In the blink of an eye, the visiting Central Lee Hawks grasped a 4-0 lead before the Lions took the plate. The Lions would claw their way back into the game before Central Lee closed the door, winning 12-3 on Wednesday, June 14.

Freshman Emmett Burke pitched on the mound and after the first inning, really settled into the game. In the second inning, he forced two flyouts, had a strikeout and saw a ground ball that was too hot to handle for the shortstop, senior Drew Gauley, committing an error on the play.

Gauley would redeem himself with an RBI single in the bottom of the second. With two outs, Lone Tree found life, loading the bases on a walk, hit by pitch and infield single by senior Joe Boxwell. Gauley streaked a ball between the first and second baseman for the first Lion run of the night. Boxwell would be caught trying to score on the same play, ending the inning.

For Burke, the third inning was quick, three up, three down very fast with two flyouts and a popup. 

A fourth inning rally brought the Lions to within one. Junior Harry Brenneman started the inning with a walk. Boxwell redeemed himself with an RBI double deep in right center field. Boxwell would eventually score after senior Caden Smith walked. It took a double play off of an infield fly with Boxwell hustling home and the catcher not covering home base for the Lions to claw their way back into it, down by just one.

After another quick inning of work by Burke, the Lions were back into the batter’s box for a chance at tying the game. Instead, the Lions did not record a hit for the remainder of the game. 

Burke’s stranglehold on the Hawks dwindled in the sixth inning, seeing the 7-6 Hawks come to life, scoring seven runs. The Hawks would use momentum built in this game to beat the 16-1 Van Buren County Warriors the very next night.

The Hawks added another run in the top of the seventh, making it 12-3, the eventual final. The Lions needed a miracle to come back in the bottom of the seventh. In one final attempt to break through on Central Lee’s reliever, Gauley started the inning by forcing a walk, a good start. The next two batters were called out and then Burke stepped to the plate, reaching on a Central Lee error. The Lion rally was cut short as the next batter struck out.

Lone Tree 2, Louisa-Muscatine 9, 6/15

The Lions losing streak stretched to eight after visiting conference foe Louisa-Muscatine. The Lions yet again found themselves in a close contest before L-M pulled away in the end. It was 4-2 before L-M added five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. L-M sits third in the conference behind Highland and Hillcrest with a 7-8 record.  

Lone Tree 4, Pekin 12, 6/16

The Lions came back home for the third straight game in as many nights, facing yet another conference opponent in the Pekin Panthers. 

Pekin’s offense poured in the first three innings, having 11 of 12 runs scored in these frames. Lone Tree scored two in the top of the first, keeping it close initially. Lone Tree would add two more in the bottom of the fifth to cut the Pekin lead to eight, watching the next two innings pass without incident. 

After the ninth straight loss, the Lone Tree Lions sit at 1-12 and are last place in the SEISC – North. Leading the way for the Lions is both Mathew Hemsted and Ethan Bockelman who have an identical seven hits with a .269 ERA. Bockelman’s brought home seven runs with Hemsted bringing home five this season.

The Lions are gearing up for the final action of the baseball season. They travel to Wapello on June 20, come back home for a matchup against Danville on June 21, stay home against Winfield-Mt Union on June 22 and then travel to Riverside to play the Highland Huskies on June 23. Their final regular season matchup is slated against BGM on June 27.