LAKEPORT >> It’s over.
But it was a good ride for the No. 1-seeded Clear Lake High School baseball team … all the way to the semifinals of the North Coast Section Division V playoffs while remaining undefeated for 26 games.
All of that, however, ended on Wednesday on the Clear Lake diamond as the Cardinals fell 7-3 to Head-Royce (20-7) of Oakland, the three-time defending section champion gunning for a fourth consecutive title.
“This team showed a lot of class. It played hard,” Clear Lake coach Zane Jensen said. “We were one game away (from playing in the championship game) and got ourselves in a good spot. I think that proves that there’s a lot of hope for public schools — that it’s still possible.”
Instead, Head-Royce will be playing in its seventh consecutive Division V final against Branson School of Ross.
The Jayhawks scored a run in the top of the first against losing pitcher Dillon Williams and never looked back against the Cardinals (26-1) while building a 7-0 lead against Williams and reliever Matt Heller. Clear Lake tried to rally with three runs in the bottom of the sixth, but it was a too-little-too-late scenario.
Three of the first four batters in the Jayhawk order provided the fireworks. The biggest hit was a two-run home run over the 325-foot left-field barrier by Nico Hoerner, who was batting second when he connected in the third inning to make it 3-0.
Head-Royce’s lead grew exponentially during a four-run fifth inning, beginning with a triple off the bat of winning pitcher Reid Gibbs. Jayhawks catcher C.J. Novogradac, who knocked in his team’s first run with a single, added three more hits, including two doubles, in five official at-bats.
Together, Hoerner, Gibbs and Novogradac had eight hits for the Jayhaws and scored six of their seven runs. The downside of the free-swinging attack mounted by Head-Royce was 10 strikeouts, not that the Jayhawks seemed to mind.
The Cardinals could not solve Gibbs’ pitching and had only two hits — both singles — over the first four innings. They finally began to put things together in the sixth when Tyler Manning (2-for-3) cleared the bases with a three-run double.
“This was a good ballclub,” Head-Royce coach Mike Talps said of the Cards, the undefeated North Central League I champions. “The kids up here know how to play. They wind up 26-0. You know why? They’re a good team.
“I was 25-0 four or five years ago and Justin-Siena beat us. So I know the feeling,” Talps added.
One by one Jensen’s players came up to him following the game and embraced him, alleviating some of the pain clearly visible on his face.
“It will be a while for them. If you play a bad game in March you get to play another game,” Talps said. “You play a bad game in June your season’s over. We’ve all played bad games over the years. I don’t think they (Cards) played a bad game today. I thought my kids hit the ball good and got a couple of plays.”
Said Jensen of his senior-dominated squad, “They did a fantastic job. You know it’s tough. This is a good senior group. (There was) a lot of leadership and they played extremely hard. I don’t have to ask them to do little things, They just do it.”
Added Jensen, “The game didn’t go the way I wanted it to, but hey, we were down 7-0 and we competed. That showed the heart of these guys.”
Clear Lake’s following of fans, which increased as the season progressed, was slow in departing the scene.
Like the Cardinals, they weren’t ready to have it end. They too wanted one more game.
