MUSKEGON – The 2023 Muskegon Clippers don’t do losing streaks.

They haven’t lost two games in a row all season, and they weren’t about to start on Saturday, despite facing a three-run deficit and a four-run deficit at different points in the game.

There was just too much to be gained from one more victory, and they kept battling until they got it.

The Clippers came from behind two different times and eventually emerged with an exciting 9-8 victory over the Sandusky Ice Haulers at Marsh Field.

The win clinched a Great Lakes Collegiate Summer League playoff spot for the first-place Clippers with eight games remaining in the regular season.

The 2023 Muskegon Clippers pose after setting a new team record for wins in a season. Photo/Jeremy Clark

It also set a new single season team record for victories at 25.

The first-place Clippers, 25-5, will complete their three-game series against Sandusky at home on Sunday afternoon.

“We as a staff sit and talk about our goals, and goal number one was make the playoffs,” said Clippers Manager Logan Fleener. “We can put a check in the box on that one.

“It’s pretty cool for what the Gawkowskis (owner Pete and general manager Walt) do for this organization. They deserve it.”

Fleener said it will be a lot of fun to have playoff games at Marsh Field, in front of the big, enthusiastic crowds that regularly show up to cheer the team on.

Clippers relief pitcher Gavin Sitarz, who tossed three crucial scoreless innings. Photo/Jeremy Clark

“We know how special it is to play here, and when we put a playoff game in front of these fans, it will be a huge advantage for us,” he said.

Fleener, a former Clipper player himself, said it was special to break the single-season team win record – but his focus is getting even more important victories in the stretch run over the next few weeks.

“I am glad we got it and it’s incredible and we are thankful for being a part of it,” he said. “Now let’s win seven or eight more.”

The game did not start out very hopeful for the Clippers, who fell behind 3-0 in the top of the second inning. Two of those Sandusky runs came on a homer by Rhett Stokes.

Muskegon got a run back in the bottom of the second, but the Ice Haulers answered in the third, making the score a worrisome 4-1.

Clippers catcher Jabin Bates applies a tag to a Sandusky runner as he slides across the plate. Photo/Jeremy Clark

That led to the first Clippers rally, in the bottom of the fourth, when they scored three runs on RBI singles by Brandon Scheurer, Sam Lisiak and Jabin Bates and tied the score 4-4.

That deadlock didn’t lost long, however, because Sandusky got a pair of two-run homers from Stokes and Luke Walton in the top of the fifth to take another commanding lead, 8-4.

But the Clippers fought back yet again, scoring three runs in the bottom of the inning on a two-run double by Lisiak and an RBI single by Bates, leaving them trailing 8-7 heading into the sixth.

Muskegon stole the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth. Stony Smith was hit by a pitch, Colin Cornwell singled, then newcomer Brett Stanley hit a bloop single to right field and both runners ended up scoring after a throwing error.

Stanley finished with three hits and one RBI, Lisiak had two hits and three RBIs and Bates had two hits and two RBIs.

Fleener said the hitters showed a lot of determination and executed well, unlike on Friday, when they left runners in scoring position in the ninth inning in a one-run loss to Sandusky.

Muskegon’s Brandon Scheurer gets his bat on a pitch. Photo/Jeremy Clark

“Before the game we had a talk about execution in the game of baseball,” the manager said. “Sometimes you can’t control that, but what you can control is the mental toughness side. My challenge to them was no matter what happens, if you’re down 15 runs or the strike zone is small as a Coke can or as large as Texas, we can keep playing the game.”

Muskegon obviously had some pitching issues for the first five innings, but reliever Gavin Sitarz slammed the door on the Ice Haulers, keeping them scoreless in the sixth, seventh and eighth. He only allowed one hit and one walk while striking out two.

Former Mona Shores standout and MSU commit Jaxon Huffman closed out the win in the ninth, retiring the side in order.

“Gavin came in and the plan was one inning and see how he does,” Fleener said about Sitarz. “He was begging for the ninth. We said he did everything he could do and he played too well for something to go wrong. He was to me the player of the game.”