Clinton joins party at top of Rock Valley Rock Division baseball standings

WHITEWATER — A strong offensive outing combined with some great pitching from starter Logan Thill helped the Clinton baseball team officially locked in a three-way tie for the Rock Valley Conference Rock Division championship.

With the Cougars’ 7-2 win over Whitewater on Monday, Clinton, Beloit Turner and Brodhead/Juda all finish conference play with a 9-6 record.

The Whippets struck first with a run in the first inning before Logan Thill tied it with an RBI groundout in the second and an error brought Payton Whalen home on the same play for the 2-1 lead.

Gavin Wesling had an RBI triple and Grayson Guetschow a one-run single as part of a four-run third for Clinton (12-7 overall). Thill’s RBI double in the seventh gave the Cougars their seventh and final run.

Logan Hendricks and Guetschow each had two of Clinton’s 11 hits. Thill limited Whitewater (2-19, 0-14 RVC Valley) to just two runs (one earned) on three singles and three walks with nine strikeouts. Whalen threw the seventh and allowed a single but got a double play to face the minimum.

CLINTON 7, WHITEWATER 2

Clinton 024 000 1 — 7 11 3

Whitewater 100 001 0 — 2 4 2

Leading hitters — Hendricks (C) 2x4, Guetschow (C) 2x3. 2B — Hendricks (C) 2, Thill (C), Moe (C). 3B — Wesling (C).

Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) — C: Thill W, 6-3-2-1-3-9, Whalen 1-1-0-0-0-0. W: Pope 2-2-2-1-0-1, Carollo L, 3-6-5-4-3-3-1, Rohloff 2-3-1-1-1-1.