Winning the City League baseball title in their final year in the league would have been the ideal way for the Clay Eagles to finish off an up-and-down 2011 season.

The Eagles, however, lost to eventual league champion Whitmer, 6-1, in the CL tournament semifinals last Sunday at Scott Park.

Second-year coach Garry Isbell's squad finished with a 17-11 record (8-2 CL) but fell short of its goals of winning a league championship and making a long postseason run.

“I purposely set up a tough schedule for the kids,” Isbell said. “I thought we could handle it and hoped it would prepare us for the postseason. We had 11 losses and seven of them were by one run. The worst we lost by was to Whitmer (in the CL semis). We could have easily been 24-3, or whatever. It is what it is.

Sophomore pitcher Jordan Grosjean	Senior shortstop Jake Bedra

“Every time we had a loss, it was basically from lack of timely hitting or being able to produce hits with runners in scoring position. Our fielding percentage was .942, but every error we made led to unearned runs that scored and hurt us. When you lose seven one-run games, it kills you. Every mistake we made came back to haunt us. That's the nature of the beast in baseball.”

Clay's two CL losses during the regular season – both by one run - came against regular-season champion St. John's Jesuit and final four champ Whitmer, which beat Start 9-2 in Tuesday's title game. The Eagles, who are moving to the Three Rivers Athletic Conference next year, crushed Start 9-2 earlier this season.

Clay had a difficult non-league schedule that included wins over Southview, Maumee, Bedford (Mich.), Lancaster and Anthony Wayne. The Eagles swept a doubleheader against Bedford, which was 21-0 at the time. They also lost to fifth-ranked Perrysburg, which reached the Division I state semifinals, 1-0 in nine innings, and twice to North Royalton (7-6 and 8-7).

After a 4-6 start, which included two losses to Bryan, Clay went on a nine-game winning streak and, according to Isbell, “We were on fire going into our sectional (final) game against Springfield.”

The Blue Devils blanked the Eagles, 5-0, to advance to districts.

“I think our kids were a little overconfident and we got our butts handed to us,” Isbell said. “We had some costly walks and they took advantage of it. That kind of started our downfall in terms of execution. It was tough for the kids to recover. We've just been playing mediocre ball since that loss.”

The Eagles had several players stand out during the season, including senior pitcher Jesse Castilleja, who went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA in 47 innings with 66 strikeouts and 21 walks. He also batted .342 with five home runs, 10 doubles and team-high 24 RBI.

“If we would have won the final four, he would have gotten (CL) player of the year,” Isbell said. “There are so many good players, but he was definitely a front-runner because of what he did at the plate and on the mound. He had an exceptional year. He got voted to the Mizuno All-Ohio team.”

Clay's other top pitchers were sophomore Jordan Grosjean and junior reliever Brett Jordan. Grosjean went 4-3 with a 4.35 ERA in 48.2 innings, with 55 strikeouts and 18 walks.

“All the pro scouts went nuts over him this year because of the velocity on his fastball,” Isbell said. “He has a tremendous upside and a bright future if he takes care of business.”

Jordan was 0-3 with a 2.57 ERA in 38 innings, with 32 strikeouts and 11 walks.

“He was put in a lot of bad situations this year,” Isbell said. “He didn't have one bad outing all year.”

Sophomore outfielder Lucas Robson led the team with a .391 batting average to go along with two home runs, 10 doubles and 19 RBI.

“He went 0-for-3 against Whitmer (Monday) and that was the first time he dipped below .400 all year,” Isbell said. “He's a very good hitter and a very good outfielder. He definitely has a bright future at Clay.”

Junior right fielder/pitcher Ross Achter hit .370, while senior second baseman Nick Sheehan hit .365 with one home run, nine doubles and a team-high 17 stolen bases.

“Ross was a pleasant surprise at the plate for us,” Isbell said. “He had a very good junior year, which is going to carry over for him to have an explosive senior year. Nick Sheehan had a phenomenal senior year and he was a leader on and off the field.”

Senior DH/outfielder Sam Berry hit .362 with 12 stolen bases, while Ohio State signee Austin Achter hit .340 with three homers, five doubles, three triples, 17 RBI and 13 stolen bases.

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