DUBOIS — The postseason is right around the corner for the Clearfield and DuBois schoolboy baseball teams, and they hooked up in a playoff-type game at Showers Field Friday.
They were locked in a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning when the Beavers tallied three runs to emerge triumphant, 4-1, for a four-game winning streak and a 13-6 record.
The Bison finished the regular season 14-6 and now will look ahead to the District 9 Class AAA semifinal on their home diamond against Bradford Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
“It was a good game going into the playoffs, for both teams,” Clearfield coach Sid Lansberry said. “It was intense and it was well-played.”
Good defense prevented the county rivals from getting a jump in the first inning.
Two strong, accurate relay throws by the Beavers cut down Spencer Herrington trying to advance from first to third on a single to right by Josh Sorbera, while the Bison executed a five-player rundown along the third base line to get speedy Bryson Paulinelli on a failed suicide squeeze.
Clearfield starter Brandon Orsich matched zeroes with DuBois left-hander Ben Hayes through three innings before reaching a pre-determined pitch limit. He allowed three hits, struck out two Beavers and walked one.
“Brandon did a great job,” Lansberry said. “We were only going to give him 40 pitches, because we want him 100 percent for Tuesday. I think he threw 45.”
The Bison stranded three runners in the first and threatened again in the second when Cole Kephart and Marcus Luzier lashed singles through the left side, but Hayes proceeded to strike out the next three batters.
He took his shutout into the fifth, when Sawyer Rowles legged out an infield hit, moved up on Herrington’s bunt and scored on Thomas Summers’ sharp single to left.
That offset the run DuBois got off Clearfield reliever Herrington in the fourth.
In the bottom of the sixth, three consecutive walks with two outs forced in the winning run before Collin Read lashed a single into center field for two insurance runs.
Herrington just missed on a couple of key pitches that could have gotten him out of that inning unscathed.
“Spencer hasn’t thrown that much this year, and he was a little wild, but I thought he did a decent job,” Lansberry said.
Read pitched the last two innings to earn the victory, facing only seven batters as his inner defense handled five grounders on the artificial surface.
“Their infielders are good,” Lansberry said. “They made nice plays.”
Third baseman Braden Paulinelli made two diving stops, robbing Erik Sellers of a leadoff double down the line in the sixth and going to his left on Sorbera’s shot for the game-ending out.
His hurried throw was high, but first baseman Jake Felix made a leaping grab and a swiping tag.
The first play, which came with the score still tied, proved even more important when Kephart followed with a double off the wall in dead center.
“We hit the ball hard at times and we had opportunities to score, but we just couldn’t bring guys in,” said Lansberry, who added, “No complaints. I thought we played well.”
Bryson Paulinelli slugged a triple and a double for the Beavers, who will play District 10 representative Erie McDowell in a PIAA Class AAAA subregional Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at Berwind Park in St. Marys. The winner then will meet the District 6 champ for a berth in the state bracket.
CLEARFIELD — 1
Sawyer Rowles cf 4110, Spencer Herrington ss-p 3000, Josh Sorbera c 3010, Thomas Summers rf-lf 1011, Will Myers 2b-ss 2000, Erik Sellers 1b 3000, Cole Kephart 3b 3020,, Justin Fedder pr 0000, Noah Cline lf-2b 0000, Marcus Luzier dh 3010, Brandon Orsich p 1000, Tommy Hazel ph-rf 2000. TOTALS: 25 1 6 1.
DUBOIS — 4
Bryson Paulinelli cf-ss 3021, Collin Read ss-p 3012, Braden Paulinelli 3b 3000, Jake Felix 1b 3010, Mitchell Ferra pr 0100, Drew Bankovich lf 2000, Adam Bankovich c 2010, Zach Sloan 2b 3110, Ben Hayes p 0000, Cory Manning cf 0000, Mason Yount dh 2000, Ryan Pasternak ph 0000, Tate Rutherford pr 0100, Devon Clark rf 2110. TOTALS: 23 4 7 3.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 000 010 0 – 1 6 1
DuBois 000 103 x – 4 7 1
E – Herrington; A. Bankovich. DP – DuBois 1 (Sloan, Read and Felix). LOB – Clearfield 8 ; DuBois 8. 2B – Kephart; Bry. Paulinelli, Felix, Clark. 3B – Bry. Paulinelli. Sac – Herrington; A. Bankovich. SB – Clark.
Pitching
Clearfield – Orsich 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K; Herrington 3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 0 K.
DuBois – Hayes 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K; Read 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
W – Read (4-3). L – Herrington (3-1).
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/23 | @ Central | 2 – 0 | 1 – 0 |
| 3/26 | @ Huntingdon | ppd. | 1 – 0 |
| 3/27 | @ Huntingdon | 6 – 4 | 2 – 0 |
| 3/31 | @ Bellefonte | ppd. | 2 – 0 |
| 4/02 | @ Tyrone | 6 – 1 | 3 – 0 |
| 4/06 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 4 – 7, 9 inn. | 3 – 1 |
| 4/07 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ppd. | 3 – 1 |
| 4/10 | @ Altoona Curve Classic | ||
| 4/10 | vs. Central | 0 – 2 | 3 – 2 |
| 4/11 | @ Altoona Curve Classic | ||
| 4/11 | vs. Forest Hills | 7 – 3 | 4 – 2 |
| 4/14 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 6 – 4 | 5 – 2 |
| 4/15 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 3 – 0 | 6 – 2 |
| 4/20 | HUNTINGDON | ppd. | 6 – 2 |
| 4/21 | HUNTINGDON | 4 – 3 | 7 – 2 |
| 4/23 | BELLEFONTE | ppd. | 7 – 2 |
| 4/24 | @ Curwensville | 13 – 0 | 8 – 2 |
| 4/27 | BELLEFONTE | 5 – 4 | 9 – 2 |
| 4/28 | TYRONE | 3 – 2 | 10 – 2 |
| 4/29 | PENNS VALLEY | 1 – 5 | 10 – 3 |
| 5/01 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 6 – 5 | 11 – 3 |
| 5/01 | (protest by BEA reults in loss) | 0 – 7 | 10 – 4 |
| 5/04 | @ Penns Valley | 7 – 6 | 11 – 4 |
| 5/05 | @ Bellefonte | 5 – 10 | 11 – 5 |
| 5/07 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 13 – 3 | 12 – 5 |
| 5/11 | CURWENSVILLE | 7 – 2 | 13 – 5 |
| 5/14 | BROOKVILLE | 11 – 1 | 14 – 5 |
| 5/15 | @ DuBois | 1 – 4 | 15 – 5 |
| 5/19 | District 9 AAA Semifinals | ||
| 5/19 | BRADFORD |