CLEARFIELD – In a game with more ups and downs than a roller coaster, the Clearfield Little League 9-and-10 All-Stars averted defeat, and elimination from the District 5 Northern Tier Tournament, with two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and then came from behind again in the seventh to nip Curwensville 13-12 on McNamee Field Wednesday evening.
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Clearfield jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two frames, but Curwensville battled back with 10 unanswered runs in the next three innings and tacked on another in the sixth for an 11-9 advantage.
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However, a two-out miscue gave the hosts two runs and new life.
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Curwensville went ahead again in the extra inning when Blake Passarelli singled to right center to drive in Avery Francisco, who had reached base on an error.
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Because of the 75-pitch limit, reliever Josh Terry had to be pulled after walking Mike Ternoway leading off the lower seventh.
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Jeremy Learish drew a free pass from Francisco, and Jon Gates dropped down a sacrifice bunt.
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With Clearfield down to its final out following a strikeout, courtesy runner Ethan McGinnis broke for home on a pitch in the dirt and was ruled out on the tag, then safe when the ball rolled free.
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One batter later, Learish raced to the plate with the winning run as Wyatt Porter beat out a slow grounder to short.
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Ternoway, the fourth Clearfield pitcher, picked up the victory after giving up just three hits and two runs, one unearned, in 2-2/3 innings.
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Starter Noah Rumsky also was effective in his three-inning stint, surrendering only one hit and one unearned run while striking out seven before departing because of the Pitch-Count Rule.
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Matt Collins’ two-run triple in the first and Rumsky’s two-run double in the fifth were key hits for Clearfield. Collins and Porter had two safeties apiece.
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Curwensville, which bowed out at 1-2, got a single, double and four RBIs from Francisco, a single, double and 3 RBIs from Bryce Timko and a single and triple from Terry.
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Clearfield (2-1) will return to McNamee Field Friday for the elimination bracket semifinal against Milesburg (2-1) at 6 p.m.
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In other Wednesday action, Milesburg ousted Mountain Top 9-8Â while Four-Leaf Clover (2-0) nudged Philipsburg-Osceola (2-1) 10-8 in the winner’s bracket final.Â
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CURWENSVILLE — 12
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Josh Terry ss-p-ss 4320, Cameron Moore cf 1300, Bryce Timko p-1b 5123, Zack McClure c 4212, Avery Francisco 3b-ss-p 4124, Dylan Warrick 1b-3b 3000, Anthony Winebold 2b 2000, Noah VonGunden 2b 3000, Blake Passarelli lf 2211, Cole Bressler rf 1000, Jeremiah Farley rf 4000. TOTALS: 33 12 8 10.
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CLEARFIELD — 13
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Reese Wilson ss 2100, Wyatt Porter 3b 2221, Jake Sorbera c-p-ss-c 4210, Matt Collins cf-1b 3222, Noah Rumsky p-ss-cf-ss 4212, Mike Ternoway 1b-p 3211, Jeremy Learish rf 3111, Ethan McGinnis rf-lf 1000, Paul Kennedy lf 1010, Jon Gates pr-lf-c-lf 1000, Eli Glass 3b-p-cf 4000, Parker Hoyt ph-rf 1000, Matt Ryan 2b 3110. TOTALS: 32 13 10 7.
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Score by Innings
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Curwensville   001 451 1 – 12  8 5
Clearfield        520 022 2 – 13 10 6
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LOB – Curwensville 12; Clearfield 12. 2B – Timko, Francisco; Rumsky. 3B – Terry; Collins. Sac – Gates. SB – Terry 2, Moore 3, McClure 1, Winebold; Sorbera, Ryan.
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Pitching
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Curwensville – Timko 2 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 K; Terry 4+ IP (faced 1 batter in 7th), 3 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 3 K; Francisco 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Rumsky 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 7 K; Glass 1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Sorbera 1/3 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K; Ternoway 2-2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.
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W – Ternoway (1-0). L – Francisco.
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Umpires – Jay Siegel (plate); Nick Redden (bases).