PLATTSBURGH — The Clinton County Mariners started the season the right way in winning the Alex Turner Memorial Tournament.
The three day tournament saw the Malone Border Hounds, Diamond Baseball and Montreal Titans visit the area.
All games were played at Veterans Park at the Mariners Baseball Complex.
The Mariners went 3-1 over the tournament. Falling to Diamond Baseball in their second game before getting revenge in the championship.
Alex O’Neal was named MVP of the tournament as he earned two wins on the final day of the competition. O’Neal pitched seven innings of relief in the two games Sunday.
“Winning the Alex Turner tournament was definitely a good way to start the season,” Mariners head coach Gary Duquette said. “Defense was definitely the difference in our first loss to Diamond Baseball Academy and our win against them in the finals.
“Our team chemistry was better than I expected and we are going to need that as the season progresses. I’m anxious to see how this team develops, both as players and teammates. Managing 19 kids on the roster is a tall task but also an exciting one for this year’s coaching staff.”
After traveling to face Malone, Wednesday, the Mariners return to Veterans Park for a four game set against Newburgh Post, beginning Saturday at 3 p.m.
CLINTON COUNTY 2
MALONE 1
The Mariners got off the right foot, Friday as they scored late in a pitcher’s duel to defeat the Border Hounds, 2-1.
Donnie Mitchell scored both runs as one came on a hit by Parker Broughton.
Brady Roberts started the contest but gave up the tying run in the third inning. Jake Frechette came in relief and shut down Malone with seven strikeouts over 4 2/3rd’s of an inning.
Roberts and Frechette both gave up two hits each.
Mitchell, Marcus Griffiths and Zack Engstrom record doubles for Clinton County.
Malone’s Perry, recorded a multi-hit game with a triple and double.
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Clinton County 2, Malone 1
MBB 001 000 0 – 1 4 2
CCM 010 001 x – 2 6 0
Richards, Crawford (5) and Maancelli. Roberts, Frechette (3) and Martinez. WP- Frechette. LP- Crawford. 3B- Perry (MBB), 2B- Mitchell (CCM), M. Griffiths (CCM), Engstrom (CCM) Perry (MBB).
DIAMOND BASEBALL 9
CLINTON COUNTY 8
The Mariners started out strong, scoring six in the first two innings, but an error-filled fourth led to Diamond Baseball to grab the lead and not relinquish it.
Clinton County gave up three errors in the fourth to allow DBA to score five unearned runs. It changed a 7-4 Mariner lead to trailing at 9-7.
The Mariners would add one more run in the sixth to cut the deficit to one, but were unable to get another run across to tie or grab the lead.
Every Mariner that stepped to the plate got on base safely. Only one recorded a multi hit game and that was Frankie Martinez. One of his hits went for extra bases in a double.
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Diamond Baseball 9, Clinton County 8
CCM 150 110 0 – 8 7 3
DBA 220 500 x – 9 7 1
Zuhesdorf, O’Neal (5) and J. Calkins. Merrika, Boyer and Perron. WP- Merrika. LP- O’Neal. HR- Perron (DBA). 2B- Boyer (DBA), Martinez (CCM).
CLINTON COUNTY 6
MONTREAL 5
The Mariners would walk it off.
The Titans scored two in the top of the seventh to tie the contest only for Clinton County to break the tie in the bottom half and end the game.
The Mariners would win 6-5, to move on to the championship game which would be played later Sunday.
Warren Miller pitched five stellar innings for Clinton County, striking out 10 while allowing two earned runs. In the box, Miller went 2-2, with a home run, three RBI and two walks.
Alex O’Neal came in for Miller in relief but gave up the tying run in the sixth. He settled down to strike out four of the six batters he faced to get the win.
Clinton County maintained a steady offense at the plate, tallying up 13 walks to only three strikeouts.
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Clinton County 8, Montreal 5
MON 001 200 2 – 5 6 1
CCM 003 011 1 – 6 8 2
Felix, Leblanc (5) and Sirios. Miller, O’Neal (6) and Martinez. WP- O’Neal. LP- Leblanc. HR- Miller (CCM), Sirios (MON).
CHAMPIONSHIP
CLINTON COUNTY 8
DIAMOND BASEBALL 4
The Mariners took advantage of extra outs to pull away from Diamond Baseball Academy, 8-4, in the championship game.
DBA committed a total of eight errors over the game to allow Clinton County to pull away.
Warren Miller hit his second home run of the season to power the Mariners at the plate.
Nate Baker and Seth Petrashune recorded doubles to help the offense.
Baker, Landen Duprey and Owen Ebersol had multi-hit games as each had two hits.
Only two of Clinton County’s eight runs were earned, as Miller and Zack Engstrom had RBIs.
The Mariners would score in every inning but the third and sixth on their way to getting revenge over Diamond Baseball.
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Clinton County 8, Diamond Baseball 4
CCM 220 110 2 – 8 9 2
DBA 101 000 2 – 4 9 8
T. Griffiths, O’Neal and J. Calkins. Blanco and Boyer. WP- O’Neal. LP- Blanco. HR- Miller (CCM). 2B- Baker (CCM), Petrashune (CCM).