CLEARFIELD – Identical twins Bryce and Bryan Greene of Milesburg were double trouble for the Clearfield Little League 11-and-12 All-Stars in a District 5 Northern Tier elimination game at William McNamee Memorial Field Monday evening.
The right-handers split the pitching duties, combining for a five-hitter with eight strikeouts.
They each drove in one run and scored a run.
And Bryce turned in sparkling defensive plays at shortstop in the last two innings to help preserve the win for Brian, who shut out Clearfield on two hits over the last three frames as Milesburg advanced to the loser\’s bracket semifinal with a 5-1 triumph.
Clearfield bowed out of the tourney with a 1-2 record, managing only seven hits in the two losses.
The hosts couldn\’t get a clutch hit against Bryce Greene in the first two innings, stranding five runners.
They were on the verge of breaking through in the first when Matt Kushner led off with a single down the third base line and Wyatt Westen walked. Kushner went to third on a wild pitch and a passed ball. Westen moved up on a wild pitch.
However, they remained at second and third when Bryce Greene recorded the first of his five strikeouts, caught a soft liner and, after walking Trey Jordan to fill the sacks, hauled in an inning-ending pop-up.
After keeping Milesburg off the scoreboard for three innings, Christian Lezzer staked Clearfield to the early lead with a home run to center field on Greene\’s first pitch in the bottom of the third.
Lezzer\’s pitch count soared, though, because Milesburg batters were getting deep into the count before either striking out or drawing a walk. The hard-throwing right-hander fanned the side in both the second and third innings but issued five free passes.
He took a no-hitter into the fourth, when Darek Eckley drilled a single through the middle.
After notching his eighth strikeout, Lezzer topped the 85-pitch limit while walking Colton Comly and had to leave the mound.
Westen relieved and promptly registered a strikeout, but Bryce Greene doubled to deep left to chase in Eckley with the tying run.
An infield miscue by Clearfield enabled Milesburg to grab the lead in the fifth. Bryan Greene reached base on the error and advanced to third on a passed ball and wild pitch before scooting home with the winning run when Westen threw out Eckley at first. Later, Comly came through with a two-out single to left for a big insurance run.
The speedy Lezzer tried to ignite a Clearfield comeback by one-hopping a triple off the fence in center with one out. Derek Hryn and Jordan walked on eight pitches, loading the bases.
Bryce Greene quelled the threat by turning back-to-back grounders to short into forceouts.
First, he scooped up Seth Ford\’s bouncer and fired home to nip Lezzer, with catcher Nate Cleaver making a nice play on a low throw. Then, he lunged to his left to rob Kelton Rishel of a potential game-tying hit and stepped on second to end the inning.
In the sixth, a walk and Bryce Greene\’s bunt single led to two more Milesburg runs. Mitch Struble tagged up on Brian Greene\’s fly to center, and Bryce Greene alertly scampered around third to score on a throwing error to the plate.
Jack Soult lined a single to center with one out in the lower sixth, but Dakota Bartley made a nice running catch on Kushner\’s shot to center and Bryce Greene dashed into medium left field for a sliding, game-ending grab of Westen\’s fly ball with his back to the diamond.
On Wednesday, Milesburg (1-1) will be at home against Tri-County (2-1), which eliminated Four-Leaf Clover 19-4 in four innings Monday.
In the winner\’s bracket final, Bobby Oeler slugged three home runs, one a grand slam, to pace Philipsburg-Osceola (3-0) past Mountain Top 14-5.
Mountain Top (1-1) will host the loser\’s bracket final Friday, with the winner earning a crack at P-O for the Northern Tier championship.
MILESBURG — 5
Bryce Greene p-ss 4121, Drew Miller 2b 3000, Bryan Green ss-p 2101, Nate Cleaver c 2100, Ryan Dyke 3b 3000, Darek Eckley 1b 3111, Dakota Bartley cf 1000, Colton Comly lf 1011, Cody Hackett rf 1000, Mitch Struble rf 1100. TOTALS 21 5 4 4.
CLEARFIELD — 1
Matt Kushner 2b 3010, Wyatt Westen ss-p 3000, Christian Lezzer p-ss 3121, Derek Hryn 1b-3b-1b 2010, Trey Jordan rf-cf-rf 1000, Seth Ford 3b-lf-3b 3000, Kelton Rishel c 3000, Curtis Collins cf 1000, Hunter Keith 1b 1000, Jack Soult lf 2010, Andy Brown rf 1000. TOTALS: 23 1 5 1.
Score by Innings
Milesburg 000 122 – 5 4 1
Clearfield 001 000 – 1 5 2
Errors – Bartley; Ford, Collins. PB – Cleaver 1; Rishel 1. LOB – Milesburg 8; Clearfield 10. 2B – Bryce Greene. 3B – Lezzer. HR – Lezzer (2). SF – Bryan Greene.
Pitching
Milesburg – Bryce Greene 3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K; Bryan Greene 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
Clearfield – Lezzer 3-1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 BB, 8 K; Westen 2-2/3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.
WP – Bryce Greene 2; Westen 2.
W – Byan Greene (1-0). L – Westen (0-1).
Umpires – Dave McClanahan (home plate), Mike Norris (bases).
