Martin had its bats working Saturday against Athens in the first round of the 
Climax-Scotts Baseball Tournament and won 11-3. But in the championship round, Clipper bats went silent as they lost to Union City 11-0.
Union City had earned their berth in the championship game with a 13-2 victory over host Climax-Scotts.
Garrett Dill was the starter for Martin in the opener, going three innings. He gave up only two hits and one unearned run. Tyler Smith finished up, pitching four inning, giving up 7 hits and no earned runs. Smith got the victory.
Martin scored seven times in the second inning and added two in the third and two in the fifth.
Garrett Alltman, Dill, Caleb Hunderman and Matt Kerley each had two hits for Martin and Hunderman led the way with three runs batted in. The Clippers also stole 10 bases in the contest and now have 46 on the season and have only been thrown out twice.
“Speed is a big part of our game and if we can get on base, we can make things happen,” said Martin Coach Jon Gambee. “We make the other team get out of sync and we force them into bad throws.”
In the second game, Martin did not get a lot of chances to steal, as the Clippers only managed two hits against Union City. Hunderman had one and Saul Altman the other. Hunderman had the only stolen base.
“We hit the ball hard but did not have anything to show for it. Scott Kerley was zero for six on the day and hit the ball harder than anyone. That’s just baseball,” Gambee said.
Freshman Joey Verberkmoes was the starter and took the loss.
Martin is now 3-7 on the season and will travel to Bloomingdale for a Southwest Athletic Conference game Monday.
