PUNXSUTAWNEY – Braedon Pennington’s arm and bat were the difference as Punxsutawney defeated Clearfield 6-3 in their Jefferson County Legion League opener at Rich Kuntz Memorial Field Sunday evening.
The left-hander, who was 5-1 with a 2.15 earned run average and 51 strikeouts in 58-2/3 innings for Allegany College of Maryland this spring, dominated through three innings with eight consecutive strikeouts.
With one out in the fourth, Tyler Jacobson doubled and Andrew Redden belted a home run for the Chiefs.
Redden also drove in their other run with a single in the fourth after Derek Danver walked and moved up on a groundout.
Pennington wound up with 14 strikeouts and walked three in the complete game four-hitter.
Jacobson started and took the loss, giving up six runs, only two earned, in three innings.
Punxsy parlayed three hits and a fielder’s choice into two runs in the first frame and took advantage of Clearfield’s lone miscue for four runs in the second, Pennington’s three-run homer proving to be the game-winning hit.
Chief southpaw Wes McGarry was sharp in a three-inning, scoreless relief stint. He allowed two hits, struck out two and walked one.
Clearfield will host Philipsburg-Osceola in a non-league game Friday at 6 p.m. at the Bison Sports Complex.
CLEARFIELD — 3
Derek Danver ss 2100, Tyler Jacobson p-3b 3110, Andrew Redden c 3123, Coleman Kubala 1b 1000, Jon Janocko ph 1000, Kyler Kephart 2b 2000, Cole Kephart ph 0000, Wyatt Westen rf 1000, Steve Miller dh 2010, Shane Harper cf 3000, Jordan Lancaster 3b 1000, Wes McGarry p 2000, Ronny Ogden lf 2000, Jonas Kochan ph 0000. TOTALS: 24 3 4 3.
PUNXSUTAWNEY — 6
Ty Zimmerman 2b 3221, Jordan Mesoraco c 3230, Braedon Pennington p 3124, Brodi Lowmaster lf 3001, Jamie Bush 1b 2010, Cory Geer 3b 3000, Devan Neal cf 1000, Dom Bevak ph 1000, Zak Dickey ss 3100, Taylor Phillips rf 3000. TOTALS: 25 6 8 6.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 000 201 0 – 3 4 1
Punxsutawney 240 000 x – 6 8 0
Error – Lancaster. DP – Clearfield 1 (Danver, Jacobson and K. Kephart); Punxsutawney (Zimmerman, Dickey and Bush). 2B – Jacobson. HR – Redden (1); Pennington. SB – Neal. CS – Lowmaster (by Redden).
Pitching
Clearfield – Jacobson 3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; McGarry 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Punxsutawney – Pennington 7 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 14 K.
WP – Pennington 1.
W – Pennington. L – Jacobson (0-1).
