental and fielding errors, Clarkston varsity baseball coach Phil Price said. The Wolves gave up another eight runs April 28, but they scored 14 and that was more than enough to get the win over the Lakers. The win improved Clarkston’s overall record to 8-5 and put them at 1-1 in the OAA I.
‘West Bloomfield wasn’t very good defensively. We just are hitting the heck out of the ball. I bet we had 20 base hits today,? Price said. ‘We just have to get better defensively.?
Addison Turk had three hits including a home run, Sam Palace also homered and Jono Moehlig went 3-for-4 and hit a home run for the Wolves. Turk got the win for the Wolves and J.J. Lange came in and earned the save.
Turk’s home run came in the first inning and was followed by an Aaron Powell two-out double. Mike Kittle then hit an RBI single to give Clarkton an early 2-1 lead. Palace made the lead 5-1 Clarkston when he added two RBI later in the inning. Chad Zelinski also earned praise from Price.
‘Chad’s been real solid for us lately and our pitchers have done a better job of not walking people,? Price said.
Price admitted it wasn’t the prettiest win his team has had so far this season by giving up eight runs and committing yet another handful of errors. However, the end result was a win, and that was good enough for him at this stage of the season.
‘Right now we have got to take the ‘W.? We’ll take a win any way we can get it. I’d rather have an ugly win than a good loss,? Price said.
Price gave his team the day off prior to the win in order for them to get refreshed and get away from the game for a short time. Aaron Powell said that the time off couldn’t have come a better time.
‘I think sometimes that’s a good thing,? Powell said. ‘It gives us a chance to get away and then come back more focused and ready to go.?
Price said he has tried to implement a bit of humor when dealing with a team that has been repeatedly making some mistakes throughout the first half of the season. He used a quote from Sports Illustrated from a Cleveland Indians outfielder who had missed a routine fly ball in a game. The quote read, ‘I did my job, the ball didn’t do its job.? We try to bring a bit of humor into it because the kids get so down on themselves.?
Price is proud of his team’s offense and said his team’s toughest opponent is itself.
‘We score a lot of runs. Our problem is we just can’t beat ourselves. As long as we don’t do that, we’re in good shape,? Price said.