WILSON, N.C. – The Clarion baseball team faced a tough day on the diamond on Monday, with the Golden Eagles falling 14-7 to Barton College in an early-afternoon game and 11-10 to Kutztown in an evening meeting in Wilson, N.C. With the losses, the Golden Eagles fall to 1-6 overall on the season.
Shortstop John Finke went 4-of-9 with two home runs, six RBIs and four runs over the course of two games, including a major outburst against the Golden Bears in the nightcap. He went 3-of-5 against Kutztown, including a two-run homer in the third inning and a three-run clout in the eighth inning.
The Golden Eagles rallied throughout the first seven and a half innings of the early game against the Bulldogs, trailing just 8-7 entering the bottom of the eighth after hanging a crooked number on the board in the top of the inning. All three runs in the inning came with two outs as Tyler Falk and Mike Lockhart each singled to put runners on first and second. Tyler Delval bombed a two-run homer to left field to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 8-7, but Barton scored six in the bottom of the eighth to pull away for good.
Delval went 3-for-5 with five RBIs and a run scored, while Falk finished the first game 4-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Falk scored Finke with a single in the fourth inning and Josh Ponsoll with a one-out double to right field in the sixth inning. Doug Conrad gave up seven runs in 5.2 innings pitched, though only two runs were earned, for the loss.
Clarion nearly pulled off a miracle comeback in the nightcap against the Golden Bears as Kutztown took a 7-1 lead after two innings. The Golden Eagles chipped away, starting with a three-run top of the third. Finke hit a two-run home run to score himself and Mitch Holmberg, making it 7-3, and Lockhart scored from third on a balk later in the inning to cut it to 7-4. The Golden Eagles manufactured a run in the top of the fourth, with Holmberg bunting Austin Mike and Dillon Wolbert over to second and third with just one out. Ponsoll lifted a pitch to center field to plate Mike on the sacrifice fly.
The teams each scored a run in the seventh, but Finke tried to crash the Golden Bears' party with his second home run of the game. Ponsoll singled to left field to bring Mike home for an unearned run, cutting Kutztown's lead to 8-6, and Finke hit his blast to left field to put Clarion ahead 10-8.
Kutztown wasn't done, however, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to eke out the 11-10 win.