HYDE – The Clearfield American Legion Post 6 baseball team went into the weekend sitting atop the Central Penn League’s West Division, but State College knocked the Chiefs off that perch Saturday afternoon at the Bison Sports Complex.
Dalton Bown and Tanner Witter limited the Chiefs to five singles in the 10-1 victory that lifted State College into first place at 7-4.
Clearfield, which lost by the same score at State College June 13, slipped into the runner-up spot to 7-5 and will have to finish strong to claim a berth in the CPL Playoffs.
Bown, who pitched a complete game in the previous meeting, shut out the Chiefs until the fifth inning when he hit Kyler Kephart and walked Derek Danver before giving up a single by Jon Janocko that loaded the bases. Kephart scored on younger brother Cole’s groundout.
Bown, the winner, allowed four hits and three walks. Witter surrendered one hit and two walks in two scoreless innings.
Offensively, State College got three singles and two RBIs from Kyle Lebarron and two singles and two RBIs from Nick Smith. Alex Singer also had three hits, one a triple, while Witter and Smeal chipped in two singles apiece.
The visitors touched up starter and loser Wyatt Westen for 11 hits and eight runs, all earned, in four innings.
Clearfield, 10-7 overall, will be at home for important league games with division rivals Philipsburg Monday and DuBois Tuesday at the Lawrence Township Recreation Park Field.
Central Penn League West Division – State College 7-4, Clearfield 7-5, DuBois 6-5, Philipsburg 5-5, Hollidaysburg 5-5, Altoona 2-5.
Central Penn League East Divison – Beech Creek 9-2, Bellefonte 7-4, Mifflin Couty 6-5, Clarence 3-9, Penns Valley 0-10.
STATE COLLEGE — 10
Nick Smith 2b 4-3-2-2, John Herzing ss 3-0-1-1, Tanner Witter cf-p 3-2-2-1, Derek Van Horn ph 0-0-0-0, Kyle Lebarron 1b 4-0-3-2, Dalton Bown p-rf 2–0-0-1, Ben Ripka ph 1-0-0-0, Kenny Craig lf 4-0-1-0, Alex Singer 3b 4-2-3-0, Ed Goodall c 3-2-1-0, Smeal rf-cf 3-1-2-1. TOTALS: 31-10-15-1.
CLEARFIELD — 1
Kyler Kephart 2b 3-1-1-0, Derek Danver ss 2-0-1-0, Jon Janocko 3b-1b 3-0-1-0, Cole Kephart rf 4-0-0-1, Tanner Ogden cf 3-0-0-0, Wyatt Westen p-3b 3-0-0-0, Thomas Summers 1b-p 3-0-0-0, Josh Kennedy ph 1-0-1-0, Curtis Collins lf 3-0-1-0, Zach Timchak c 2-0-0-0, Derek Hryn ph 1-0-0-0. TOTALS: 26-1-5-1.
Score by Innings
State College 220 420 0 – 10 15 1
Clearfield 000 010 0 – 1 5 1
Errors – Herzing; Danver. PB – Goodall 1; Timchak 1. DP – Clearfield 2 (Danver, K. Kephart and Summers; K. Kephart and Summers). LOB – State College 5; Clearfield 10. 2B – Craig. 3B – Singer. SB – Smith 2, Smeal. Sac – Herzing. SF – Bown.
Pitching
State College – Bown 5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K; Witter 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
Clearfield – Westen 4 IP, 11 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 2 B, 0 K; Summers 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.
HB – Bown 1 (K. Kephart); Westen 1 (Goodall). WP – Westen 1. PO – Witter 1 (Janocko); Westen 1 (Smeal).
W – Bown. L – Westen (1-3).