NORFOLK, Va. – What would have been a near-perfect southern trip for the Clearfield Area High School baseball team was spoiled by one of the top teams in the Tidewater area Saturday afternoon.
Unbeaten Maury, ranked No. 1 in the Eastern District and No. 10 overall among 46 Tidewater teams by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper, rode the pitching of standout lefthander Karter Rivera and Kevin Granett to its third consecutive shutout, 9-0.
The Commodore hurlers combined on a two-hitter, chalking up five strikeouts apiece while not allowing any walks.
Aside from the loss, coach Sid Lansberry was pleased with the Bisons\’ progress over the four days.
\”As far as getting things accomplished and evaluating players, it was a very successful trip,\” he said. \”The weather was great. We got in a lot of practice and had two good scrimmages.\”
After scoring 19 runs on 22 hits in the scrimmages, Clearfield discovered why Rivera is being recruited by The College of William & Mary.
The hard-throwing senior, 6-2 with a 1.06 earned run average last year, allowed both Bison hits in his four innings.
\”The kid is impressive, definitely one of the best pitchers we\’ll see this year,\” Lansberry said. \”He\’s about 6-1, real smooth with good control and a real nice curve ball.\”
Jarrin Campman and Michael Moyer had singles for the Bisons, who were unable to solve Granett for any safeties over the last three innings.
\”The fact we didn\’t hit was the caliber of pitching, plus it\’s so early,\” said Lansberry, noting the Bisons never got outside for a practice before heading south. \”We had some defensive lapses and a couple of mental mistakes, but I wasn\’t disappointed in our pitching.\”
Moyer was the starter and loser, surrendering three hits and three runs in four innings. He struck out four, walked three and hit two Commodores. Southpaw Corey Bookhamer relieved and gave up four hits and six runs, only two of which were earned.
\”I thought Moyer pitched pretty well,\” Lansberry said. \”He had a little control problem, but two of the hits in the inning they scored the three runs were nubbers. Even Bookhamer deserved a better fate. We kind of self-destructed in the fifth inning.\”
Maury cashed two walks and the two infield hits with two outs into a 3-0 lead in the second frame. Lucas William\’s two-run single was the key blow.
Clearfield\’s lone threat came in the fourth. Rivera plunked Bookhamer, and Derek Danver\’s grounder was thrown away at first, putting the two runners in scoring position with no outs. However, the Commodores turned Aaron Sayers\’ comebacker into a double play.
In the fifth, Maryland-bound catcher Marcus Breeden belted an RBI-triple to right before a walk and four Clearfield errors gave the Commodores four more runs.
Granett homered in the sixth for the Commodores, who have scored 37 runs and given up only four hits in 19 innings.
Weather permitting, the Bisons will go on the road Friday to play Philipsburg-Osceola in their Central Penn League opener.
CLEARFIELD — 0
Dave Ryan cf 3000, Parker Herrington ss 3000, Jarrin Campman 2b 3010, Michael Moyer p-1b 2010, Chris Barr ph 1000, Tanner St. Clair dh 2000, Isaac Butler ph 1000, Matt Lonjin c 0000, David Welker rf 2000, Matt Flanagan ph 1000, Corey Bookhamer 1b-p 1000, Chad Zurat pr 0000, Kyle Timchak ph 1000, Derek Danver 3b 2000, Ben Kline 3b 0000, Aaron Sayers lf 2000, Justin Hoffman lf 0000. TOTALS: 24 0 2 0.
MAURY — 9
Tyon Ore cf 4021, Lucas William 2b 4012, Kevin Granett 3b-p 2221, Marcus Breeden c 3111, Karter Rivera p-1b 3100, Coby Cowgill rf 3200, Ron Hatcher 1b-3b 2200, Raoul Bashara ss 2000, David Aquinas lf 3110. TOTALS: 26 9 7 5.
Score by Innings:
Clearfield 000 000 0 — 0 2 5
Maury 030 051 x — 9 7 2
Errors – Herrington, Campman, Kline 3; Granett, Bashara. DP – Clearfield 1 (Moyer, Herrington and Bookhamer); Maury 1 (Granett, Rivera and Hatcher). LOB – Clearfield 4; Maury 6. 3B – Breeden. HR – Granett. SB – Cowgill 2.
Pitching
Clearfield – Moyer 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K; Bookhamer 2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
Maury – Rivera 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K; Granett 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K.
HB – Moyer 2 (Granett, Hatcher); Granett 1 (Bookhamer).
WP – Rivera (2-0). LP – Moyer (0-1).
HB – Moyer 2 (Granett, Hatcher); Granett 1 (Bookhamer).
WP – Rivera (2-0). LP – Moyer (0-1).