At 34-33, This Was Not Exactly a Pitchers’ Duel

Prairie Farm set a national high school record by scoring 33 runs against Clayton. Unfortunately, the record was for a losing team.

“Nobody could find the plate,” Clayton Coach Gary Gill said after his Bears beat the Panthers, 34-33, in an eight-inning game Thursday. “It was like batting practice.”

The previous record for most runs by a losing prep team was 26 by Hauser, Ind., in 1980. Hauser lost that game to Morristown, Ind., by two runs.

The 67-run total in Thursday’s game was the second highest total for a high school game, but it fell far short of the record set in Iowa when Atlantic beat Griswold, 109-0, in 1928.

Clayton and Prairie Farm combined for 46 hits, 13 home runs and 34 walks. Each team used four pitchers.

Prairie Farm (7-1) scored 12 runs in the fourth, including Dana Kallenbach’s two-run homer. He also had a three-run homer in the fifth and a solo homer in the seventh.

The Bears (5-5) trailed, 24-17, after five innings, then scored six runs in the seventh to tie the game and send it into extra innings.

The winning run scored after Josh Knops reached base on an error and Corey Berghammer was walked intentionally. Both came home after Ron Lahmers’ grounder to third was thrown past the first baseman.