Muskegon Clippers make history in doubleheader sweep over Lima Locos

LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – It’s been a phenomenal season for the Muskegon Clippers.

After clinching their first-ever division championship on Saturday, the Clippers followed it up with another sweep on Sunday over the Lima Locos and a bit of history to go along with it.

Coming into the night, Muskegon sat at 31-5 – an already outstanding mark. With a pair of wins over the second-place Locos, they could secure the best winning percentage in league history. They did just that by winning 4-0 and 15-4.

The victory total tied the league mark for most wins in a season and clinched the best winning percentage ever for the Clippers.

Game 1 was an all-out battle between the pitchers as both teams received impressive outings from their starter. The first four innings saw just two hits on the board, both coming from the Clippers. One of those was a single for Stoney Smith in the first inning that would later score him and put Muskegon up 1-0.

Photo/Michelle Bishop

That 1-0 lead held up through four innings before Muskegon cashed in once more in the fifth. A single from Danny Passinault got the inning going before Smith was hit by a pitch one at-bat later. Aaron Piasecki knocked in both guys, notching a double that put his team up 3-0.

Then in the sixth inning, Donovan Rinehart hit a lead-off home run that gave the Clippers all the fuel they needed to finish on top. Despite Lima’s best efforts, two hits in the seventh didn’t bring in any runs and led to a shutout win for Muskegon.

Nicholas Bastian was solid on the mound in his first-ever start at Marsh Field, allowing just a single hit through five innings of work while striking out six. Ryan Chamberlain was given a save after allowing just two hits through the final two innings of the game.

The second game of the doubleheader didn’t start the way Muskegon wanted it to. Lima turned three hits in the second inning into a 2-0 lead, before adding two more in the top of the fifth to go up 4-0 on the Clippers.

Photo/Michelle Bishop

In need of an answer at the plate, the bats for Muskegon came alive in the bottom of the fifth. It started when Aidan Arbogast found his way to first on a fielding error. From there, Smith, Colin Cornwell, Sam Lisiak and Brett Stanley put the ball in play on singles while Rinehart and Scheurer were walked.

The Clippers batted through the order in that half inning and got singles from Arbogast and Nicolas Hawkins to end the frame. By that time, Muskegon had jumped in front thanks to seven runs on six hits.

Nothing changed in the sixth, either, as the bats remained hot. After a lead-off single from Cornwell, three straight Clippers earned walks. Then Stanley blasted a double that scored two runs before Arbogast brought in another immediately after on a single. Smith, Rinehart and Lisiak proceeded to bring in four more runs to bring the inning total to eight and extend Muskegon’s lead to 15-4.

With just one inning left, Lima was all but defeated and the Clippers walked away, brooms in hand.

After a difficult start that had his team behind, Gavin Sitarz earned the win on the mound, striking out six through five innings. Andrew Dukesherer and Jack Decker each threw an inning in relief as well.

It was a great night offensively for Smith as he led his team with three combined hits and was the only Clipper to record a hit in each game. Stanley led the way in RBI with four combined while Rinehart, Piasecki and Lisiak all had three between the two games.

With the regular season wrapped up, Muskegon finished at 33-5 and will now look to make some noise in the postseason. The Clippers will host the Locos in Game 1 of a best-of-three series at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday at Marsh Field.