Grafton’s baseball season came to a disappointing end Friday afternoon as the Clippers fell 13-2 to Hanover at home in the 4A South semifinal.
The Clippers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning after a hit-by-pitch and three consecutive walks allowed Grafton an easy run.
In the top of the fourth inning, a pair of fielding errors by Grafton (14-9) helped give way to a four-run inning by Hanover that was capped by a pair of RBI singles.
Grafton got a run back in the bottom of the fifth inning as Evan Sperling delivered an RBI single to center field, driving in DJ Dobbins to cut Hanover’s lead to 4-2.
The Hawks countered once again, this time reeling off seven runs in the top of the sixth inning that included a two-run home run by Cayman Richardson.
A Hanover home-run by Jack Dragum in the top of the seventh all but ended the game putting the Hawks up 13-2.
The Clippers were only able to reach base once in the bottom of the seventh, ending their season a game shy of the state tournament.
Hanover: 000;407;2 – 13 12 1
Grafton: 010;010;0 – 2 3 2
WP: Jack Dragum
LP: Ricks Dearing
Hanover: Jack Dragum (2-4, 3 RBIs), Camden Grimes (2-5, 3 RBIs)
Grafton: Evan Sperling (1-2, RBI), Zach Lechthaler (RBI)
