Baseball Recap: Clinton Central Has No Trouble Against Tri-Central

The Clinton Central Bulldogs made easy work of the Tri-Central Trojans on Wednesday and carried off a 14-4 victory. The Bulldogs might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four games by ten runs or more this season.

Dillon Heaton

Hits (Career)

04/30/25 vs Tri-Central	3
04/18/25 @ Faith Christian	2
05/02/24 @ Clinton Prairie	2
04/16/24 @ Rossville	2
04/12/25 vs Twin Lakes	1

Dillon Heaton made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out eight over five innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Clinton Central is 4-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 2-3 otherwise. Heaton was also solid in the batter's box, going 3-for-5 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one double. Those three hits gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, Luke Shelley and Lawrence LaFave did most of the damage at the plate: Shelley went a perfect 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and one RBI, while LaFave went 2-for-3 with three RBI, two runs, and two doubles. Clinton Central is undefeated when Shelley posts two or more stolen bases, but 2-4 otherwise. Brady Boone was another key player, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs and one stolen base.

Clinton Central kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 15 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.2 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matches they've averaged 9.4.

The win made it two in a row for Clinton Central and bumps their season record up to 6-4. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.5 runs over those games. As for Tri-Central, they dropped their record down to 1-7 with the loss, which was their seventh straight on the road dating back to last season.

Coincidentally, Clinton Central and Tri-Central will both be playing Sheridan the next time they take the field. The Trojans will host the Blackhawks at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, while the Bulldogs will head out to face them at 5:00 p.m. on Friday.