Clarke bounces Panthers in opener

Clarke upset third-seeded Creston Friday night, 6-1, to advance to Monday’s Class 3A Substate 1 semifinals at Harlan.

The Indians (11-22) take on No. 2 seeded Harlan (24-11) at 7 p.m. after the Cyclones knocked off Atlantic Friday, 7-1. Creston bows out at 16-17.

The opening 10 minutes of the game set the tone of Clarke’s upset victory. The first four batters for the Indians reached base on a walk, two hits and an error for a quick 1-0 lead. A groundout and fielder’s choice sent two runners home to build an early 3-0 advantage.

Creston answered with its only run in the bottom half of the inning. Tanner Ray, who had two hits in the game, reached safely on a bunt. Parker Varner and Gabe Blazek followed with singles to load the bases with one out, but the Panthers came away with only one run on Brady McDonald’s sacrifice fly.

“They got three runs in the first inning when we kind of kicked it around,” Creston coach Brandon Phipps said. “They should have had no runs, or many one at the most in that inning. They got the early momentum and didn’t allow us to get it back. We had a chance for a big inning there in the first with two on and no outs. We just didn’t get it done.”

Creston’s Varner and Clarke freshman Bryce Giza were settled into a good pitching duel after that first inning, as Clarke only added one more run for a 4-1 lead entering the seventh. Varner finished with nine strikeouts, three walks and only four hits allowed before hitting the 110-pitch limit in the seventh.

Creston’s third and fourth errors of the game came in Clarke’s two-run seventh to extend the lead to 6-1.

The Panthers seemed to be on the verge of a rally in their last at-bat. Ray singled to right field and Varner doubled down the left field line. McDonald drew a one-out walk, but the uprising ended on a called third strike and groundout.

“We were swinging it pretty well tonight with eight hits, but we didn’t finish when we had one or two outs,” Phipps said. “You have to score runs.”

Varner finished with three hits in addition to his work on the mound, ending a stellar career. He hit .352 this season with a team-high 25 RBIs. McDonald was second with 24 runs driven in. Varner pitched a team-high 61 innings with a 6-2 record and 2.18 earned run average. He allowed 59 hits with 72 strikeouts, eight walks and nine hit batters.

“Parker Varner was a special player,” Phipps said. “We’ll miss our seniors, but we also gave a lot of young guys opportunities this year and I’m excited to see them grow next year.”

Seniors who finished their careers Friday in addition to Varner were center fielder Tyler Riley, third baseman Camden Smith and first baseman Mattias Schultes. Left fielder Brayden Schoon left earlier to report for football at Iowa Western Community College and preparation for this week’s Iowa Shrine Bowl.

It was a streaky season for Creston, which went on a nine-game winning streak between June 4 and June 17. The Panthers went into the June 30 senior night doubleheader with St. Albert at 16-10, but lost seven straight games to end the campaign at 16-17.

“This year we did a lot of good things early on,” Phipps said. “We had a nine-game winning streak. Then we kind of had our ups and downs and struggled a little at the plate near the end. It seemed like something different every night and we struggled to put a complete game together late in the year. I hope the younger guys who got experience learned from some of the mistakes and will come back better and grow from it.”

Clarke 6, Creston 1

Clarke pitching: Bryce Giza 3K 1BB, Gauge Gaskill (7) 1K 1BB. Creston pitching: Parker Varner 9K 3BB, Landyn Scherer (7) 1K 0BB. W — Giza. L— Varner. 2B — Cr: Brady McDonald, Parker Varner. RBI — Cr: McDonald 1 Cl: Giza 2, Eli Fry 1, Deign Neese 1. Multiple hitters — Cr: Varner 3, Tanner Ray 2. Cl: Fry 2.