Clinton Lumber Kings

PERU, Ill. — The Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp (32-23, 20-9) entered the final game of the regular season with their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, but a 7-4 loss to the Clinton LumberKings (34-19, 15-12) —and a lopsided Burlington Bees victory—officially knocked the defending Prospect League Champions out of postseason contention on Wednesday night at Schweickert Stadium.

Despite taking the field still mathematically alive, the Pistol Shrimp's fate was sealed mid-game when the Burlington Bees defeated the Quincy Doggy Paddlers 12-2. That result clinched the second-half Northwest Division crown for Burlington, setting up a championship clash against Clinton on Friday in the Northwest Conference Final.

Clinton used a three-run fifth inning to break a scoreless tie and never looked back, finishing the regular season with a 20-8 second-half record. The LumberKings outhit Illinois Valley 10-3 and swiped five bases while six different players recorded RBIs.

Cougar Cooke opened the scoring with a solo home run to right-center in the fifth—his second of the season. Brett White followed with an RBI infield single, and Jaime Rasmussen capped the frame by getting hit with the bases loaded to force in a run.

After the Pistol Shrimp responded with two runs in the home half of the fifth on a Kyle Gibson RBI groundout and a Pambos Nicoloudes sacrifice fly, Clinton padded the lead in the sixth. James Hackett singled home Cooke and later scored on a throwing error after stealing third.

Tino Bethancourt's solo homer in the bottom of the sixth pulled the hosts back within two, but Bryk Barnard delivered the knockout blow with a two-run single in the eighth to make it 7-3. Barnard finished 2-for-2 with a walk and two RBIs in a pinch-hitting role.

Illinois Valley added a run in the bottom of the eighth on a Tyler Dorsch RBI single, but were held scoreless in the ninth by Clinton closer Luke Kehrli, who picked up his second save with a clean inning.

Camden Clewett (2-3) earned the win in relief for Clinton, allowing just one hit across two scoreless innings. Starter Nick Baffa tossed two shutout frames, and five LumberKings pitchers combined to strike out five and walk seven.

Bryce Loeger (1-3) suffered the loss for Illinois Valley, giving up three runs on six hits over five innings. The Pistol Shrimp mustered only three hits as a team, two coming from Bethancourt.

The LumberKings turned three double plays defensively and stole five bases on the night, including two from Drew Terpins, who also laid down two sacrifice bunts.

Friday's Northwest Conference Championship between the LumberKings and Bees will be hosted in Clinton at NelsonCorp Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. The winner advances to the Prospect League Championship Series.

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.