Unbeaten Bison Defense Grounds Golden Eagles 6-1

TYRONE — Defense kept the Clearfield Area High School baseball team in the ranks of the undefeated Thursday afternoon.

Bison infielders turned three double plays, winning hurler Thomas Summers picked off runners in two other innings and first baseman Dan Collins and center fielder Sawyer Rowles added tough catches as the Bison remained atop the Mountain League by trimming Tyrone 6-1.

“That pretty much prevents them from having a big inning when you do all of that,” coach Sid Lansberry summing up Clearfield’s third road win.

A dozen Golden Eagles reached base, but only four touched second, three in the fourth frame when they scored their lone run but stranded three runners. They would have gotten much closer than 4-1 were it not for Summers’ second pickoff and Collins’ good play on a foul fly.

Middle infielders Spencer Herrington and Will Myers each started a double play in the next two innings before the Bison tacked on their final runs in the seventh when Cole Kephart doubled home Rowles and later scored on a Tyrone miscue.

Brandon Orsich then mopped up with a clean inning in relief of Summers, who notched his second ‘W’ with a five-hitter. He struck out two and walked three.

The senior southpaw was given a four-run cushion in the second inning with Noah Cline bouncing a bases-loaded single through the left side for what proved to be the game-winning hit. Groundouts by Myers and Rowles chased home Tommy Hazel and Cline.

Josh Sorbera had two of Clearfield’s five hits off loser Tristan Lingafelt and Brian Gunter.

Rowles made a diving grab to rob Lingafelt of what might have been a run-producing extra base hit in the fifth inning.

“He laid out and made a beautiful catch,” Lansberry said.

If the Bison Sports Complex Field is playable Monday, Clearfield will begin a busy week with the home opener against District 9 Class AAA rival Punxsutawney (1-0). The Bison return to league play Tuesday at Bald Eagle Area and Friday against Central in the first round of the three-day Curve Classic at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona.

Mountain League standings — Clearfield 3-0, Bellefonte 1-0, Central 2-1, Huntingdon 1-1, Philipsburg-Osceola 0-1, Bald Eagle Area 0-1, Penns Valley 0-1, Tyrone 0-2.

CLEARFIELD — 6

Sawyer Rowles cf 3101, Spencer Herrington ss 3000, Thomas Summers p 4010, Cole Kephart 3b 4111, Josh Sorbera c 3120, Dan Collins 1b 3100, Tommy Hazel rf 2100, Noah Cline lf 2112, Will Myers 2b 3001. TOTALS: 27 6 5 5.

TYRONE — 1

Zack Soellner 1b 4000, Nate Soellner ss 2120, Tristan Lingafelt p-2b 3000, Tony Politza 3b 3020, Joe Steinbugl rf 0000, Chase Maceno dh 2000, Drew Hunter cf 3000, Matt Brenneman c 2000, Brett Robison 2b 1000, Brian Gunter ph-p 2000, Gary Weaver lf 3010. TOTALS: 25 1 5 0.

Score by Innings

Clearfield      040 000 2 –  6  5  4
Tyrone           000 100 0 –  1  5  2
E -Herrington, Summers, Kephart, Myers; N. Soellner, Politza. DP – Clearfield 3 (Collins and Herrington; Myers, Herrington and Collins; Herrington, Myers and Collins). LOB – Clearfield 6; Tyrone 5. 2B – Summers, Kephart. SB – Cline. CS – N. Soellner (by Summers).

Pitching

Clearfield – Summers 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Orsich 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Tyrone – Lingafelt 4 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K; Gunter 3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
HB – Lingafelt 1 (Cline). WP – Summers 1; Lingafelt 1.  PO – Lingafelt (by Summers).
W – Summers (2-0). L – Lingafelt.

Bison Scoreboard: