ALTOONA – Freshman Kurtis Krise spoiled coach Sid Lansberry’s pitcher-by-committee plan for Saturday’s Curve Classic semifinal game against undefeated Bishop Carroll.
But Lansberry had no complaints.
He was hoping to get two or three innings out of the rookie right-hander, who was lifted in the second inning of his varsity debut against Punxsutawney Wednesday.
Krise, unfazed by winter-like temperatures and some sprinkles, gave the Bisons six shutout innings with a two-hit gem.
He blended a very effective changeup with a fastball and curve to keep the high-scoring Huskies off balance in a 10-0 victory that sends Clearfield (5-1) into the Curve Classic finals for the second time in three years.
The Bisons will return to Blair County Ball Park Sunday to tangle with Central Penn League rival Altoona (3-1) at 1 p.m.
The Mountain Lions breezed into the title game with two wins Saturday. They clawed Hampshire County (W.Va.) 13-4 in the morning’s opener that had been postponed Friday evening because of rain and blanked Central 14-0 in 4-1/2 innings in the finale of the day’s six-game card.
Thanks to Krise’s effort and an 11-hit attack, Clearfield notched its first victory that didn’t go down to the wire.
Both of the hard-hitting Huskies’ safeties came in the first inning, but leadoff batter Dylan Link was erased on a doubleplay, and losing hurler Drew McCabe’s single turned out to be their last hit.
Bishop Carroll did get two runners in scoring position on a walk and Clearfield’s lone miscue in the third. However, McCabe’s line drive was right at left fielder Shane Harper.
Krise wound up handcuffing the Huskies on 86 pitches.
“He’s the No. 1 story,” Lansberry said. “He did an outstanding job. He had a nice changeup today.
“These guys were 8-0, so they’ve got some good ball players and good hitters. But he shut ’em down. He was pretty much in command.”
Lansberry credited Krise’s devotion to winter workouts as the key to his getting the opportunity to be a first-year starter.
“He definitely showed potential last summer, and he played for us in the fall and pitched quite a bit, but his work ethic this winter made the difference,” Lansberry said. “He came in and pitched religiously three times a week.
“Trevor (Flanagan) did the same thing, and so did (Tyler) Jacobson. All three of those guys worked hard with coach (Bear) Stewart, and that really makes a difference.”
Clearfield jumped on McCabe for four runs in the lower third.
A walk and singles by Justin Hoffman and hot-hitting Andrew Redden got the Bisons on the board. Derek Danver followed by rifling a triple up the right center alley that rolled all the way to the wall, and he scored when Matt Lonjin singled through the box.
“Danver’s triple was a big key,” Lansberry said.
The Bisons doubled their lead in the fifth.
Hits by Jacobson and Justyn Knepp around a bobble on Lonjin’s grounder loaded the sacks. Pinch-hitter Garrett Samsel looped a single to center for an RBI and, with two outs, Jarrett Fulmer drilled a single through the middle for two RBIs. Chad Zurat, running for Samsel, scored, too, when the ball got past the center fielder.
In the sixth, Redden walked and Danver lined a single to left off reliever Nick Lassak, and they sprinted to the plate on wild pitches to end the game.
Redden, who has had at least two hits in every game, Danver and Lonjin had two hits apiece for the Bisons.
Lansberry cited the solid defense in the Mercy Rule-win, too.
“We made some good plays,” Lansberry noted. “Not real hard plays, but they’re the basic stuff some high school kids often don’t make.
“Defense has kept us in games.”
In other games Saturday, Central downed Lewistown 10-7 in the completion of the quarterfinal suspended Friday afternoon before Hollidaysburg bounced back from its 6-5 loss to Clearfield with a 7-6 squeaker over Bishop Guilfoyle and Lewistown trimmed Hampshire County 9-4 in consolation action.
BISHOP CARROLL — 0
Dylan Link 2b 3010, Nick Lassak ss-p 3000, Drew McCabe p-ss 2010, Taylor Makin c 3000, Josh King 3b 3000, Nick Moriconi 1b 3000, John Barzdo lf 2000, Josh Dumm rf 1000, Ryan Woo cf 0000. TOTALS: 20 0 2 0.
CLEARFIELD — 10
Jarrett Fulmer ss 1112, Justin Hoffman rf 4110, Andrew Redden 1b 2221, Derek Danver 4222, Tyler Jacobson 3b 3110, Luke Peterson ph 0000, Matt Lonjin c 3121, Kurtis Krise p 0000, Justyn Knepp dh 3110, Chad Zurat cf 2100, Garrett Samsel ph 10101, Shane Harper lf 2000, Wil Beauseigneur ph 1000. TOTALS: 26 10 7.
Score by Innings
Bishop Carroll 000 000 – 0 2 5
Clearfield 004 042 – 10 11 2
Errors – Link, Lassak 2, McCabe, Dumm; Fulmer 2. DP – Bishop Carroll 1 (Lassak, Link and Moriconi); Clearfield 1 (Danver, Fulmer and Redden). T – Danver. SB – Lassak; Fulmer.
Pitching
Bishop Carroll – McCabe 5 IP, 10 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 K; Lassak 0+ IP (faced 3 batters in 6th), 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
Clearfield – Krise 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 1 K.
HB – McCabe 1 (Fulmer); Krise 1 (McCabe). WP – Lassak 2.
W – Krise (1-0). L – McCabe.
Umpires – Phil Johnson (plate); Tim Mitchell (bases).
