Clintonville takes down Prairie Du Chien
By Erik Buchinger
Clintonville advanced to the state championship series with a 4-2 win over Prairie Du Chien on Saturday, July 29 at Don Jirschele Stadium.
Clintonville pitcher Colton Kluth was nearly flawless in the first four innings and got out of a few jams late in the game to earn the victory.
The Diamond Cats scored a run in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly hit by Chad Bork.
Kluth shut down Prairie Du Chien for the first six batters and allowed his first base runner with a hit-by-pitch to begin the third inning.
Clintonville extended its lead to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly hit by Kluth, which was followed up by a run-scoring double for Logan Liesenfelder.
Prairie Du Chien remained hitless until a double in the fourth, but Kluth threw an inning-ending strikeout.
In the top of the fifth, Prairie Du Chien rallied for two runs and threatened for more. With one out and the bases loaded, a groundball to the shortstop turned into a 6-2-3 double play to end the inning.
Clintonville responded in the bottom of the fifth with a run on a wild pitch to make it a two-run lead.
Prairie Du Chien loaded the bases again in the sixth inning, but Kluth got a strikeout to end the inning.
Kluth shut down Prairie Du Chien to secure the victory. He threw a complete game and allowed two runs on seven hits and zero walks with three strikeouts.
Clintonville was outhit 7-5, and Hunter Vollmer led the Diamond Cats at the plate, hitting 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
The Diamond Cats will play West Salem in the championship series on Sunday, July 30 at 1 p.m. If Clintonville wins, there will be a second game 45 minutes following the conclusion of Game 1.
The two teams matched up against each other in their second games of the tournament, and West Salem won 6-1.
