MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Clippers have been making the right moves both on and off the field, and it’s resulted in their best season since joining the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League.

The Clippers, who won their franchise best 25th game on Saturday night and clinched a playoff berth for the second time in team history, took a step toward a Northern Division title on Sunday with another victory at Marsh Field.

Muskegon also added another name to its record books. as starting pitcher Jack Decker toed the mound with a chance to set a new team record in wins.

His five-inning performance was enough to help lead the Clippers to an 11-2 win over the Sandusky Ice Haulers.

The Clippers are now 26-5 on the season and three games ahead of second place Lima in the North Division with seven games remaining.

Muskegon will now send eight players to Tuesday’s league All-Star game, which will be played in Mason Ohio.

The Clippers will return to action on Wednesday on the road against the Michigan Monarchs for the start of a three-game series, with the first two games on the road and the third at Marsh on Friday night.

Muskegon will close the regular season next weekend with an important four-game set, all at home, against Lima with the division title on the line. All four games will be at home – two on Saturday and two on Sunday.

Decker tossed his team record-breaking seventh win of the season, allowing two runs on four hits in five innings while striking out seven batters to lead the Clippers.

“He has been absolutely incredible,” said Clippers manager Logan Fleener about Decker. “He didn’t even start the year as a starter for us and he has been so good for us. Today he didn’t have his ace stuff, but we saw how good he was through five innings.”

Muskegon also had great showings from a couple of recently acquired players.

Brett Stanley paced the Clipper offense with two hits, four RBIs and a run scored. Isaiah Lindsey also made a solid first impression, striking out five batters in three innings of relief while not allowing a hit.

“It helps to get new players when you’re winning 20-plus games,” Fleener said. “But we also wanted to make sure they are good human beings because we got something really good going on here and we didn’t want to disrupt it.”

The Clippers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Aaron Piasecki, a single from Stanley and an error that scored Stanley from first base on a pickoff attempt.

The Ice Haulers responded with a run in the second inning on an RBI double by Hudson Davenport.

Muskegon regained its three-run advantage in the third inning with a Nicolas Hawkins sacrifice fly.

Sandusky scored its last run in the fourth inning to cut the Clipper lead to 4-2 on an error.

The Clippers scored three runs in the fifth inning to take a 7-2 advantage. Aidan Arbogast knocked in two runs with a double while Griffin Clark knocked in a single run with a double of his own.

Muskegon added another four runs in the seventh inning and almost added a fifth that would have ended the game on the 10-run mercy rule.

Piasecki walked with the bases loaded to give the Clippers an 8-2 lead, then Stanley cleared the bases with a three-run double to increase Muskegon’s lead to nine runs.

Stanley was stranded at third base, keeping the game alive for the full nine innings of play.

“It’s a little different being the new guy here,” Stanley said after the game. “But we are a family here. I have only been here for one week and I feel like I have been here for months. I saw bases loaded and saw that I could do something positive for the team.

“We have the same common goal for the team. We just need to know each of our roles and perform them.”

North Muskegon native Charlie Branch recorded the final three outs in the ninth inning to seal the victory for the Clippers.