Baseball's Record Season Ends in WHAC Semifinals

(Rockford,MI)-- The Cleary Cougar baseball team was six outs away from an appearance in the WHAC Tournament's championship series, but the baseball gods had other ideas, as their record-setting season came to an end on Saturday.

In Game 1 vs. 3-seed Madonna: The Crusaders would quickly put the pressure on the Cougars by loading the bases in the bottom of the first inning.  Brett Parris would get a double play, but it would allow the first run to score.  Madonna would get one more hit in the inning to take a 2-0 lead.  Parris would settle in, not allowing any more runs to touch home, finishing his day after 4 innings of work.  Madonna would connect for a solo home run in the fifth inning to take a 3-0 lead.  Darion Amico would only allow one more hit in his three innings, and would give Cleary a chance for the win.  Brendan Seman got Cleary on the board in the seventh that scored Conner Boone.  Matt Torresan would then hit a ground-rule double to center field, getting Cleary within one run, and Landon Kempainen tied the game with an RBI triple, making the score 3-3.

In the eighth, Cleary kept the pressure on, as Braylon Hughes would single to score Austin Gates, and gave Cleary a 4-3 lead.  Matt Torresan would come up big later in the inning, hitting a two-run single to make it 6-3.  The Cougars were in position for the win, but Madonna would get some soft singles to put pressure on the Cougars.  Unfortunately for Cleary, the Crusaders would find a way to score five runs in the inning, flipping the script, and ending the game in the ninth with three outs, sending Cleary to the consolation bracket finals.

Braylon Hughes went 4/4 with 2 runs and 1 RBI.  Matt Torresan would go 3/5 with 3 RBI in the game.

In Game 2 vs. 2-seed Indiana Tech:  Cleary would strike first in the bottom of the first when Brodie Mackay sinled to left to score Matt Torresan.  Indiana Tech would answer with a run in the second inning, tying the game at 1-1.  The Warriors would have to wait until the sixth inning before scoring again, as they scored on a sacrifice fly.  In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ryan Rose hit a drive to left, hitting the top of the wall before bouncing back into play.  His double would score Brodie Mackay, tying the game at 2-2.  The Warriors responded with a run in the seventh, and then took control of the game in the eighth.  Indiana Tech would score 10 runs in the inning, held the Cougars scoreless in the bottom of the inning, and ended Cleary's season with a 13-2 final score.

Brody Fay was excellent on the mound, allowing 5 runs (4 earned) in 7 innings of work with 7 strikeouts.  Brodie Mackay went 2/3, while Matt Torresan, Landon Kempainen, and Ryan Rose each had a hit.

Cleary finishes the season with a program-record 31-21 record, their first wins in the WHAC Tournament, highest WHAC finish ever (4th), and first ever trip to the WHAC semifinals.