CLEARFIELD – Albion scored all of its runs in the second inning and Scott Stevenson handcuffed Clearfield on three hits for a 5-0 victory in a duel of American Legion teams opening the 2011 Pennsylvania Wood Bat 19-and-Under Division Championships Friday afternoon at the Lawrence Park Recreation Park Field.
The second game for the Chiefs was delayed nearly a half hour because of late-day rains and then turned into a washout 40 minutes later. They were locked in a scoreless tie with the Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) Knights in the top of the third inning when play was halted.
Under tourney rules, the game officially is listed as a 0-0 tie.
Clearfield posed no threat against Stevenson, who was effective with his fastball and curve in registering 10 strikeouts.
The big right-hander did hit three batters and walk one, but only two Chiefs reached second base as Albion executed a pair of double plays.
Derek Danver, Coleman Kubala and Ronny Ogden singled for Chiefs.
Bloops and bleeders did in loser John Georgino in the second frame.
Colin Feikles beat out a slow roller past the mound and Grant Panko was safe when first base was left uncovered on a sacrifice attempt.
Jimmy Correll followed with the hardest of the five Albion hits in the rally, lining a single to left field for start the scoring.
After J.R. Mountain looped a hit into short right center, Georgino hit Zack Patton to force in a run.
Then, Joey Gierlak’s forceout, Matt Astorino’s perfectly-placed single through the right side on a hit-and-run play and Josh Ponsall’s sacrifice fly spiked the margin to 5-0.
No Albion runner touched second in the other five innings as Georgino retired 15 of the last 18 batters he faced. The left-hander, who toils for the DuBois Legion team, finished with an eight-hitter.
Correll had three hits for the winners, whose roster is comprised of players from the Northwestern and General McLane (Edinboro) school districts.
Albion raised its record to 17-7 by spoiling Ottawa’s season opener 4-0 in the middle game of the tripleheader.
Clearfield (4-8-1) has two more tourney games Saturday, taking on Towanda MR Dirt at 12:30 and Brushtown at 5:30.
The Chiefs return to Jefferson County League action Sunday evening at Punxsutawney. The first pitch at Kuntz Memorial Field is set for 6 o’clock.
ALBION — 5
Joey Gierlack lf 3111, Matt Astorino c 3011, Taylor Russell cr 0000, Josh Ponsall ss 2001, Mike Dunn cf 2000, Colin Feikles 3b 3110, Scott Stevenson p 0000, Grant Panko dh 3110, Jimmy Correll 1b 3131, J.R. Mountain 2b 3110, Zack Patton rf 2001. TOTALS: 24 5 8 5.
CLEARFIELD — 0
Kyle Mann 3b 2000, Derek Danver 3010, Kyler Kephart lf 2000, Cole Kephart 2b 3000, Coleman Kubala 1b 3010, Ronny Ogden rf 3010, Nate Bumbarger cf 2000, Jonas Kochan c 2000, John Georgino p 0000, Steve Miller dh 1000, Jordan Lancaster eh 2000. TOTALS: 23 0 3 0.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 000 000 0 – 0 3 0
Albion 050 000 x – 5 8 2
Errors – Ponsall 2. DP – Albino 2 (Feikles, Mountain and Correll; Astorino and Correll); Clearfield 1 (Danver, C. Kephart and Kubala). LOB – Albion 4; Clearfield 6. SF – Ponsall. SB – Russell.
Pitching
Albion – Stevenson 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K.
Clearfield – Georgino 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
HB – Stevenson 3 (Mann, K. Kephart, Miller); Georgino 2 (Dunn, Patton).
W – Stevenson. L – Georgino (0-1).
Umpires – Dave Neal (plate) and Frank Keenan (bases)