Published: July 03, 2009 12:40 am      

River Kings, Bulldogs split battle of top-5 baseball teams

By Shannon Heaton

For the Herald

BETTENDORF, Iowa — With both teams ranked in the top five in the latest Class 4A baseball poll, both visiting Clinton and the host Bulldogs had something to prove in Thursday night's Mississippi Athletic Conference doubleheader.

What both teams proved is that both can belong in the ranks of the state's best. And both proved that they can be very beatable, as Clinton pounded on five Bettendorf pitchers in a 14-2 first-game rout, only to see the Bulldogs come back in the second game to hammer the River Kings 10-3.

Clinton (22-4, 11-3 MAC) won't have much time to lick its wounds, as the River Kings swing back into action today for another MAC doubleheader, this time at home against Davenport West (start time 1 p.m.).

And, the River Kings might have to do it without their pitching ace. Senior Darryl Sexton was struck on the right (non-throwing) arm in his first plate appearance in the second game after going 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored in the first.

Sexton left the field to have X-rays taken in DeWitt, according to Clinton head coach Trent Snowden.

"Their trainer thought he should have it X-rayed, but the good news, maybe, was that he didn't think it was broken," Snowden said, adding that he didn't want to speculate on what might have happened. "We'll probably find out on the way home (from the doubleheader)."

But the accident was the kind of luck that Clinton had to deal with in the second game, as the River Kings stranded nine baserunners, including five in the first two innings, before briefly threatening with a three-run third.

Meanwhile, Bettendorf (20-6, 9-5) had its bats out early, as Keigan Scott — who was 0-for-3 in the first game — slammed a three-run home run off Jared Voss in the first inning and added a two-run double in the fourth.

And after the third, Clinton occasionally threatened Bettendorf starter Ryker Fox, but couldn't touch him for another run.

"He kind of kicked it up a gear every once in a while, and that surprised us," Snowden said of Fox. "He was kind of wild enough to keep us off-balance but consistent enough to make pitches when he needed to."

That was Blake Pennock's story in the first game. Pennock had Bettendorf largely handcuffed, allowing no earned runs and just five hits in a game where he mixed off-speed and off-plate work with equal capability against the third-ranked Bulldogs.

"I kind of knew I'd be starting all week. I was excited, it was a huge game and I came pumped for it," Pennock said. "I came out prety confident, but no earned runs ... I didn't really expect all that. I just expected to win, and I got great offense."

Tyler Redman, Jake Mangler and Justin Clark each scored three times for the fourth-ranked River Kings, who teed off on Bettendorf starter Mitch Overstreet from the opening batter and never stopped until their last out in the seventh, an inning in which Clinton scored five runs.

"I think it's fine. We beat a good team and we lost to a good eam," Snowden said. "Game two, obviously, things got out of control, but I think I'm pretty happy with how we played. I thought we played pretty good baseball all day. We had to throw a couple more pitchers than we wanted."

Pennock, too, tried to take the high road on the first Clinton loss in the MAC since the River Kings were swept by Burlington.

"It doesn't help," he said of his team falling two games behind Davenport Assumption in the conference standings, because of the split. "But I think we're still in good shape for the conference title and everything. We wanted to get them both, but we'll take a split."



GAME 1

Scoring by innings

Clinton 401 103 5 — 14 13 2

Bettendorf 100 001 0 — 2 5 3

Blake Pennock and Shawn Winoski; Mitch Overstreet, Trent Muilenberg (4), Mike Heiser (6), Trace Welch (7), Joe Housley (7) and Mitch Jurevitz. WP — Pennock. LP -- Overstreet. Two or more hits — Clinton: Winoski 2, Jake Mangler 2, Darryl Sexton 3, Justin Clark 2. 2B — Mangler. HR — Clinton: J. Clark. RBIs — Clinton: Mangler, Austin Krick, Sexton 2, Tyler Voss 2, Brent Clausen, J. Clark.



GAME 2

Scoring by innings

Clinton 003 000 0 — 3 6 1

Bettendorf 400 411 x — 10 11 0

Jared Voss, Greg Young (2), Tyler Redman (4), Kyle Jackson (6) and Shawn Winoski; Ryker Fox, Doug Burwinkle (7) and Mitch Jurevitz. WP — Fox. LP — J. Voss. Two or more hits — Bettendorf: Nathan Schmitt 4, Keigan Scott 2, Evan Rohn 2. 2B — Clinton: Redman, Austin Krick; Bettendorf — Schmitt, Scott, Rohn, Shane Schaefer. 3B — Bettendorf: Fox. HR —Bettendorf: Scott. RBIs — Clinton: Krick, Tyler Voss, Clausen; Bettendorf: Jake Fenton, Scott 5, Schaefer.

Records — Clinton 22-4, 11-3 MAC; Bettendorf 20-6, 9-5 MAC. Next — Clinton hosts Davenport West, today, 1 p.m., Alliant Energy Field.