By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – Sometimes a great pre-game speech from your manager can go a long way in motivating a baseball team that is struggling.

That is what happened on Friday night for the Muskegon Clippers.

The Clippers’ manager Logan Fleener talked to his players before batting practice on Friday and reminded them to have fun and enjoy themselves while playing with a lot of energy.

Muskegon showed that energy, pounding 11 hits in a 10-3 victory over the Grand Lake Mariners in the opening game of a three-game set at Marsh Field.

The Clippers are now 4-3 on the season, good for fourth place in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Baseball League standings.

Muskegon will look to clinch the series victory over the Mariners Saturday night at Marsh Field. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.

“That was fun,” Fleener said. “Sometimes in summer ball, you need to figure out how hard you want to push the buttons. We have a lot of new guys, and we don’t normally go through all the emotions. We had a chat with them and told them if we play hard with energy, we will be fun to watch.”

The Clippers scored in every inning except for the first and eighth.

Muskegon jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a two-run homer from Ashten Wong in the second inning.

“It felt good hitting that home run, especially after coming off a long bus ride,” Wong said. “It was a tough series loss on the road and it was good to come out tonight and get them early.”

The Clippers added a familiar face to their team as Sam Lisiak returned to Muskegon and made his season debut with two hits, including a double, an RBI and a run scored.

Lisiak’s RBI single in the third inning increased the Clippers lead to 3-0.

“Sam helped us out and we are calling out to everybody to help,” Fleener said. “We loved having him here last season. He is a great teammate and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that everyone has more life now that he is back out there.”

Muskegon had a big fourth inning with four runs and took a 7-0 lead.

Zachary Warren had an RBI single; Carson McCoy had an RBI single, and Diego Pena knocked in a run while the last run scored on an error.

The Clippers added a run in both the fifth and sixth innings to increase their lead to 9-0. Sam Clay scored on a wild pitch in the fifth, while Warren earned his second RBI of the contest the hard way, a bases loaded hit by pitch.

The Mariners’ offense came to life in the seventh inning, scoring three runs to cut Muskegon’s lead to 9-3.

The Clippers closed out the scoring in the seventh with an RBI single from Cooper Hums.

Wong and McCoy also had two hits each to lead the Clippers.

Muskegon’s starting pitcher Owen Willard earned the victory, pitching five scoreless innings while giving up three hits and striking out four.

Dylan Kaminski and Benjamin Kochany each pitched two innings of relief for the Clippers.