HYDE – The third-seeded Clearfield Bisons and St. Marys Flying Dutchmen, teams with similar records and numbers in several offensive categories, begin their quest for the District 9 Class AAA baseball championship Wednesday in a 3:30 p.m. semifinal at Berwind Park in St. Marys.
No. 1 seed Punxsutawney (12-7), which has reigned the last seven years, will host No. 4 seed Bradford (5-12) in the other semi that day.
The title game is scheduled for next week, with the venue, date and time to be determined later.
St. Marys (10-9) earned the No. 2 seed and home-field advantage with five consecutive late-season wins before losing to cross-town rival Elk County Catholic Friday.
Clearfield was victorious in three of its last four games for a 9-10 finish. Coach Sid Lansberry’s 40th CAHS team was denied an opportunity for a .500 record when a second game against Brookville was called off twice last week.
The Bisons defeated Brookville 15-2 in six innings on April 28.
While the Bisons and Dutch didn’t meet this spring because Clearfield dropped out of the District 9 Northern Allegany League and Central Penn League to join the Mountain League, they did have three common opponents.
St. Marys shut out Brookville 12-0 in five innings on May 9.
The Bisons won 11-9 at Bradford and lost 13-8 at Punxsutawney.
The Dutch swept Bradford 8-0 and 17-11 and split with Punxsy, winning 14-3 in 4-1/2 innings at home and losing 12-3 on the road.
While the Dutch sport a higher batting average — .377 on 199 hits compared to the Bisons’ .333 on 176 hits — their power stats are very close.
St. Marys has 19 home runs, eight in the second Bradford game last week, three triples and 35 doubles.
Clearfield has 14 homers, three triples and 33 doubles.
The Bisons have outscored the Dutch 170-135, reaching double figures in eight of their victories and posting nine in the other.
Shortstop Derek Danver is pacing the Red and Black with a lofty .519 average on 28 hits.
He and catcher Andrew Redden, who has a team-high 29 hits and a .433 average, share the lead in home runs with five and doubles with seven.
Redden also has two of the three triples and tops the Bisons in runs batted in with 33, five six more than Danver.
The top six batters in the lineup all are above .300.
Second baseman-pitcher Jarrett Fulmer (.383, 23 hits, 17 RBI) leads off and is followed by Danver, Redden, third baseman-pitcher Tyler Jacobson (.344, 21 hits, 22 RBI), third baseman-pitcher Trevor Flanagan (.333, 20 hits, 11 RBI) and left fielder Drew Brown (.314, 16 hits, 13 RBI).
In addition to their hitting prowess, Fulmer and Danver have drawn 18 walks apiece and reached base a total of seven times when hit by a pitch to set in motion many of Clearfield’s rallies.
All are seniors, as is center fielder Shane Harper.
Other probable starters are junior Kyler Kephart at first base and, depending on the opposing pitcher, sophomore Kurtis Krise or freshman Christian Lezzer in right field.
Sophomore Coleman Kubala (.478, 11 hits, 12 walks) has emerged as a productive designated hitter.
Flanagan (4-2) and Fulmer (2-4) have a combined 13 starts for the Bisons. Jacobson (3-1) and Ronny Ogden (1-1) also will be available for relief duty.
Third baseman Kevin Hoy tops the Dutch with 34 hits, including eight homers and 11 doubles, for a .557 average. He has knocked in 34 runs.
Bunched close together in the 400 Club are shortstop Jordan Weinzierl (.444, 28 hits, 18 RBI), first baseman-pitcher Ryan Uhl (.438, 28 hits, six homers, nine doubles, 30 RBIs) and outfielder Luke Nicklas (.438, 21 hits).
Utilityman Brandon Tyger (.375, 15 hits) and catcher-outfielder Justin Quiggle (.360, 14 hits) and center fielder-pitcher Bob Vollmer (.286, 18 hits) make it a solid lineup for the Dutch.
Right-hander Uhl (3-3) or lefty Vollmer (3-2) will start on the mound.
Tyger and Quiggle, both juniors, are the only underclassmen.
The Clearfield Bison baseball team’s 2011 scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/25 | INDIAN VALLEY | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 3/28 | @ Bellefonte | 6 – 17 | 0 – 1 |
| 3/30 | LEWISTOWN | ppd. | 0 – 1 |
| 4/01 | @ Penns Valley | ppd. | 0 – 1 |
| 4/04 | INDIAN VALLEY | ppd. | 0 – 1 |
| 4/06 | @ Huntingdon | ppd. | 0 – 1 |
| 4/07 | INDIAN VALLEY | ppd. | 0 – 1 |
| 4/08 | @ Huntingdon | ppd. | 0 – 1 |
| 4/11 | TYRONE | 4 – 9 | 0 – 2 |
| 4/13 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ppd. | 0 – 2 |
| 4/14 | @ Penns Valley | 13 – 6 | 1 – 2 |
| 4/15 | @ Central Mountain | 6 – 7 | 1 – 3 |
| 4/18 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 9 – 7 | 2 – 3 |
| 4/19 | @ Huntingdon | ppd. | 2 – 3 |
| 4/20 | @ Juniata | ppd. | 2 – 3 |
| 4/25 | BROOKVILLE | ppd. | 2 – 3 |
| 4/27 | HUNTINGDON | 10 – 2 | 3 – 3 |
| 4/28 | BROOKVILLE | 15 – 2 | 4 – 3 |
| 4/29 | CENTRAL | 22 – 36 | 4 – 4 |
| 4/30 | INDIAN VALLEY | 2 – 10 | 4 – 5 |
| 5/02 | @ Tyrone | 10 – 9 | 5 – 5 |
| 5/03 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ppd. | 5 – 5 |
| 5/04 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 1 – 6 | 5 – 6 |
| 5/05 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 8 – 13 | 5 – 7 |
| 5/06 | @ Juniata | 15 – 0 | 6 – 7 |
| 5/07 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 9 – 20 | 6 – 8 |
| 5/09 | CENTRAL MOUNTAIN | 16 – 5 | 6 – 9 |
| 5/10 | LEWISTOWN | 11 – 3 | 7 – 9 |
| 5/11 | @ Central | 1 – 3 | 7 – 10 |
| 5/12 | @ Huntingdon | 13 – 0 | 8 – 10 |
| 5/16 | @ Brookville | ppd. | 8 – 10 |
| 5/19 | @ Brookville | cancelled | 8 – 10 |
| 5/20 | @ Bradford | ppd. | 8 – 10 |
| 5/21 | @ Bradford | 11 – 9 | 9 – 10 |
| DISTRICT 9 PLAYOFFS | |||
| 5/25 | @ St. Marys |
