CLINTON — On Saturday morning, Mar. 25, amongst the cool winds and the falling rain drops, the Clinton Maroons had there official 2017 home opener.  

This year’s opener was special because of  a new flagpole beyond the fence in right field, and the Clinton Veterans Color Guard raised the American Flag in dedication of the new flagpole prior to the start of the game.  The crowd then saluted and sang along with the Star Spangled Banner as the song was played.

As for the Maroons, they were pumped up for the occasion.  They had a cool midmorning start to the game, but held the opposing Ridgeview Mustangs (from Colfax, Illinois) scoreless until the fourth inning.  

The Mustangs took the lead in the 4th by bringing 2 runs across the plate.  The hometown Maroons held on until scoring two runs of their own in the bottom of the sixth inning.  The Mustangs were held scoreless in the top of the seventh.  

The game seemed doomed to extra innings, when the Maroons loaded the bases, but also had 2 outs.  Then, Jake Wade arrived at the plate and hit an infield roller, which was mishandled allowing him to reach first base safely and force in the winning run.  Game one was in the books with a Maroon 3-2 win.  

Travis Osgood (2-0) pitched six innings with Wesley Con pitching an inning in relief.

As the drizzling rains kept falling the second game began.  In the top of the first inning, Ridgeview scored first to get things going.  

But, the Maroons had used the prior game to get warmed up and fired up.  The home team came out in the first and scored three runs quickly causing the Ridgeview pitcher to be lifted.  

The Maroons defense became very stingy at this point, allowing no more runs for the Mustangs.  In the meantime, the Maroons racked up six more runs for a 9-1 win.  

Keaton Thayer (1-0) was the winning pitcher for Clinton with Levi Nettles (usually catching) came on for 2 innings of relief pitching.