Wind-Aided HR in Eighth Dooms Bison to Fourth One-Run Loss

HYDE — Lady Luck hasn’t smiled on the Clearfield Area High School baseball team all season.

So, it was not unrealistic to think trouble was ahead after Jon Janocko staved off the winless Bison’s ninth loss with a two-out, run-scoring single in the bottom off the seventh inning to get them even with Tyrone, 2-2, Saturday at the Bison Sports Complex.

Right on cue, after Logan Puit had made a tumbling catch, falling backwards, of Tristan Lingafelt’s long fly ball to left field for the second out of the eighth frame, Golden Eagle sophomore Coy Focht lofted a low pitch from Devin Jones to left that a very brisk wind carried over the fence.

“I thought it was a routine pop up and the inning was over,” Clearfield coach Sid Lansberry said. “It was a good pitch. It wasn’t down the middle.”

Lingafelt, working his third inning in relief, then set the Bison down in order to earn the 3-2 Mountain League win.

And a well-pitched game by Jones went unrewarded.

The senior right-hander, who had logged five innings in his three previous appearances, went the distance in his second start with the help of Clearfield’s first three double plays of the season plus his pickoff at second base that averted trouble in the fourth inning.

Jones, who had four strikeouts, gave up 10 hits but issued only one walk.

“That was an outstanding performance by Devin,” Lansberry said. “He struggled a little bit early this season with injuries, but he looks like he’s 100 percent now. We were hoping to get that kind of a quality start out of him every time out.”

The Bison were solid defensively behind him but didn’t provide enough offensive support, failing to take advantage of eight walks.

They mustered only four hits off Lingafelt and Jordan Miller and stranded nine runners.

“How do they have pitching like that, especially after playing (Friday) night,” Lansberry wondered aloud. “That’s at least four games in a row that we’ve seen the other team’s best pitcher or pitchers.

“We do need to hit better with men on base and we need more clutch hitting in the middle of the order.”

The Bison did get two key hits.

Janocko came through with his liner to center field that chased home Spencer Herrington, who had drawn a walk and advanced to third on Logan Puit’s bunt and a wild pitch.

Erik Sellers delivered with two outs in the fourth inning. With Curtis Collins at second via a walk and a wild pitch, Sellers smashed a double to deep left center to create a 1-1 tie.

Tyrone’s runs came in the first inning when Miller doubled, stole third and scored when the Bison erased Jake Dorminy in a rundown after he reached base on catcher’s interference and in the third frame when Nathaniel Soellner doubled into the left field corner and Zack Soellner flared a single over shortstop.

Defensively, Clearfield got two other gems in addition to Puit’s difficult grab.

Sawyer Rowles prevented the Golden Eagles from jumping off to a bigger lead in the first inning by diving for a sensational catch of Nathaniel Soellner’s fly ball to short left center and Sellers robbed Miller by backhanding his sharp grounder up the middle in the third.

Throws by first baseman Janocko cut down runners at home plate and third base to complete double plays before middle infielders Herrington and Sellers turned a conventional twinkilling in the sixth.

“We can‘t play much better defense,” Lansberry said.

That and Jones’ effort weren’t enough to avert a fourth one-run setback, though.

“It’s tough,” Lansberry. “I still keep using the word snake-bit, but it seems like we are.

“Like that home run. The wind kicked up and took it over the fence. Who knows what would have happened? We were out of that inning. And when you’re playing at home in an extra-inning game, you’ve got two chances to their one.”

The Bison continue their home stand against league foes Bellefonte Monday and Bald Eagle Area Tuesday in a make-up of Friday’s postponement.

Clearfield’s junior varsity rolled to an 11-1, five-inning win with Tommy Hazel pitching a complete game, Will Myers banging out a double and two singles and Jonathan Trimpey socking a double.

Mountain League – Central 10-0, Bald Eagle Area 6-3, Tyrone 5-5, Huntingdon 4-4, Philipsburg-Osceola 3-4, Bellefonte 2-5, Penns Valley 2-5, Clearfield 0-6.

TYRONE — 3

Jordan Miller p-cf 4120, Jake Dorminy cf-2b 4000, Tristan Lingafelt ss-p 3000, Coy Focht 3b 4121, Nathaniel Soellner 2b-ss 4110, Zack Soellner 1b 3021, Brad Wirtner c 3010, Joe Steinbugl lf 3010, Matt Brenneman rf 3010.  TOTALS: 31 3 10 2.

CLEARFIELD — 2

Spencer Herrington ss 3100, Logan Puit rf-lf 2000, Zach Timchak rf-lf 0000, Cole Kephart 3b 2010, Jon Janocko 1b 4011, Curtis Collins lf-cf 3110, Devin Jones p 0000, Thomas Summers dh 4000, Josh Sorbera c 3000, Erik Sellers 2b 2011, Sawyer Rowles cf 1000, Josh Kennedy ph 1000, Dan Collins ph 1000, Nate Brady rf 0000.  TOTALS: 26 2 4 2.

Score by Innings

Tyrone           100 001 01 – 3  10  0
Clearfield        000 100 10 – 2   4  2
E – Kephart, Sorbera. DP – Tyrone 1 (Lingafelt, N. Soellner and Z. Soellner); Clearfield 3 (Kephart, Sellers, Janocko and Sorbera; Kephart, Janocko and Herrington; Sellers, Herrington and Janocko). LOB – Tyrone 5; Clearfield 9. 2B – Miller, N. Soellner; Sellers. HR – Focht. Sac – Puit. SB – Miller.

Pitching

Tyrone – Miller 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 6 K; Lingafelt 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
Clearfield – Jones 8 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
WP – Miller 1, Lingafelt 1. PO – Jones 1 (N. Soellner).
W – Lingafelt. L – Jones (0-2).

Umpires – Jerry Neal (plate) and Bill Funk (bases).

Bison Scoreboard: