North Clay/Clay City Advances to Sectional Championship Game

The North Clay/Clay City Cardinals advanced to the championship game of the St. Anthony 1A Baseball Sectional Wednesday with a 13-3 six-inning win over the Okaw Valley Timberwolves. The game was heard on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com. 

Good hitting by the Cardinals and good pitching by starter Carson Burkett keyed the win. Burkett pitched four scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and striking out five.

In the meantime, North Clay scored five runs in the first two innings to put the Timberwolves on their heels. Donnie Zimmerman singled home Collyn Ballard and Brady Ingram in the first inning, and Holden Clifton socked a bases-clearing triple to score Layton Dawkins, Ballard and Logan Fleener in the second inning.

The Cardinals made it 7-0 with two runs in the fourth inning. A wild pitch scored Ballard and Clifton singled home Fleener. 

Okaw Valley finally broke through with three runs in the fifth inning, but the Cardinals got a run back in the bottom of the fifth when Ballard drove in Bryton Griffy to make it 8-3, and the Cardinals sealed the deal with a five-run sixth inning on a double by Fleener, a balk and a double by Clifton to drive home Fleener, a two-run single by Burkett to drive in Clifton and Zimmerman, and Layton Dawkins' two-run single driving home Burkett and Dakota Weidner to provide the 10-run margin of victory.

Clifton pitched the final two innings for North Clay/Clay City, allowing the three runs on three hits and a walk while striking out three.

North Clay/Clay City improved to 29-6 on the season, the most ever wins by the Cardinals in a season, while Okaw Valley closed out their season with a 16-12 mark.

The Cardinals will play for the sectional championship on Saturday at 11am against the winner of Thursday's St. Anthony vs. Windsor/Stew-Stras game. We will have the Bulldogs and Hatchets game on KJ Country 102.3 and www.kjcountry.com.