By Bill Morgan, Staff Writer

 

The Clear Lake Lakers lost in the first round of the 2018 playoffs Sunday.

The final was 7-1 in favor of the Sartell Muskies.

The Muskies jumped on the Lakers early by scoring five runs in the first two innings, then cruising to a six-run victory. 

Tim Burns started the scoring with a long two-run homerun to left field. Burns finished with one run scored on the one hit, one walk and three RBI.

The Muskies added another run in the first after Jake Sweeter doubled and scored on a passed ball and wild pitch. 

In the second, two more runs scored without collecting a hit. 

The bats were pretty quiet the rest of the night — especially for Clear Lake — as they finally tallied a score in the bottom of the eighth to spoil the shutout.

On the mound, David Deminsky started and went a solid six innings. He struck out seven and allowed no runs. The bullpen finished the night with Wenker, Gohl, and Koprek all making a one inning appearance.

C. Schmidt of Clear Lake pitched 5.1 innings, striking out three.

The Muskies finished with six hits while the Lakers mustered eight, but also had two errors in the field. 

The victory assured the Muskies of a spot in the Region 11C tournament played in Watkins, starting August 4. The Muskies will finish up league playoffs  Saturday with the championship game played at Champion Field at 1:30 p.m. versus St. Joe.

The Lakers’ next game is today (Saturday) at Foley against the Lumberjacks. First pitch is 1:30 p.m.