Clinton Lumber Kings

CLINTON, Iowa — The Clinton LumberKings (33-19, 15-12) and Quincy Doggy Paddlers (16-37, 7-23) split a Tuesday doubleheader at NelsonCorp Field, with Quincy claiming a 5-3 win in the opener before Clinton stormed back for a 12-2 victory in the nightcap. Both games featured active baserunning, clutch hitting, and timely miscues, as the division rivals traded momentum throughout the afternoon and evening.

Quincy opened the scoring in Game 1 with an RBI single from Wandel Campana in the top of the first, bringing home Kannon Kirk and giving the Paddlers an early 1-0 lead. Clinton tied the game in the bottom of the second when Cougar Cooke scored on a double steal—Alex Tabbert took second while Cooke came home on the throw.

The LumberKings pulled ahead 2-1 in the third after Jaylen Ziegler doubled and later scored on a sacrifice fly to center from Jaime Rasmussen. Quincy responded in the fourth when Byron Blaise scored on a wild pitch during General Schofield's at-bat to tie it 2-2.

In the fifth, the Paddlers regained the lead as Campana grounded out to second, scoring Kirk from third to make it 3-2. Clinton answered in the home half when Tabbert came around to score on a misplay by the Quincy second baseman, tying the game again, 3-3.

The decisive inning came in the sixth. With two outs, Brayden Roberts and Schofield executed a double steal—Schofield swiped third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher to put Quincy back on top, 4-3. Koza then followed with a single to left to bring in Roberts and extend the lead to 5-3.

Jason Schmierer did the rest for Quincy, tossing a complete game while holding Clinton to just three hits. He walked two and struck out five in his first win of the season. Cole Connor was tagged with the loss for Clinton after allowing both unearned sixth-inning runs. Tabbert went 2-for-2 for the LumberKings, while Ziegler doubled and scored.

In Game 2, the LumberKings wasted no time jumping ahead in the first inning. James Hackett opened the scoring with an RBI double to right, scoring Brett White. Blake Timmons then followed with a double to center, bringing Hackett home for a 2-0 lead. Chase Becker drove in Timmons with a double to left, and Manny Esparza capped off the frame with a double of his own to score Becker, giving Clinton a 4-0 advantage.

The LumberKings added on in the fourth. With the bases loaded, Hackett was hit by a pitch, forcing in a run to make it 5-0. Timmons then singled to center to plate Cougar Cooke. Becker followed with a sacrifice fly to right, scoring White, and later in the inning, Timmons and Hackett pulled off a double steal—Timmons swiped second while Hackett dashed home to push the lead to 8-0.

Quincy briefly stopped the bleeding in the fifth. After Jimmy Koza walked and Ashton Ertz reached, Tommy Harrison doubled to center to score Ertz. Campana followed with a single up the middle to bring in Koza, cutting the deficit to 8-2.

Clinton answered right back in the bottom half. Becker drew a bases-loaded walk to score Cooke, and Esparza delivered a two-run single to left to plate Timmons and Hackett. Jack Funke capped the scoring with an RBI single to right, scoring Becker and giving Clinton a 12-2 cushion.

Clayton Johnson tossed 2.2 hitless innings as the opener, striking out five but walking four. Jake Weissenberger earned the win in relief, going 3.1 innings with four hits and two earned runs. Clinton swiped eight bases in the win, with three coming from Timmons alone.

The LumberKings play their last regular-season home game on Wednesday against the Quincy Doggy Paddlers. First pitch is set for 6:30 p.m. Fans can watch the game live on www.prospectleaguenetwork.com or listen for free on www.wcciradio.com or tune in on 100.3 WCCI-FM.