Clippers win first road game!
HILLSDALE, MI - It wasn’t easy for the scrappy Muskegon Clippers in the series finale on the road against in-state rival Michigan Monarchs. Though, for a team that has been together for less than a week, the 2026 Clips start a promising campaign 2-1 after an extra-inning affair that saw 19 combined runs. When Muskegon needed him most, Texas native Dalton Dick came through in the top of the ninth with a two-out, two-RBI single to propel the Clippers to an early-season 12-7 win over the Monarchs.
The Monarchs hit the Clips with a big right hook in the third inning, posting five runs on just two hits, which gave them the early lead. Two-way AJ Park would inch Muskegon a tad closer with a solo shot in the top of the fifth, giving the Clippers something to work for as they played through the second half of the game.
Right-hander Carson Merritt made his Clippers debut during game three of the series and was a big part of Muskegon’s mid-game rally when he went three scoreless innings.
In the top of the sixth, the Clips got hot and rallied all the way back after drawing a slew of walks and scoring on a few passed balls and a couple of balks. Plate discipline and excellent baserunning left the Monarch faithful looking at the big scoreboard in right-center, with their guys all of a sudden trailing 6-5.
Clipper skipper Brian Wright would opt to give the ball to Chase Schwierking, a returning Clipper, for the seventh and eighth innings. He would go on to toss a scoreless frame in the seventh but gave up the lead in the eighth after a controversial safe call on the latter half of a double play.
After a scoreless inning in the ninth, fans and players would get to play free baseball in extra innings. It was in the tenth that Clips hitters would finally break through as they went down the order, placing a five-spot on the Monarchs to try and overcome.
RHP Ty Randall would slam the door, however, and seal the opening-day weekend series for Muskegon.
The Clippers advance to 2-1 and will be back in action Tuesday for a three-game set in Flag City, OH, against the Sluggers.