As Legion Regionals are set to get underway from Bonduel tonight, the Clintonville Diamond Cats already know they’ll have a spot in the Class A State Tournament by being the host team, but they’re not taking it for granted. Manager Randy Finger says they’re not looking ahead to state just yet. “We are going in on a roll. We are going to win the regional tournament, that’s our goal. One game at a time.”
Finger says his team is probably playing the best baseball they have in a while, capping off the season by beating Wittenberg 5-4. The Diamond Cats were champions of this year’s Clipper Invite in New London, but followed that performance by losing to Iola in a route, but Finger believes that opened his team’s eyes.
“It was a reality check. The team overlooked Iola, they thought they had the win in the bag already, no one was going to beat them” Finger said. “It’s actually not a bad thing. Sometimes a loss is a really good thing because it puts things in perspective.”
The Diamond Cat bats have been able to put up runs consistently this season, with some solid pitching performances throughout the year as well, but it’s not the physical part of the game that does the team in.
“This team can beat anybody, but there’s certain times if they’re not in it mentally will lay an egg. If they can stay up, there’s not many teams around that can beat us.”
Clintonville will open regional play at 6 p.m. in Bonduel against Niagara.