Bison Rally in Seventh Again for Another Walk-Off Win, 3-2

HYDE — Bison might be the Clearfield Area High School baseball team’s nickname, but they’ve become the Cardiac Kids this week.

Incredibly, for the second day in a row Tuesday, the Bison came from behind in the bottom of the seventh to win in walk-off fashion and frustrate a Mountain League opponent at the Bison Sports Complex.

They nipped Tyrone 3-2 when pinch-runner Justin Fedder scooted home on a sacrifice fly by Thomas Summers to cap a three-run rally after diminutive sophomore left-hander Brian Gunter had completely shut them down for six innings.

“Unbelievable,” was the way longtime coach Sid Lansberry described the implausible victory against the league’s cellar-dwellers that boosted Clearfield’s first-place record to 8-1.

Until the final frame, Gunter had the Bison mesmerized with a less-than-overpowering fast ball and a slower curve.

They had only three hits, Cole Kephart’s double to the base of the left field fence in the fifth the lone solid shot, and seriously threatened once, but Gunter induced a double play to keep the game scoreless after three innings.

“He had us popping up, popping up, way out in front,” Lansberry said. “He did a great job, but it’s disappointing that we can’t hit better than that against a kid who doesn’t throw very hard.”

The hosts caught a break when Erik Sellers’ grounder was booted leading off the seventh.

Then, sophomore infielder Will Myers, whose infield single in the fifth inning was his first varsity hit, ripped a double to left field to chase Glunt.

“Will had a great hit there,” Lansberry said. “He hasn’t batted for a while. He finally got a chance to hit and did the job.”

Pinch-hitter Marcus Luzier, a sophomore, worked a walk from reliever Tristan Lingafelt in just his second trip to the plate of the season, loading the bases.

“That was a key at-bat,” Lansberry said.

Josh Sorbera followed with his second single, a hard grounder through the left side, for one run and Spencer Herrington got the tying marker home via a forceout.

Summers ended it with a high fly to right center, bringing his teammates sprinting out of the dugout the same way they did when Sawyer Rowles’ sac fly finished off Bellefonte, 5-4, Monday.

The Bison own four wins that were settled in the seventh inning, where they sport a 15-0 run differential.

“That’s an unbelievable stat,” Lansberry said. “But why do we have to wait until the seventh inning? It’s driving me crazy.”

Clearfield was on the verge of wasting a quality start by Tommy Hazel in his varsity debut before the comeback that hiked its winning streak to seven games and padded its record to 10-2, the most victories since 2009.

Hazel got the nod to become the first Bison not named Summers or Brandon Orsich to go to the mound after the lefty-righty combo had logged 78 innings with a 1.53 ERA.

The sophomore right-hander, who turned 16 Tuesday, gave the Bison five solid innings, allowing five hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

“A great job,” Lansberry said. “He may have been nervous, but he didn’t show it. He threw strikes.”

Tyrone (3-9, 1-8 ML) got its runs off Herrington in the sixth inning, both unearned because of a two-out error. Coy Focht slashed a single to right and Drew Hunter doubled to left center to set up the scoring opportunity.

Herrington, a senior right-hander also making his first appearance, wound up the winning hurler when the Bison pulled out the dramatic win. He recorded two strikeouts in his two-inning stint.

“We had to go to somebody else tonight, and we got a great performance from both Hazel and Herrington,” Lansberry said. “Seven innings, no earned runs. I’ll take that any time.

“Even had we not come back and won, I would have said that. We found some pitching depth that could help us down the road.”

The Bison came through defensively, too.

A perfect relay from left fielder Noah Cline to Herrington to Sorbera cut down Lingafelt trying to score on Tony Politza’s long double in the third inning. Moments after Sorbera threw out Zach Soellner on a steal attempt, first baseman Sellers leaped for an off-target throw and made a sweeping tag on Matt Brenneman in the fourth. And Summers prevented what would have been a big insurance run in the seventh with a circus catch near the left field fence that robbed Politza of another extra base blow.

“Those are key plays to keep us in the game, because we were doing nothing offensively,” Lansberry said. “We’re getting by on pitching and defense, but we’ve gotta get our offense in gear, or we’re going to be in trouble. Sooner or later, this is going to catch up to us.”

The Bison have a league make-up with Penns Valley Wednesday, their third home game in as many days.

TYRONE — 2

Gary Weaver lf 4010, Nate Soellner 2b-ss 4010, Tristan Lingafelt ss-p 3000, Tony Politza 3b 4010, Coy Focht rf 3110, Drew Hunter cf 3120, Zach Soellner 1b 3010, Matt Brenneman c 3010, Brian Gunter p 2000, Brett Robison 2b 0000. TOTALS: 29 2 8 0.

CLEARFIELD — 3

Josh Sorbera c 3021, Spencer Herrington ss-p 4001, Thomas Summers rf-lf 3001, Cole Kephart 3b 3010, Tommy Hazel p-rf 0000, Brandon Orsich dh 1000, Sawyer Rowles cf 3000, Erik Sellers 1b 3100, Will Myers 2120, Noah Cline lf-2b 1000, Dan Collins ph 1000, Marcus Luzier ph 0000, Justin Fedder pr 0100. TOTALS: 24 3 5 3.

Score by Innings

Tyrone          000 002 0 – 2  8  2
Clearfield    000 000 3 – 3  5  2
E – Lingafelt, Gunter; Herrington, Cline. PB – Sorbera. DP – Tyrone 1 (N. Soellner, Lingafelt and Z. Soellner). LOB – Tyrone 8; Clearfield 7. 2B – Politza, Hunter; Kephart, Myers. SF – Summers. SB – Weaver, N. Soellner; Myers. CS – Z. Soellner (by Sorbera).

Pitching

Tyrone – Glunt 6+ IP (faced 2 batters in 7th), 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Lingafelt 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
Clearfield – Hazel 5 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K; Herrington 2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.
HB – Glunt 1 (Sorbera).
W – Herrington (1-0). L – Lingafelt.

Umpires – Joe Shick (plate) and Jerry Neal (bases).

Bison Scoreboard: