Clawson uses ‘small ball’ to top Mott in MAC Gold matchup
A couple of Macomb Area Conference division foes did battle on the diamond for the second time in three days, as Clawson hosted Warren Mott on Friday.
The two Gold Division rivals met just two days prior on May 4 when Clawson then cruised to a 17-1 victory at Mott. Friday’s matchup was a makeup of a game previously scheduled on April 13.
Similar to Wednesday, the host Trojans got off to a hot start and ultimately needed just five innings to take care of the visiting Marauders by a final of 11-1.
Clawson only needed three innings to take care of Mott in the first meeting on Wednesday, thanks to a 13-run first inning. Both wins however were the result of a lot of small-ball play; the Trojans had no extra-base knocks on Friday and had just one against the Marauders on Wednesday.
Instead, the hosts let their legs do the work, dropping down six bunts — reaching safely in five of those instances — and swiping a base nearly a dozen times. Clawson head coach Brian Maurer says they like to “cause chaos” on the base paths whenever possible.
“We like to do a lot of different things (on offense),” Maurer said. “But we really like to have some slap hitters in our lineup, making sure we’re a little unpredictable for teams and making the defense move a little. The more we can do that, it ups the energy level in our dugout.”
“It’s that time of the year where we need to bear down,” Maurer added. “We have to get everything right as we get into the meat of league play and eventually districts.”
Much of the damage done by Clawson on Friday really came in two innings when they put up six in the first inning and another four in the third.
Mott head coach Cindy Hison was at least encouraged to see her team extend the game longer than the first go-round with the Trojans. She also saw improved defense on Friday after seeing her team commit seven errors in Wednesday’s loss.
“Our goal today was to just get better,” Hison said. “We didn’t play well on Wednesday. Today we came out and actually played five innings. We had a lot less errors, that was one thing we focused on at practice. We just did better all around.”
In total, Clawson pounded out 10 hits with eight of the nine starters getting at least one knock. The No. 4-5 hitters of Libby Myren and Kenzie McMillan combined to go 4-for-5 with four runs scored and five runs batted in. Abby Myren reached base safely in all three of her trips to the plate while Lizzie Larkin in the 9-spot of the order went 1-for-2 with two RBIs.
Sarah McLeod did the rest
in the circle for the Trojans, pitching all five innings and allowing just the one run on three hits, striking out seven.
All three Mott hits came from the top third of the order: Angela Ross, Megan Melnyk, and Payton Ramsey. The only Marauder run came in the top of the third with two outs on a double from Ross. That plated Addison Brown, who reached on a walk and stole second earlier in the inning.
It’s been a struggle for Mott (1-10, 0-7 MAC Gold Division) this season, who has now dropped nine straight, seven of which have been by double-digit runs. The Marauders are only three years removed (two seasons) from a 2019 campaign in which they went 13-8 overall and 10-2 in Gold Division play.
It doesn’t get any easier for Hison & Co. as they continue Gold Division play next week by visiting Center Line on May 9 and hosting Roseville on May 11. The Marauders lost a wild one 24-21 to Center Line the first time around back on April 21.
“When we started the season, we knew that we’d struggle a little bit,” Hison said. “We just want to play better and give a better performance the second time around (in league play) and give the other teams more of a challenge. Today was better so we’re happy, and we’re just looking at it one step at a time.”
Meanwhile for Clawson (14-4, 4-1 MAC Gold Division), it’s back-to-back convincing wins after suffering a 9-7 loss to New Haven to start the week. That game against the Rockets was a battle for first place in the Gold Division. The Trojans overall have handled themselves well after winning the Silver Division in 2021 and ’19 and doing the same in the now-defunct Bronze Division in 2017-18.
Next week, they will visit Warren Woods-Tower on May 9, host Center Line on May 11, then travel to Roseville on May 13. There are still plenty of opportunities for Maurer’s bunch to make a run at a Gold Division crown but nonetheless, he’s very encouraged with the continued growth of the Clawson program.
“The chemistry is unbelievable,” Maurer said. “The family atmosphere that (former Clawson coach Jim Sparks) has built up over the years, building this program up, it’s been incredible. Even lower, we have coaches that have been around for seven, eight years and the rec program has stayed strong.
“Coach Sparks did an outstanding job.”