Bisons, Chucks Hope to Salvage Season in D9 AAA Finals
HYDE – The 2007 season has been a disappointing one for the Clearfield and Punxsutawney schoolboy baseball teams, but that will change for one of them Wednesday when they meet in the District 9 Class AAA championship game at the Brockway Area High School Field.
HYDE – The 2007 season has been a disappointing one for the Clearfield and Punxsutawney schoolboy baseball teams, but that will change for one of them Wednesday when they meet in the District 9 Class AAA championship game at the Brockway Area High School Field.
A berth in the PIAA Playoffs will be an additional reward for the winner of the 4:30 p.m. rematch of last year\’s finale, which Punxsy won 5-2.
Based on preseason expectations, the 8-12 Bisons and 11-7 Chucks have underachieved, though the caliber of opponents in the highly-competitive Central Penn League has a lot to do with those records.
Clearfield returned six starters from an 11-9 squad, while Punxsy lost only two regulars and one other senior from the 2006 district title team and was ranked No. 1 in the state by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
\”I think we\’re a better team than our record indicates, but we\’ve been inconsistent,\” Clearfield coach Sid Lansberry said. \”We\’ve played some really good games against some really good teams, and we had three or four games where we were just flat. We\’ve had complete meltdowns this year.\”
The Bisons are 1-4 in one-run games, including road losses to CPL champion State College 7-6 and Districts 2-4 runnerup Williamsport 5-4. The Bisons carried two-run leads into the bottom of the seventh inning in both of those games. They also lost 2-1 in eight innings at Altoona and 3-0 to Bellefonte in a game that was scoreless through six innings.
Clearfield also fell 10-4 to DuBois, which finished 4-15, and 6-5 to St. Marys, which wound up 8-11.
Ineffective pitching and defensive breakdowns factored into one-sided losses to Punxsutawney 10-1, Bald Eagle Area 13-1, Philipsburg-Osceola 12-0 and Somerset 16-7.
In 125-2/3 innings, the Bison mound staff has allowed 169 hits, 76 walks and 93 earned runs for a 6.80 ERA. Because of errors, the unearned run total skied to 33.
Going into Monday\’s practice, Lansberry still was uncertain who would start against Punxsy.
\”We\’ve used five different starters, and they\’ve all pitched well at times, but they\’ve been inconsistent,\” he said. \”We\’ll make a decision after practice Tuesday.\”
Senior lefthander Andrew Janocko (3-5) leads the Bisons in wins and ERA (4.71) as well as innings pitched (44-2/3) and strikeouts (35), but he also has given up the most hits (67) and runs (41, 11 of which were unearned).
Since most of the Chucks hit from the right side, the nod could go to one of four righties – senior Brandon Evans (2-2, 5.44 in 10 games), sophomore Michael Moyer (2-4, 5.64 in eight games), Doug Kephart (0-1, 7.29 in three games) or junior Drew Hipps (1-0, 1.17 in one start).
Moyer was the loser in the rain-shortened April 11 game against Punxsy, though he surrendered only three hits in 4-1/3 innings. Lansberry\’s strategy in the past always has been to give the district tourney foes a different look, so Moyer might be in the bullpen.
A sore ankle could be an issue for Hipps, who turned in a solid effort against Hollidaysburg with a six-hit, 11-1 win in his only outing on May 8. He was hit by a pitch while batting in a Legion game Saturday and limped off the field. Arm and health problems prevented him from seeing more action on the mound, though he started most games in the outfield.
Kephart almost made his lone start a dandy as he had State College beaten until the seventh inning on May 18.
Evans began the season as the No. 1 starter but saw less action as a pitcher down the stretch after being switched from first base to catcher for defensive purposes.
Lansberry is hoping the Bisons continue to swing the bat they way they have. The team average is .318.
Five regulars are hitting at least .357, led by shortstop Adam Jury\’s .493 (34-for-69). Second baseman James Zimmerman is next at .384 (28-for-73), followed by third baseman Kyle Kline (.379, 22-for-58), Hipps (.359, 14-for-39) and sophomore leftfielder Tanner St. Clair (.357, 15-for-42).
Kline and centerfielder Kephart (.275) share the RBI lead with 16. Jury and Evans (.267) have 14 ribbies apiece, St. Clair has 13 and Zimmerman has 12.
Though averaging almost six runs a game, the Bisons have had opportunities to score even more.
\”We have left a lot of runners on base,\” Lansberry noted. \”That\’s something that\’s deceiving. You can have a high team batting average but not drive in a lot of runs. In some of the games we lost, we consistently left 10 or 11 runners on base.\”
If Evans pitches, Wil Bacharach (.250) will go behind the plate. Lansberry is counting on Kline to be ready after getting plunked on his left elbow in a scrimmage last week. Lucas Malloy or soph Corey Bookhamer will be at first. And junior David Ryan (.333) will be in the outfield if Hipps or Kephart start on the mound.
Punxsy, which finished 5-7 in the CPL, probably will counter with senior lefty Nick Gillung (3-2), who pitched a six-hitter with seven strikeouts in last year\’s title game, or junior righthander Christian Muth (4-1), who fashioned a two-hitter and struck out eight Bisons in their previous meeting this season.
\”Gillung beat us in the district finals last year, but I think Muth actually has better stats this year,\” Lansberry. \”Most of the kids know what they\’re up against. I don\’t think there are any secrets with either team. We\’ve seen their kids since Teener League. We know it\’s a dangerous lineup.\”
At the top of that batting order is highly-touted catcher Devin Mesoraco, recently named the 2007 Gatorade Thirst Quencher Pennsylvania Baseball Player of the Year. He\’s ranked among Baseball America\’s top 100 high school prospects and is projected to be selected in the early rounds of the Major League Draft in early June. He already has received a scholarship from the University of Virginia.
Mesoraco, who hammered a homer against the Bisons at Brockway last year, is hitting .467 with four home runs and 16 runs batted in. His on-base average is .632, reflecting the many times he has been walked as teams pitched around him. And his slugging percentage is a lofty .911.
Leftfielder Chris Reeseman, Gillung and third baseman Austin Furman provide punch behind Mesoraco at the top of the Punxsy lineup. Moyer induced Mesoraco into a pair of groundouts and walked him once. Gillung\’s two-run double, Furman\’s two-run single and David Pisano\’s three-run triple were the key blows for the Chucks. Shortstop Chad Davis added two singles.
\”They\’re a pretty good team,\” Lansberry said. \”I\’m sure they expected to have a better record, but that\’s a testament to our league. Day in and day out, there\’s a tough opponent waiting for you. Nine teams out of 14 made it to district finals. That\’s an indication of how good the league is.\”
For the record, Williamsport (10-9) lost 6-3 to undefeated Wallenpaupack (19-0) in the Districts 2-4 Class AAAA title game last week, while District 6 finals at the Blair County Ballpark in Altoona will pit State College (14-5) against Hollidaysburg (12-8) in Class AAAA at 10 a.m. and Indian Valley (11-7) against Lewistown (11-9) in Class AAA at 1 p.m. Wednesday and Bald Eagle Area (17-5) against Philipsburg-Osceola (12-9) in Class AA at 7 p.m. Thursday.
The other three CPL teams that entered the District 6 Playoffs were eliminated by familiar foes. Altoona (12-8) lost 6-1 to Hollidaysburg in the AAAA semifinal, while Bellefonte (14-8) bowed 11-6 to Indian Valley in an AAA semi after ousting Huntingdon (9-11) by 9-6.
Lansberry knows the Bisons will need a peak performance to be one of the four CPL teams that will crowned district champions.
\”I think we would have to play our best game of the year to beat Punxsy,\” he said. \”We\’ve been so inconsistent. It all depends on which team shows up.\”
