HYDE – Oh, so close.
One pitch or one good swing away from claiming the 2009 District 9 Northern Allegany League Big School Division baseball championship outright, Clearfield was unable to push across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning at the Bison Sports Complex Wednesday.
Then, St. Marys scored two unearned runs in the top of the eighth without a hit or even getting the ball out the infield to sting the Bisons 6-4 in a tension-filled thriller that was delayed 45 minutes after the first inning because of rain.
The tough setback made for a quiet dugout as the players grabbed their gear following the post-game meeting with the coaching staff.
They\’ll soon learn to covet the consolation prize, a share of the first-year league\’s title at 7-3 with DuBois and Punxsutawney, pegged as pre-season favorites along with St. Marys.
That\’s quite an achievement for a team that lost its first two league games for a 1-5 record in mid-April before coming together to win nine of its next 10 outings.
\”I\’m proud of what we\’ve done,\” said Clearfield coach Sid Lansberry, who couldn\’t mask his disappointment after the Bisons wasted a gutsy relief performance by Parker Herrington. \”It would have been nice to win it outright, but we didn\’t do it.
\”We had opportunities. It\’s a game we could have won. We just didn\’t get it done.\”
A game\’s worth of drama was packed into the final two innings, with Herrington and winner Brett Quiggle taking center stage.
In the top of the seventh, the Flying Dutch (8-8, 5-5 D9NAL) seemed poised to unlock a 4-4 tie that had stood since the third frame when Derek Meyer led off by hammering a triple off the 340-foot mark in right center.
However, Herrington pulled off another of his Houdini acts by eventually escaping unscathed from a bases-loaded situation with the last of his eight strikeouts.
With runners at the corners after Erik Dauber walked, the senior closer induced a grounder to short by Jordan Weinzerl and whiffed Luke Nicklas.
After Ryan Quinn, who already had three hits, was intentionally walked to fill the sacks, Herrington caught Dillon Kline looking at strike three.
\”That\’s when we should have won,\” Lansberry said. \”We had the momentum.\”
And the Bisons threatened to end it in the bottom of the seventh.
Jarrin Campman singled through the left side and, after the hard-throwing Quiggle replaced Dave Sheeley on the mound, Herrington sacrificed.
St. Marys coach Tony Azzato called for an intentional walk to Tanner St. Clair, but Quiggle then walked Corey Bookhamer to load the bases.
He fell behind 3-0 against Justin Hoffman but got the call on a borderline 3-1 pitch and averted defeat with two comebackers, forcing Campman at home on the first one.
The eighth inning was a nightmare for the Bisons.
Herrington hit Quiggle and threw late to second base on Mitchell Straub\’s bunt. Quiggle raced home from second with the winning run when Jon Petrocchi\’s bunt was misplayed.
Corey Bookhamer turned Meyer\’s bunt into a force at third, but an error on a forceout at second gave St. Marys an insurance run.
In the lower eighth, Matt Lonjin gave the Bisons some hope by dropping a single into short left center after Quiggle recorded two strikeouts on six pitches.
Campman\’s bouncer through the box was bobbled near second, but courtesy runner Wil Beauseigneur was unable to stop and was tagged out after overrunning the base, ending the game.
\”We lost our composure a little bit (in that inning),\” Lansberry said. \”We made some mistakes that we have not been making lately.\”
Herrington suffered the defeat despite surrendering only one hit and the two unearned runs in 4-2/3 innings, his longest stint of the season.
\”He didn\’t deserve to lose a game like that,\” Lansberry said. \”He did a heck of a job. And Chad (Zuratt) did fine for close to four innings.
\”We did what we had to do on the mound, but we didn\’t get clutch hits. We had lots of opportunities to score early on.\”
Double plays by the St. Marys infield in the first three innings prevented Clearfield from gaining the upper hand.
Bases-loaded walks to Lonjin and Campman made it 3-2 in the second, but the Dutch bailed out Sheeley with an around-the-horn twinkilling.
St. Clair led off the third with a home run, his third of the season, high over the fence in left center, and Bookhamer followed with a single to left.
Meyer turned Hoffman\’s liner to short into a DP that loomed large when Aaron Sayers walked and scored on Derek Danver\’s double to deep center that tied it 4-4.
The Bisons\’ next hit didn\’t come until Campman singled in the seventh.
\”You\’ve got to give (Sheeley) credit,\” Lansberry said. \”He settled down and shut us down there in the middle innings. Both of their pitchers did a good job.\”
Like the Bisons, the Dutch were a hit or two away from taking command early, as they solved Zurat for eight hits in the first three innings.
Run-scoring singles by Quiggle in the first and Dauber in the third and a two-run double by Quinn in the second kept them ahead, but the Dutch stranded three runners in scoring position and had two others were thrown out at the plate by Herrington, one on a double steal attempt.
The two teams probably will tangle again in the first round of the District 9 Class AAA Playoffs.
Clearfield will host Altoona Friday.
ST. MARYS — 6
Ryan Quinn cf 3132, Dillon Kline 2b 4010, Brett Quiggle c-p 2211, Mitchell Straub lf 4000, Josh Schlimm 3b 4110, Jon Petrocchi ph 0000, Derek Meyer ss 5020, Erik Dauber 1b 4121, Eric Merritt pr 0000, Dave Sheeley p 0000, Jess Cogan c 0000, Jordan Weinzerl dh 5101, Luke Nicklas rf 3000. TOTALS: 34 6 10 5.
CLEARFIELD — 4
Jarrin Campman 2b 3011, Parker Herrington ss-p 2000, Tanner St. Clair lf-3b 2111, Corey Bookhamer 1b 2010, Andrew Redden pr 0000, Justin Hoffman rf 4010, Aaron Sayers cf 3200, Derek Danver 3b-ss 4121, Chad Zurat p-3b-lf 0000, Kyle Timchak dh 4010, Matt Lonjin c 3011. TOTALS: 27 4 8 4.
Score by Innings
St. Marys 121 000 02 – 6 10 2
Clearfield 022 000 00 – 4 8 3
Errors – Meyer, Dauber; Bookhamer, Danver 2. DP – St. Marys 3 (Kline, Meyer and Dauber; Schlimm, Meyer and Dauber; Meyer and Dauber). LOB – St. Marys 14; Clearfield 9. 2B – Quinn, Dauber; Danver. 3B – Meyer. HR – St. Clair (3). Sac – Straub, Petrocchi; Herrington 2, Bookhamer. SB – Quinn, Quiggle 2, Nicklas.
Pitching
St. Marys – Sheeley 6+ IP (faced 1 batter in 7th), 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K; Quiggle 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
Clearfield – Zurat 3-1/3 IP 9 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K; Herrington 4-2/3 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 8 K.
HB – Sheeley 2 (Campman, Sayers); Herrington 2 (Quiggle, Nicklas). WP – Herrington 1.
W – Quiggle (1-0). L – Herrington (1-1).
Umpires – Jeff Aveni (plate); Dale Shaw (bases).
