CLEARFIELD – Altoona proved to be the nemesis for the Clearfield Babe Ruth League 15-Year-Old All-Stars in the District 8 Tournament they hosted at the Lawrence Township Recreation Park Field over the weekend.
The Blair County team won 13-2 in their first meeting Saturday morning and then ousted manager Ken Duckett’s team 10-6 in the nightcap of Sunday’s tripleheader.
Contrasting victories in the elimination bracket, 17-13 over Keystone Saturday evening and 5-1 over State College Sunday afternoon, enabled manager Ken Duckett’s team to salvage a 2-2 split in the tourney.
The champion will be determined Monday afternoon. Altoona (2-1) will go against West End (3-0) of Williamsport at one o’clock. If Altoona triumphs, the two teams will play again at four o’clock.
West End rolled into the title round with wins over Keystone 11-0 in five innings, State College 6-0 and Altoona 13-6.
Clearfield managed only one hit, a third-inning single by Jace Peters, against three Altoona pitchers in its tourney opener.
Zach Timchak and Kaleb Taylor drove in the runs with groundouts in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively.
Clearfield received 10 free passes from starter Devin Miller, winner Joel Reighard and Trentin Martin but stranded 12 runners.
Hits weren’t a problem against Keystone.
Curtis Collins rapped five singles to fuel a 17-hit attack that included three safeties by C.J. Gathagan and two each by Sawyer Rowles, Josh Kennedy, Nate Brady, and Spencer Herrington.
Collins, Rowles, Brady, Herrington and Gathagan drove in two runs apiece.
Clearfield sent 17 batters to the plate in the second inning and parlayed seven hits with seven of its 11 free passes and one hit batsmen into an 11-run salvo for a 13-4 bulge.
The margin grew to 17-4 before Keystone made it close with five runs in the fifth inning off Brady and four more in the sixth off the winning hurler and reliever Gathagan. Only five of Keystone’s runs were earned.
Against State College, the pitching of Rowles was key.
He turned in a complete-game six-hitter with four strikeouts, inducing the Centre County lineup to fly out or pop up 10 times.
Still, Clearfield was trailing 1-0 after five innings as loser Chris Boal was equally effective, giving up only a double by Collins in the third inning.
Rowles led off the sixth with Boal’s fourth walk and scored the tying run on a double by Kennedy. A single by Gathagan put runners on the corners, and Kushner put Clearfield ahead with an RBI groundout. Later, Josh Sorbera singled across an insurance run.
Back-to-back RBI doubles by Kennedy and Gathagan in the top of the seventh took all the pressure off Rowles, who wrapped up his solid performance by setting down State College’s 2-3-4 hitters after issuing his third free pass.
In the elimination bracket final, five runs in the second inning swung the momentum in Altoona’s direction after Clearfield had tied it at 2-2 with an unearned marker in the top of the frame.
Pope, who had three hits, doubled and scored the go-ahead run on a single by No. 9 batter Brandon Weyant.
Tanner Snyder added a two-run double, and wild pitches by Kennedy gave the winners two more tallies.
Martin recorded the victory with three scoreless innings of relief while Altoona was widening the gap to 10-4. He fanned four and gave up only one hit and one walk after replacing Matt Gormley on the bump.
Clearfield got two runs off Reighard in the seventh via Kennedy’s sacrifice fly and a throwing error after Collins walked and Rowles doubled into the left field corner.
Kennedy and Herrington had two hits apiece for Clearfield.
Snyder tripled and singled for three RBIs and Pope drilled three hits, one a double, for Altoona.
GAME 1
ALTOONA — 13
Joel Reighard ss-p-ss 4-1-0-0, Trentin Martin 2b-ss-p 3-1-2-0, Tanner Snyder lf-2b 4-0-0-0, Josh Smolko 2b 0-0-0-0, Thad Campbell rf 2-2-1-0, Josh DeGol 3b-1b 4-1-0-1, Austin Pope c 4-2-2-2, Devin Miller p 2-0-0-0, Brandon Weyant lf-3b 2-1-2-1, Luke Stultz 1b 2-2-1-1, Nick Lytle lf 1-1-1-4, Dylan Adams cf 4-2-2-1. TOTALS:S 37-13-11-9.
CLEARFIELD — 2
Curtis Collins cf 2-0-0-0, Spencer Herrington ss-p 3-1-0-0, Josh Kennedy p 2-1-0-0, Nate Brady 3b 3-0-0-0, Kyle Kushner 2b-c 2-0-0-0, Zach Timchak rf 3-0-0-0, Kaleb Taylor 1b 4-0-0-1, Josh Sorbera c-2b 2-0-0-0, Todd Cambria ph-2b 1-0-0-0, Jace Peters lf 1-0-1-0, C.J. Gathagan ph-lf 1-0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-2-1-1.
Score by Innings
Altoona 012 031 6 – 13 11 0
Clearfield 000 010 1 – 2 1 4
Errors – Kennedy, Taylor, Cambria, Peters. DP – Clearfield 1 (Brady and Taylor). LOB – Altoona 3; Clearfield 12. 2B – Adams. 3B – Stultz. Sac – Timchak. SF – Martin, Stultz. SB – Campbell 2, DeGol; Collins, Timchak, Peters.
Pitching
Altoona – Miller 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; Reighard 2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 2 K; Martin 2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
Clearfield – Kennedy 4-2/3 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 K; Herrington 2-1/3 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
HB – Miller 1 (Kushner); Kennedy 2 (Reighard, Campbell), Herrington 1 (Campbell).
W – Reighard. L – Kennedy (0-1).
* * * * *
GAME 2
KEYSTONE — 13
Trapper Kunes ss-p-ss 5-1-3-0, Cole Treaster lf-2b-ss-2b 5-3-1-1, Kenny Heverly cf-p 5-2-3-2, Josh Reeder p-3b 5-1-2-0, Brach Calhoun rf 4-0-1-0, Matt Stall rf 1-0-0-1, Hart Buttorf 2b-p-2b-lf 4-2-0-0, Joe Reeder c 3-2-1-0, Mitch Heverly 2b-c 2-0-00, Justin Glossner c 2-1-1-2, Austin Houser lf-cf 4-1-2-1. TOTALS: 40-13-14-6.
CLEARFIELD — 17
Collins cf 6-3-5-2, Sawyer Rowles rf 6-1-2-2, Kennedy 3b 4-2-2-1, Brady p-lf 5-1–2, Herrington ss 4-2-2-2, Kushner c 1-1-0-0, Peters ph 1-0-0-0, Sorbera 2b 2-1-0-1, Cambria ph 1-0-0-0, Taylor 1b 1-1-0-1, Timchak 1b 3-1-1-0, Gathagan lf-p 3-4-3-2. TOTALS: 37-17-17-13.
Score by Innings
Keystone 2 2 0 054 0 – 13 14 4
Clearfield 2(11)1 201 x – 17 17 6
Errors – Treaster, Buttorf, M. Heverly; Kennedy 4, Brady, Herrington 2. LOB – Keystone 7; Clearfield 14. 2B – K. Heverly 2, Josh Reeder, Glossner; Collins. SB – Kunes, Treaster 2, Houser; Rowles, Kennedy 3, Brady, Herrington, Gathagan.
Pitching
Keystone – Josh Reeder 1-2/3 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 0 K; Buttorf 0+ IP (faced 4 batters in 2nd), 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K, Kunes 2-2/3 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K; K. Heverly 2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
Clearfield – Brady 5 IP, 13 H, 11 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 0 K; Gathagan 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
HB – Buttorf 1 (Sorbera).
W – Brady (1-0). L – Josh Reeder.
* * * * *
GAME 2
CLEARFIELD — 5
Collins cf 4-0-1-0, Rowles p 0-2-0-0, Kennedy 3b 4-2-2-1, Gathagan lf 4-1-2-2, Herrington ss 4-0-0-0, Cambria 2b 2-0-0-0, Kushner 2b 2-0-0-1, Timchak 1b 1-0-0-0, Taylor 1b 1-0-0-0, Sorbera c 2-0-1-1, Peters rf 2-0-0-0, Brady rf 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 26-5-6-2.
STATE COLLEGE — 1
Mike White cf-p 2-1-1-0, Ben Shawley ss-cf 4-0-2-1, Chris Boal p-ss 4-0-1-0, Drew Snyder 1b 2-0-0-0, Matt Harpster 1b 1-0-0-0, Tyler Snyder lf 2-0-0-0, Alex Decker lf 1-0-1-0, Ryan Dunkleberger c 3-0-0-0, Cody Kubicki 3b 1-0-0-0. Cory Dreibelbis 3b 1-0-0-0, Gus Snyder rf 2-0-0-0, Beirret McMurtry rf 1-0-1-0, Max Owens 2b 3-0-00-0. TOTALS: 27-1-6-1.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 000 003 2 – 5 6 2
State College 001 000 0- 1 6 1
Errors – Herrington, Timchak; Boal. PB- Sorbera 1. LOB – Clearfield 8. 2B – Collins, Kennedy 2, Gathagan. Sac – Sorbera. SB – Shawley; Rowles, Gathagan.
Pitching
Clearfield – Rowles 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.
State College – Boal 5+ IP (faced 3 batters in 6th), 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K; White 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
HB – Rowles 1 (D. Snyder).
W – Rowles (1-0). L – Boal.
* * * * *
GAME 4
CLEARFIELD – 6
Collins cf 2-1-0-0, Peters rf 2-0-0-0, Rowles rf 2-1-1-0, Kennedy p-3b 3-2-2-1, Gathagan lf-p 4-0-1-1, Herrington ss 3-1-2-0, Kushner 2b-c 3-0-1-1, Brady 3b-lf 1-1-0-1, Sorbera c-2b 1-0-0-0, Cambria 2b 1-0-0-0, Taylor 1b 1-0-0-0, Timchak 1b 2-0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-6-7-4.
ALTOONA – 10
Reighard ss-p 2-0-0-0, Martin 2b-p-ss 3-2-1-0, Snyder lf 4-2-2-3, Campbell cf 2-0-0-1, Miller cf 2-1-1-0, Matt Gormley p-2b 3-0-0-0, Smolko 2b 1-0-1-1, DeGol 3b 4-1-0-0, Pope c 3-2-3-0, Stultz 1b 3-1-1-0, Weyant rf 2-1-1-1, Lytle ph-rf 1-0-1-1. TOTALS: 30-10-11-7.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 112 000 2 – 6 7 5
Altoona 250 021 x – 10 11 3
Errors – Gathagan, Herrington, Kushner, Cambria, Timchak; Reighard, Snyder, Campbell. DP – Altoona 1 (Reighard and Stultz). LOB – Clearfield 5; Altoona 5. 2B – Rowles; Snyder, Smolko, Pope. 3B – Snyder. SB – Gathagan; Reighard, Martin, Snyder, Miller. Sac – Sorbera. SF – Kennedy, Brady.
Pitching
Clearfield – Kennedy 1-2/3 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K; Gathagan 4-1/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Altoona – Gormley 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K; Martin 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; Reighard 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
WP – Kennedy 2, Gathagan 1.
W – Martin. L – Kennedy (0-2).