Clear Creek Amana turns tables on No. 7 Solon in substate baseball semifinals

SOLON — When Robert Meade sliced a fly ball the other way down the right-field line and just over the fence in the top of the first inning, you kind of had an inkling this game was going to be different than the pair played in the regular season.

Boy was it.

Meade’s two-run home run put his Clear Creek Amana baseball team on top early, and the Clippers never trailed in a 6-2 win over No. 7 Solon in a Class 3A substate semifinal Tuesday night.

“Obviously, I didn’t go into that at-bat thinking I was going to hit a home run,” said Meade, who had two this season prior to Tuesday. “I was kind of (thinking) like just hit something hard. It led to two runs, and that was very important. I feel like the team really kind of rallied around that.”

Solon (28-12) swept a Wamac Conference doubleheader between these clubs a couple of weeks ago, 10-2 and 9-3. In Tiffin.

But this was a different field, different pitchers and definitely a different outcome. Clear Creek Amana (23-15) plays either top-ranked Dubuque Wahlert or Mount Vernon in a substate final Wednesday night at a site to be determined.

Short turnaround, for sure, but with a berth in the state tournament on the line, who cares, right?

“Our defense really picked up this game, no errors, which is really important,” Meade said. “Whenever we play clean games, we can win a lot. Obviously our bats are usually hot, I think we’re one of the hottest-hitting teams in the state. I feel like we can do anything right now.”

Maclane Morgan worked a one-out walk in the first for CCA. A batter later, Meade came up with his momentum-shifting hit that landed just over the 310-foot sign down the line.

The Clippers picked up four more runs in the second for a stunning 6-0 lead. A throwing error began the rally, then it was three consecutive singles, including a two-run job by Ty Fuller.

Reece Cochran ran with it from there. Threw with it, actually.

The southpaw starting pitcher worked five good innings, giving up just two hits and a run, striking out seven, including the first three hitters he faced. Solon’s run against him came in the bottom of the third, when Cochrane incurred some wildness.

He walked three and threw a wild pitch that scored a run with just one out. But he settled down and got a strikeout and groundout to limit the damage and worked around a pair of leadoff singles in the fourth.

“Getting out there and getting 1-2-3 with three strikeouts was big,” Cochran said. “That got me going. Of course, Robert with the big home run got us all going. Our defense played clean, I threw strikes for the most part.”

Cochran did not pitch against Solon in the regular season. Freshman Luke Young finished up the upset.

Solon scored a run in the bottom of the seventh and stranded the bases loaded.

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