PUNXSUTAWNEY – In a pivotal game for home field advantage in the first round of the Jefferson County League, Punxsutawney erupted for seven runs in the first inning and turned back the Clearfield American Legion Post 8 team 14-4 at Rich Kuntz Memorial Field Sunday evening.
Punxsy claimed sole possession of second place behind unbeaten DuBois with its sixth win in 10 starts.
The Chiefs had plenty of runners with 10 hits, five walks and a hit batsman but stranded 11 in the loss that dropped them to 5-4 in the JCL and 6-10-1 overall.
Three players accounted for the bulk of the offense, Cole Kephart with three singles and Steve Miller and Andrew Redden with two hits apiece.
Miller drove in two runs with a double in the fourth inning, when Clearfield did all of its scoring against winner Dane Baker.
Brodi Lowmaster started for Punxsy but was lifted after giving up five walks and three hits in three innings even though he had an 11-0 cushion.
Baker struck out five but gave up seven hits, walked two and hit one batter over the last four frames.
The loss was charged to Ronny Ogden, who was relieved by Kyler Kephart in the third inning after most of the damage had been done by the hosts. They issued five walks apiece and surrendered 13 hits.
Jordan Mesoraco and Joe Pisano each had one double and two singles while Braedon Pennington and Ty Zimmerman chipped in two hits apiece for Punxsy.
Pisano had three RBIs and Tyler Skerkavich added two.
The Chiefs continue their busy schedule by traveling to DuBois Monday and Brookville Tuesday.
CLEARFIELD — 4
Kyler Kephart lf 4000, Derek Danver ss 2110, Andrew Redden c 3120, Wes McGarry cf 2100, Tyler Jacobson 3b 3010, Ronny Ogden p 4111, Cole Kephart 2b 4031, Jonas Kochan lf 1000, Steve Miller dh 3022, Jon Janocko 1b 4000. TOTALS: 30 4 10 4.
PUNXSUTAWNEY — 14
Braedon Pennington cf 3321, Ty Zimmerman 2b 4121, Jordan Mesoraco lf 4231, Dom Bevak c 0000, Tyler Skerkavich dh 3112, Joe Pisano 3b 3133, Tyler Neal 3b 2000, Zak Dickey ss 4101, Kyle Neal lf 1101, Luke Janocha rf 1100, Spencer Levy 1b 2000, Jamie Bush 1b 1110, Brodi Lowmaster p 2210, Dane Baker p 1000. TOTALS: 31 14 13 10.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 000 040 0 – 4 10 3
Punxsutawney 704 210 x – 14 13 1
Errors – Jacobson, C. Kephart, Janocko; K. Neal. LOB – Clearfield 11; Punxsutawney 10. 2B – Miller; Mesoraco, Pisano, Lowmaster.
Pitching
Clearfield – Ogden 2-1/3 IP, 9 H, 11 R, 6 ER, 5 BB, 1 K; K. Kephart 3-2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 1 K.
Punxsutawney – Lowmaster 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K; Baker 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
HB – Baker 1 (Danver). WP – Ogden 1.
W – Baker. L – Ogden (0-3).
