Crofton Falls In Opening Day Of Lewis And Clark Classic

​Going against stiff competition in the 18th annual Lewis and Clark Classic, the Crofton Legion baseball team dropped both of its contest on Friday.

“I feel like we played really well,” stated Crofton coach Jason Babcock. “We didn’t give up and played some great teams. It gives us a goal to shoot for throughout the season.”

Crofton opened the day with an 11-6 loss to Harrisburg.

Harrisburg jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first two innings of play.

Crofton got its offense going in the third. A Nate Wieseler RBI single scored Lucas Thingsted from second to start the scoring. Landon Wieseler followed with a RBI single to right, scoring Nate Wieseler, and Andy Knapp concluded the scoring after scoring on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to one.

Harrisburg went on to score the next seven runs to open up the contest heading into the final frame.

After Landon Wieseler drew a two-out walk, Ghatlin Hegge laced a RBI triple and came around to score on a Justin Potts single. A Jared Hornback RBI double to center brought in Potts to cut the deficit to five, but a groundout to short ended the rally attempt.

Hornback went a perfect two-for-two with a double and a RBI. Hegge recorded a double, a triple, a run batted in and a run scored, Potts, along with Nate and Landon Wieseler tallied a single, a run scored and a RBI, Steven Maibaum added a single, while Knapp and Thingsted each scored a run.

Maibaum started the game on the mound, going four innings and giving up four runs, on five hits and striking out three. Peyton Wieseler threw the next two innings and allowed three runs on three hits and struck out three and Hegge ended the game throwing one inning and giving up three runs on two hits.

Crofton wrapped up Friday’s play with a tough 5-3 loss to Dakota Valley.

Crofton continues Lewis and Clark Classic play today, as the host team faces Renner at 9:30 a.m. and Pender at 6:30 p.m.

“We need to keep fighting, battling and never give up like we did today,” Babcock concluded. “We need to continue to improve each, and every game. It’s still early in the season. We have a long ways to go and this gets us ready for league play.”