Bison Edge Eagles 6-5 in 10-Inning Thriller

HYDE — Clearfield Area High School’s Cardiac Kids were at it again at the Bison Sports Complex Friday.

After staving off defeat with runs in the seventh and ninth innings, the Bison got their third two-out RBI of the game in the 10th when Will Myers bounced a single through the middle to chase home Erik Sellers from second base for an exciting 6-5 victory over Bald Eagle Area.

The come-from-behind Mountain League win was the Bison’s third of the week and boosted their second place record to 9-2 and their season log to 11-3, the most victories since 2009.

This one oozed of drama after two BEA errors gave Clearfield a sixth-inning run that cut the deficit to 4-3.

The Bison had just three hits off curveballing Kody Hamer and were down to their last strike twice in the bottom of the seventh.

Then, pinch-hitter Dan Collins laced a single past shortstop Brandon Gettig’s glove side and Sawyer Rowles rifled his first career triple up the right center ally to send pinch-runner Justin Fedder dashing around the sacks and force extra innings.

The Eagles reclaimed the lead with some two-out lightning of their own after Spencer Herrington relieved Thomas Summers in the ninth. Jason Jones walked with one out and pinch-runner Cole Robinson came all the around on Trey Butterworth’s double to right center.

Once again, the Bison responded as Myers led off with his first triple to right center and scored on Sawyer Rowles’ sacrifice fly to medium left field, sliding into home just ahead of catcher Dylan Burns’ diving tag. Brandon Barnyak made the strong throw that almost preserved the win for BEA (4-10, 3-9 ML).

Left-hander Colton Comly replaced Hamer on the mound in the 10th and issued a free pass to Sellers, who stole second before Myers came through with his clutch, game-winning hit.

“Just another great comeback by our kids,” Clearfield coach Sid Lansberry said. “Lot of heart, lot of spirit.

“We’re still not hitting the ball very well until late in the game, and I can’t answer that. Our team batting average keeps falling down. We had a great couple innings, but what do we do for five innings? We don’t do anything offensively for some reason.”

Much like he did in Monday’s 5-4 win over Bellefonte, Thomas Summers toughed it out in the early going to keep the Eagles in sight.

The senior left-hander allowed four runs and nine hits through four innings. Butterworth singled home a run in the first and Jones doubled off the left field fence for two more in the third and singled in another in the fourth to make it 4-2.

Over the next four innings, Summers shut out the Eagles on three hits and chalked up five of his 10 strikeouts.

“Thomas pitched well,” Lansberry said. “We expect too much out of him. He gave up four runs. That’s a good game. That’s a good hitting team.

“I really didn’t want to pitch him again. He’d already pitched against them. Our policy is never to show the same pitcher again, but we were backed in a corner because of four games this week. They got some base hits and scored some runs, but he’s not gonna pitch a shutout every time.”

Summers had blanked the Eagles on three hits with eight strikeouts on April 15.

Herrington, who escaped a bases-loaded situation in the ninth by inducing a grounder, picked up his second win of the week in relief. He struck out one and walked four in his two-inning stint.

“He did a great job,” Lansberry said.

The longtime coach was happy with the Bison’s fourth errorless game of the season but not so much with some other breakdowns, such as missed signs.

“Fundamentally, we didn’t play good baseball,” he said. “I don’t want to say we didn’t deserve to win, but they’ve gotta play up to their potential the whole seven innings.”

Clearfield’s early runs came on Brandon Orsich’s two-out liner to center in the second inning and Herrington’s single in the third.

Herrington and Summers joined Myers in the two-hit column for the Bison.

The top three batters in the BEA lineup combined for eight hits and scored all of the runs. Gettig and Jones had three hits apiece and Ryan Guenot had two. Butterworth, the No. 5 batter, also contributed three hits.

Clearfield goes on the road to play Penns Valley Monday and Bellefonte Tuesday.

Mountain League standings — Central 8-1, Clearfield 9-2, Bellefonte 7-4, Huntingdon 6-5, Philipsburg-Osceola 3-4, Penns Valley 3-6, Bald Eagle Area 3-7, Tyrone 1-11.

BALD EAGLE AREA — 5

Brandon Gettig ss 5230, Ryan Guenot 2b 5220, Jason Jones rf 5233, Cole Robinson pr 0000, Noah Chambers 1b 4000, Trey Butterworth cf 5032, Dylan Burns c 4000, Brandon Barnyak lf 0000, Andy Swabic dh 3000, Travis Reed dh 1000, Alex Struble 3b 5000, Kody Hamer p 5020, Colton Comly p 0000. TOTALS: 42 5 13 5.

CLEARFIELD — 6

Sawyer Rowles cf 4012, Spencer Herrington ss-p 5120, Josh Sorbera c 4001, Thomas Summers p-lf 5120, Cole Kephart 3b 4000, Erik Sellers 1b 4100, Noah Cline lf-2b 0000, Brandon Orsich dh 5011, Will Myers 2b-ss 4121, Marcus Luzier ph 1000, Tommy Hazel rf 2100, Dan Collins ph 1010, Justin Fedder pr 0100. TOTALS: 39 6 9 5.

Score by Innings

Bald Eagle Area    102 100 001 0 – 5  13  4
Clearfield                011 001 101 1 – 6    9  0
E – Guenot, Struble 3. LOB – Bald Eagle Area 13; Clearfield 9. 2B – Guenot, Jones, Butterworth, Hamer. 3B – Rowles, Myers. Sac – Chambers. SF – Rowles. SB – Sellers.

Pitching

Bald Eagle Area – Hamer 9 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K; Comly 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Summers 8 IP, 12 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 10 K; Herrington 2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 1 K.
HB – Hamer 1 (Sorbera). WP – Comly 1; Summers 1, Herrington 1.
W – Herrington (2-0). L – Comly.

Umpires – Gary Kost (plate) and J.R. Rosselli (bases).

Bison Scoreboard: