Cloverdale beats Clear Lake, Willits to finish at 19-1
The Cloverdale Junior Varsity baseball squad finished up a tremendous 2014 campaign last week, logging wins over Clear Lake (13-4) and Willits (17-13) to capture the NCL-1 championship.
The victories gave the Eagles a final league record of 13-1 and 19-1 on the year.
The road to the league title was a marked by outstanding play and great team chemistry, stamping this group ready for the next level.
“This group of kids will be fun to watch for the next couple years,” CHS coach Corey Harms said, before thanking assistant coaches Alex Vega and Randy Hibbeln, and also Deanne McDermott, Tina Harms, and Rhonda Hibbeln for their many contributions to the team this year.
Eagles land two wins
Cloverdale finished the season just as it began in March, combining solid pitching with an impressive offensive attack to vanquish opponents.
The Eagles sent pitcher Chris Harms to the hill for the May 12 meeting with visiting Clear Lake, firing seven innings of four-hit ball while fanning nine to key a 13-4 win.
Leading the hitting corps were Jared Hibbeln (3 for 3, 3B, 3 RBIs), Mason Meier (1 for 2), Harms (2 for 4, 2B, 2 RBIs), Pat Ojeda (1 for 3, 1 RBI), Travis Kitowski (2 for 3, 2B, 3 RBIs), Michael McDermott (2 for 3), Angel Vega (1 for 4, and Cole Stroh (1 for 3, 1 RBI).
McDermott got the start in the league finale on May 14 against visiting Willits, tossing the first three-plus innings, yielding nine hits and seven runs while striking out three before handing the ball to reliever Jared Hibbeln (2.2 IP, 4 runs, 3 BBs, 4 Ks) in the fourth. Harms (1 IP, 2 runs, 2 Ks) closed out a wild game in the seventh to preserve a 17-13 win.
Pacing the Cloverdale bat attack were Logan Spain (1 for 3), Nick Menzal (1 run), Vega (1 for 3, 1 RBI), McDermott (2 for 4, 2B), Christian Robertson (1 run), Ojeda (2 for 2, 2B, 3B, 5 RBIs), Jeff Persons (1 for 2), Jared Hibbeln (3 for 5, 2B, 3B, 1 RBI), and Harms (1 for 4, 2 RBIs).
