HYDE – Once-beaten Central Mountain collected 18 hits and scored in every at-bat to pin a 16-5 setback on the Clearfield Area High School baseball team at the sun-splashed Bison Sports Complex Monday afternoon.
Seven runs by the Wildcats in the sixth inning shortened the Mountain League Allegheny Division game right after the Bisons rallied for all their runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it interesting.
Wildcat ace Trey Stover had silenced the Bisons through four innings, but they came to life with two outs and produced four of their six hits.
With Drew Brown and Coleman Kubala aboard via walks, Jarrett Fulmer slapped a hard grounder that hopped over first baseman Michael Vonada’s glove for a run-scoring single.
Derek Danver walked to load the bases, and Andrew Redden lined a double into left center for two RBIs and Tyler Jacobson followed by punching a single to center for two more runs.
Trevor Flanagan bounced a single into left, extending his hitting streak to 12 games, but Stover put up the stop sign with his sixth strikeout.
“We battled back and had some pretty good at-bats against a pretty good pitcher,” Clearfield coach Sid Lansberry said. “And then the wheels fell off. The big inning just killed us.
“Innings that don’t need to be disastrous turn into it because we don’t make plays defensively. It’s happened time and time again this year, and it happened again today.”
Jacobson, in relief of Flanagan, was touched up for six hits, but only two of the seven runs were earned because of the seventh Bison miscue.
Tyler Buckwalter greeted Jacobson with a triple to right center and capped the uprising with a two-run double to center before Drew Brown came on to get the final out. Stover singled home two runs while batterymate Ryan Hill and Michael Vonada added RBI singles.
Central Mountain’s big finish resulted in the second Mercy Rule loss in three days for the Bisons, who have dropped four of their last five outings to fall to 6-9.
Every starter had at least one hit as the Wildcats bounced back from their first loss in 11 games to improve to 6-0 in the Allegheny Division.
Stover, Buckwalter and Vonada had three hits apiece and Hill had a pair of run-scoring singles.
Buckwalter enjoyed a four-RBI day, knocking in two runs in the fourth inning, while Vonada homered to straightaway center on a high 0-2 fastball in the second and had a pair of run-scoring singles.
“(They’re) a very good team,” Bison coach Sid Lansberry said. “That’s the best pitcher we’ve seen, in my opinion. He got tired a little bit, I think, in the fifth inning.
“He mixed his pitches. Curveball, slider, fastball, and changeup, too. Threw it pretty hard. Good location.
“There’s no shame in losing to him.”
The win was the fifth for the unbeaten Stover, who is headed for the University of Hartford (Conn.) to play NCAA Division I ball as a shortstop with the possibility of doing some pitching.
Justin Houser worked a clean last inning for the Wildcats, striking out two.
Bison backstop Redden registered his eighth multi-hit game and hiked his average to .471.
Danver, who drew two of Stover’s four walks, saw his 12-game hitting streak end.
Flanagan gave up 12 hits and nine runs, seven earned, in his second loss.
“I think he pitched better than the score indicates,” Lansberry said. “We took him out after five because we have three more games this week, and I’m hoping to come back with him. And he was up at 90-some pitches.”
Clearfield stays home to play Lewistown Tuesday before visiting Central (Martinsburg) Wednesday and Huntingdon Thursday.
CENTRAL MOUNTAIN — 16
Trey Stover ss 5232, Channing Maiolo 2b 3421, Von Walker cf 4210, Tyler Buckwalter lf 5134, Ryan Hill c 4122, Michael Vonada 1b 5233, Brad Walker 3b 3110, Brian Brill ph-3b 1000, Robby Nicodemus ss 3110, Cole Fenton ph 1000, Justin Houser p 0000, Luke Wise rf 4121. TOTALS: 39 16 18 13.
CLEARFIELD — 5
Jarrett Fulmer 2b 3111, Derek Danver ss 1100, Andrew Redden c 3122, Tyler Jacobson 3b-p 3012, Tanner Ogden lf 0000, Trevor Flanagan p-3b 2010, Christian Lezzer rf 3000, Drew Brown lf-p 1100, Ronny Ogden ph 1000, Shane Harper cf 0000, Coleman Kubala dh 1110, Steve Miller ph 1000, Kyler Kephart 1b 2000, Kurtis Krise ph 1000. TOTALS: 22 5 6 5.
Score by Innings
Central Mountain 113 227 – 16 18 0
Clearfield 000 050 – 5 6 7
E – Danver 4, Jacobson, Flanagan, Lezzer. DP – Central Mountain 1 (Wise and Vonada); Clearfield 1 (Fulmer, Danver and Kephart). LOB – Central Mountain 8; Clearfield 4. 2B – Buckwalter. HR – Vonada (1). SF – Maiolo. SB – Stover, Maiolo.
Pitching
Central Mountain – Stover 5 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 K; Houser 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.
Clearfield – Flanagan 5 IP, 12 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Jacobson 2/3 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Brown 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
HB – Stover 1 (Flanagan). WP – Jacobson 4.
W – Stover (5-0). L – Flanagan (2-2).
Umpires – Mark Michelucci (plate) and Lynn Gilham (bases).