It’s been a perfect start to the 2024 season for the Clearwater River Cats amateur baseball team, as they have raced to a 7-0 start.

Last weekend, the team picked up a pair of wins over very good teams, defeating Pearl Lake 5-2 on Saturday and topping the Sartell Muskies 5-4 on Sunday afternoon.  The Muskies are a perennial state tournament team and the River Cats used extra innings to pull off the big win.

Clearwater managed just one hit through the first six innings and fell behind 3-0, but a never-say-die attitude kept the team in the game.  Bryan McCallum led off the bottom of the 7th inning with a solo home run before Callan Henkemeyer and Ty Carper each recorded back-to-back singles.  Preston Schlegel then nailed a double down the left field line to score both runner and the game was knotted up at 3 runs apiece.

After the Muskies took the lead in the top of the 8th, Carper singled for the Cats, Jordan Picka hit a double and Al Smith tied the game with a fielder’s choice to send the game to extra innings.  Clearwater won it in the bottom of the 10th inning on a hit-by-pitch, a Muskies error, an intentional walk and then another hit-by-pitch.  

McCallum worked 8 innings to start on the mound, yielding just one earned run.  Jake Carper held Sartell scoreless over the last 2 innings to get the win.

Pearl Lake

In Saturday’s win, Smith drove in Ty Carper for the first Cats’ run of the game in the 4th inning, while the offense broke open in the bottom of the 5th.  The inning started with a single by Samson Schlegel, followed by 3 doubles from Zeus Schlegel, Bryan McCallum, and Ty Carper to make it 5-2 Cats. Cody Thiery threw the first 4 innings, with Colin Skaug worked the final 3 innings to secure the victory for Clearwater.

The Cats were at St. Augusta for a Wednesday night game before traveling to Dassel for a Friday night game against the Saints.

Sunday afternoon, the Cats head across the Mississippi to Clear Lake to take on the Lakers in a 3 p.m. start with bragging rights on the line.