PHILIPSBURG – The Clearfield American Legion baseball team won its opener at the Pennsylvania Wood Bat Championship Tournament for the first time in five appearances but had to settle for a split in Friday’s double-header at the Don Womer Complex.
John Georgino of DuBois twirled a five-hitter and Derek Danver came through with a clutch triple in the sixth inning to give the Chiefs a 3-2 squeaker over Upper Deck Baseball Academy of Cumberland, R.I. in morning action.
Manager Sid Lansberry’s club led Nor-Gwynn by that same score going to the bottom of the fifth inning in the late afternoon game, but the Hawks from Southeastern Pennsylvania rallied for four runs to triumph 6-3.
Danver’s game-winnng three-bagger against Upper Deck plated Kyler Kephart, who was plunked by Kyle Sutcliffe, the fourth hurler for the Post 14 team that is 3-1 in the Rhode Island League Northern Division and 9-4 overall after defeating Philipsburg in its second game.
Georgino, who struck out seven and walked four, then had to work out of a seventh-inning jam to notch the win.
Christian Spader lined a single that had the left-hander ducking and Matt Lazaras, after failing to bunt, bounced a single through the left side.
A sacrifice attempt by Peter Travers backfired when Georgino fielded the bunt and fired to third base for a forceout.
He wrapped up his complete game by inducing a flyout and a forceout.
Clearfield had taken a 2-0 lead in the second inning, courtesy runner Zach Timchak scoring on Cole Kephart’s groundout and Ronny Ogden hustling home on a passed ball. A wild pitch put both runners in scoring position after Georgino drew a walk and Ogden singled to left.
Upper Deck got one run back in the third on Joe Yankee’s double and Tyler Santinello’s two-out infield single and knotted the count in the sixth when Georgino walked Santinello, wild pitched him to second and then was guilty of an errant throw to third base on a steal attempt.
Ogden was the only player on either team with more than one hit.
Against Nor-Gwynn, Clearfield jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first frame. After Danver reached base on an error, Andrew Redden doubled for an RBI and then scored on Jon Janocko’s single.
The Chiefs regained the lead at 3-2 in the fourth on Wyatt Westen’s sacrifice fly that drove in Ogden, who had doubled and advanced to third on Cole Kephart’s single.
Westen couldn’t keep the Hawks in check in the fifth, though.
No. 9 batter Jordan Campbell singled, Westen hit Tony Cameron and the Chiefs misplayed a sacrifice bunt by Nick Yacopino, the error giving the Hawks the tying run. Chris Kersey then singled for the game-winning hit. He stole second, providing Nate Heller the opportunity to chase home two insurance runs with a single.
Ogden had two of Clearfield’s eight hits off David Raymond, who went the distance for Nor-Gwynn’s seventh win in 20 games. The Hawks are 5-10 in the Bux-Mont Legion League.
The Chiefs (6-5) will be back at the Don Womer Complex Saturday for games against Corning, N.Y., Gray at 10 a.m. and Key Stone at 12:30 p.m.
GAME 1
UPPER DECK BASEBALL ACADEMY — 2
Joe Yankee 1b 3-1-1-0, Ryan O’Dell dh-c 4-0-1-0, Tyler Santinello ss 2-1-1-1, Matt Billington c 1-0-0-0, Jake Keefe ph 1-0-0-0, Matt Kynch p 0-0-0-0, Justin Conti p 0-0-0-0, Caleb Gardner ph 1-0-0-0, Kyle Sutcliffe p 0-0-0-0, Greg Joubert 3b 3-0-0-0, Matt Munnichi 2b 2-0-0-0, Tyler Calebro ph-2b 1-0-0-0, Christian Spader rf 1-0-1-0, Matt Lazaras cf 3-0-1-0, Pete Travers lf 3-0-0-0, Jake Rockefeller p 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-2-5-1.
CLEARFIELD LEGION — 3
Kyler Kephart 1b 2-1-1-0, Derek Danver ss 3-0-1-1, Andrew Redden c 3-0-1-0, Tanner Ogden cf 3-0-1-0, John Georgino p 1-1-0-0, Ronny Ogden rf 2-1-2-0, Cole Kephart 2b 1-0-0-1, Josh Kennedy 3b 1-0-0-0, Devin Jones ph 1-0-0-0, Curtis Collins lf 1-0-0-0, Josh Sorbera ph 1-0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-3-6-2.
Score by Innings
Upper Deck    001 001 0 – 2 5 0
Clearfield         020 001 x – 3 6 1
Error – Georgino. PB – Billington. DP – Upper Deck 2 (Joubert and Yankee; Santinello, Munnichi and Yankee). LOB – Upper Deck 6; Clearfield 1. 2B – Yankee. 3B – Danver. Sac – C. Kephart. SB – Santinello 2, Spader. CS – O’Dell (by Redden).
Pitching
Upper Deck – Rockefeller 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K; Kynch 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 B, 0 K; Conti 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, o ER, 0 BB, 0 K; Sutcliffe 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Georgino 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K.
HB – Sutcliffe 1 (K. Kephart). WP – Rockefeller 1, Sutcliffe 1; Georgino 1.
W – Georgino (1-0). L – Sutcliffe.
Umpires – Gary Kost (plate) and Scott Viehdorfer (bases).
* * * * *
GAME 2
CLEARFIELD LEGION — 3
K. Kephart 1b 4-0-1-0, Danver ss 4-1-0-0, Redden c 3-1-1-1, T. Ogden cf-p 3-0-1-0, Jon Janocko 3b 3-0-1-0, R. Ogden rf 3-1-2-0, C. Kephart 2b 3-0-1-0, Westen p-cf 1-0-0-1, Thomas Summers ph 1-0-0-0, Collins lf 2-0-1-0, Matt Josephson ph 1-0-0-0. TOTALS: 28-3-8-3.
NOR-GWYN — 6
Tony Cameron cf 3-1-0-0, Nick Yacopino 2b 2-1-1-0, Chris Kersey lf 4-1-2-1, Nate Heller 1b 3-0-1-2, Brandon Billetz rf 3-1-1-0, Brad Bertucci 3b 2-1-1-0, Steve Campbell c 2-0-0-0, Dom McFadden dh 1-0-0-1, Jason Campbell ss 3-1-1-1. TOTALS: 23-6-7-5.
Score by Innings
Clearfield     200 100 0 – 3 8 1
Nor-Gwyn    020 040 x – 6 7 1
E – Redden; J. Campbell. DP – Clearfield 1 (Danver and C. Kephart); Nor-Gwyn 1 (Campbell, Yacopino and Heller). LOB – Clearfield 5; Nor-Gwyn 5. 2B – K. Kephart, Redden, R. Ogden. Sac – Yacopino. SF – Westen. SB – Kersey.
Pitching
Clearfield – Westen 4-1/3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K; T. Ogden 1-2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
Nor-Gwyn – Raymond 7 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.
HB – Westen 3 (T. Cameron, Bertucci, McFadden).
W – Raymond. L – Westen (1-2).
