Breaking into the win column was the highlight of a good news-bad news, 2-2 weekend for the Clearfield American Legion baseball team in the 19-and-Under Division of the 2013 Pennsylvania Open Wood Bat Tournament hosted by the Bellefonte Bandits.
The Chiefs, who had only a tie to show for their first nine outings, got off to a good start by squeezing past Berkshire 6-5 Friday and followed up by edging Corning (N.Y.) Red 5-3 Saturday in action at the Shaner Sports Complex.
However, they were shut out by identical 8-0 scores in the nightcaps both days, losing to Souderton at the Shaner Sports Complex and Mt. Airy (Md.) at the Philipsburg-Osceola Area High School’s Don Womer Baseball Complex. Those games were shortened to six innings because of the mercy rule.
Clearfield had to come from behind to pull out its tourney opener after seeing a 4-0 first-inning lead go by the boards.
A walk and singles by Josh Sorbera and Thomas Summers loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first. Curtis Collins and Sorbera trotted home when Kyler Kephart was hit by a pitch and Josh Kennedy received a free pass, and winning pitcher Devin Jones drove in the other two runs with a single to cap the Post 6 team’s best start of the season.
Berkshire answered with its own four-spot in the bottom of the frame, parlaying three hits with a walk and three errors, Clearfield’s only miscues of the game.
Jones buckled down and limited Berkshire to one run on a pair of hits in the third inning and finished with an eight-hitter for the victory. He struck out five.
The Chiefs knotted the score in the fourth on Sorbera’s RBI single that plated Collins, who had doubled, and got the deciding run in the sixth. Jones singled and was pushed around the sacks when, with two outs, Sorbera was hit by a pitch and Thomas Summers and Cole Kephart were walked.
Collins, Sorbera and Jones accounted for six of Clearfield’s season-high eight hits.
Jones and Zach Timchak had the only hits for the Chiefs off Souderton’s Dan Heilemann, who didn’t have a strikeout or a walk in his six-inning shutout.
Wyatt Westen allowed only on hit in blanking Souderton for four innings before issuing four walks that all turned into runs in the fifth. So did a hit batsman and two walks issued by reliever Ronny Ogden following a crucial error, making six of the winners’ runs unearned.
A route-going performance by Thomas Summers and clutch two-out hits by Cole Kephart and Brandon Orsich keyed Clearfield’s second win.
The Chiefs got the jump on Corning Red with Kephart’s two-run single in the first inning and made it 4-1 on Orsich’s two-run double in the fourth that proved to be the game-winning hit.
Summers fanned five and walked two during his seven-hit effort. None of Corning Red’s runs were earned.
Clearfield’s finale was a toughie as Mt. Airy’s Steve Jones and Andy Spitler teamed up for a no-hitter with six strikeouts and one walk.
The loss was charged to Orsich, who gave up nine hits and five earned runs in five innings in his debut on the mound.
The Chiefs (2-10-1) are booked for six Central Penn League games this week, starting with a home make-up with Hollidaysburg Monday at 6 p.m. Complex.
They’ll visit Altoona Tuesday, Clarence Thursday and Philipsburg Friday before returning to the Bison Sports Complex for a Saturday doubleheader against DuBois.
GAME 1
CLEARFIELD — 6
Curtis Collins cf 3220, Josh Sorbera c 3121, Thomas Summers 1b 3110, Cole Kephart ss 2001, Kyler Kephart lf 1101, Jake Sorbera lf 1000, Josh Kennedy 3b 3011, Brandon Orsich 2b 4000, Devin Jones p 4122, Zach Timchak rf 3000. TOTALS: 27 6 8 6.
BERKSHIRE — 5
Bo Rottett 3b 4110, Alex Doelp ss 3001, Collin Fesi cf 2100, Zach Krause dh 3210, Jon Gottschall 1b 3020, Jake Riegel c 3111, Joe Digangi eh 2011, Sy Williams ph 1000, Matt Hasenauer lf 2020, Avery Moffatt lf 1000, JT Koury rf 3000, Christian Wadsworth 2b 1000. TOTALS: 28 5 7 3.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 400 101 0 – 6 8 3
Berkshire 401 000 0 – 5 7 1
E – Doelp; C. Kephart, Kennedy, Jones. DP – Berkshire 1 (Doelp, Wadsworth and Gottschall). LOB – Clearfield 8; Berkshire 5. 2B – Collins, Krause, Riegel. Sac – Jake Sorbera; Wadsworth. SB – Fesi. CS – Gottschalk (by Josh Sorbera).
Pitching
Clearfield – Jones 7 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K.
Berkshire – Kyle Fox 5-1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K; Danny McShane 1-2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
HB – Fox 2 (C. Kephart, K. Kephart); McShane 1 (Josh Sorbera). WP – Fox. PO – Jones 1 (Wadsworth).
W – Jones (1-4). L – Fox.
* * * * *
GAME 2
SOUDERTON — 8
Jason Smith rf 3010, Kyle Wenger 4113, Brad Stoltzfus eh 2100, Scott Giuliano c 0100, Josh Freed 3b 0101, Brian Gibbs 1b 2000, Hunter Stodnycki 1b 1011, Adam Strogis lf 1100, Dan Heilemann p 2100, Kyle Tipping ss 2101, Micah Plank 2b 3110. TOTALS: 20 8 4 6.
CLEARFIELD — 0
Collins cf 3000, Josh Sorbera cc 3000, Summers 1b 2000, C. Kephart ss 2000, Wyatt Westen p-2b 2000, Kennedy lf 2000, Jones lf 2010, Orsich 2b 0000, Ronny Ogden p 1000, Timchak rf 2010. TOTALS: 19 0 2 0.
Score by Innings
Souderton 000 080 – 8 4 0
Clearfield 000 000 – 0 2 2
E – Westen, Kennedy. LOB – Souderton 6; Clearfield 2. 2B – Plank. 3B – Wenger. Sac – Freed; Orsich. SB – Giuliano.
Pitching
Souderton – Heilemann 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
Clearfield – Westen 4-1/3 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 7 BB, 2 K; Ogden 1-2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
HB – Ogden 2 (Giuliano, Strogis). PO – Plank (by Sorbera).
W – Heilemann. L – Westen (0-1).
* * * * *
GAME 3
CLEARFIELD — 5
Collins cf 4000, Logan Puit c 3200, Jones lf 401, Ogden eh 4120, Summers p 2000, C. Kephart ss 3122, Westen 1b 2100, Kennedy 3b 2111, Timchak rf 2000, Spencer Herrington ph 0000, Orsich 2b 2012. TOTALS: 28 5 7 5.
CORNING (N.Y.) RED — 5
Derek Fie 2b-p 4000, Joe Foti cf 3100, Luke Terwilliger ss 3110, Bryce Patterson lf 3000, Greg Speroni rf-p-2b 2011, Chris McKibbea 3b 2021, Dan Madden p-rf 3000, Bob Shepard eh 3000, Jordan Prisella c 2110, Nate Grant 1b 3010, Pat Fero eh 3010. TOTALS: 31 3 7 2.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 200 201 0 – 5 7 4
Corning Red 001 002 0 – 3 7 0
E – Jones, Kennedy 2, Timchak. PB – Puit 1; Prisella. DP – Corning Red 1 (Grant and Terwilliger). LOB – Clearfield 8; Corning Red 10. 2B – Jones, C. Kephart, Kennedy, Orsich; McKibbea. SF – Speroni. SB – Foti. CS – McCabe (by Summers).
Pitching
Clearfield – Summers 7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K.
Corning Red – Madden 2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 0 K; Speroni 3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K; Fie 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
WP – Summers 1; Speroni 1.
W – Summers (1-1). L – Madden.
* * * * *
GAME 4
MT. AIRY (MD.) — 8
Bobby Clarke c 4120, Nick Piefer ss 2100, Danny Smith cf 3111, John Kominors lf 3221, Kevin Kopas 3b 2221, Matt Connelly rf 1011, Creighny Farrell dh 3000, Christph Worch eh 3120, Sam Bryan 2b 2000, Sam Shyman 1b 3000. TOTALS: 28 8 10 4.
CLEARFIELD — 0
Collins cf-p 2000, Logan Puit c 2000, D. Jones 2b-4f 2000, Ogden 3h 2000, C. Kephart ss 2000, Summers 1b 2000, Westen 3b 2000, Orsich p-2b 2000, Kennedy lf 1000, Timchak rf-cf 2000. TOTALS: 19 0 0 0.
Score by Innings
Mt. Airy 015 011 – 8 10 1
Clearfield 000 000 – 0 0 4
E – Bryan; C. Kephart, Westen, Kennedy 2. PB – Puit. DP – Clearfield 1 (C. Kephart and Summers). LOB – Mt. Airy 5; Clearfield 2. 3B – Kominors, Kopas. Sac – Bryan. SF – Connelly. SB – Clarke, Kopas, Connelly.
Pitching
Mt. Airy – Steve Jones 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K; Andy Spitler 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER,
Clearfield – Orsich 5 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Collins 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
HB – Orsich 2 (Piefer, Connelly).
W – S. Jones. L – Orsich (0-1).
