HYDE — A veteran and two rookies teamed up to lead the Clearfield Area High School baseball team to a season-opening 11-5 Mountain League victory over Central at the Bison Sports Complex Tuesday.
Senior mound ace Brandon Orsich survived early-inning problems and finished strong for his first win over the Scarlet Dragons after losing to them 2-1 two years ago and 2-0 last year when he surrendered a total of seven hits in 13 innings.
The right-hander was touched up for 10 hits and three earned runs, but the Bison gave him plenty of support on this cold breezy afternoon and evening so that he was able to record his ninth complete game in his 13th career start.
Offensively, two-run home runs highlighted auspicious debuts by freshman Ty Bender and junior Zane Morgan, who drove in four and three runs, respectively.
Five more Bison who got their first varsity position starts made contributions with five hits, two RBIs and six runs scored.
“The first-year kids did pretty well with good at-bats and a lot of clutch hits,” Bison coach Sid Lansberry said.
The biggest were the long balls.
Morgan’s drive that hugged the left field line fueled a 3-0 start in the first inning, and Bender’s two-out blast to left center put the Bison ahead to stay in the third frame.
“Getting three runs in the bottom of the first is key against a team like Central,” Lansberry said. “They helped us out with two errors in that inning, which is unusual for them, but they’re still a pretty good club. They beat Bellefonte 11-1 last week. I’m sure they’ll be right up there in the Mountain League at the end.”
It had appeared the Scarlet Dragons were going to jump in front when leadoff batter Alex Hoenstine lined a single to center, Josh McKnight’s high fly down the left field line fell in for a hit and Orsich was called for a balk.
However, the Bison hurler responded with three, swinging strikeouts.
“That‘s a terrific job,” Lansberry said. “Then, the next two innings, he had trouble, too. But he hung in there.”
Central knotted the score in the top of the second with four hits, including RBI singles by Larry Corle and McKnight around a double steal.
Morgan put the Bison back in front with a sacrifice fly after Seth Bumbarger and Justin Fedder had singled, but the Scarlet Dragons continued to make it a see-saw game with two runs after having runners at second and third with no outs for the third inning in a row.
Orsich made sure they wouldn’t do that again as he settled down and retired 13 of the last 15 batters he faced, allowing singles in the fifth and seventh innings.
“He wasn’t as sharp as he has been, and they hit him hard a couple times, but what I liked was his composure throughout the game,” Lansberry said. “Last year, he might not have been able to do that, come back like he did. He’s a different pitcher this year.”
Orsich finished with nine strikeouts and no walks.
“There aren’t many high school games where a kid pitches a complete game and doesn’t walk anybody,” Lansberry noted.
One inning after Bender put the Bison in front to stay with his dinger off Scarlet Dragon starter Cordell Bowser, they broke it open with four runs, all with two outs, off reliever John Johnson.
Orsich had a run-scoring single, and the next three markers were unearned because of an error. With the bases loaded, Bender was hit by a pitch and Bumbarger drew a walk to forced in runs.
In the sixth inning, Bender chased home the final run with a double to deep center, joining Orsich and Justin Fedder in the two-hit column.
“It’s a great way to start the season,” Lansberry said. “It’s a big win, but it’s only one.”
The Bison will try for No. 2 at Huntingdon Friday.
In the junior varsity game, Clearfield won 11-4 as winning pitcher Eli Glass had three hits, Noah Rumsky had two hits and two RBIs and Hunter Hipps had three RBIs.
CENTRAL — 5
Alex Hoenstine ss 4010, Josh McKnight 1b 4031, Chase Smith cf 4000, Michael Speck lf 4100, Cordell Bowser p 0000, John Johnson p 0000, Jarrett Imler dh 4110, Jacob Muthler 3b 3121, Landon Mock c 3111, Hunter Liebal rf 2010, Damon Langer ph 1000, Larry Corle 2b 3111. TOTALS: 32 5 19 4.
CLEARFIELD — 11
Justin Fedder 2b 5120, Zane Morgan c 3113, Marcus Luzier 3b 4210, Tommy Hazel cf 2110, Brandon Orsich p 3121, Jon Trimpey lf 3101, Jake Sorbera rf 3110, Reese Wilson pr-rf 0100, Will Myers ss 0000, Ty Bender dh 3124, Seth Bumbarger 1b 3111. TOTALS: 29 11 11 10.
Score by Innings
Central 032 000 0 – 5 10 3
Clearfield 312 401 x – 11 15 1
E – Hoenstine, Muthler, Corle; Luzier. LOB – Central 6; Clearfield 8. 2B – Mock; Bender. HR – Z. Morgan (1), Bender (1). SF – Z. Morgan. SB – Mock, Corle; Hazel, Trimpey, Thayne Morgan.
Pitching
Central – Bowser 3 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K; Johnson 3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K.
Clearfield – Orsich 7 IP, 11 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9 K;
HB – Johnson 2 (Sorbera, Bender). WP – Bowser 2. BK – Orsich 1.
W – Orsich (1-0). L – Bowser.
Umpires – Jerry Neal (plate); Mark Zimmerman (bases).
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/29 | CENTRAL | 11 – 5 | 1 – 0 |
| 4/01 | HUNTINGDON | ||
| 4/04 | BELLEFONTE | ||
| 4/07 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 4/08 | @ Punxsutawney | ||
| 4/11 | CURWENSVILLE | ||
| 4/12 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ||
| 4/15 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 4/18 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ||
| 4/19 | @ Brookville | ||
| 4/21 | @ Central | ||
| 4/26 | @ Huntingdon | ||
| 4/29 | @ Bellefonte | ||
| 5/02 | TYRONE | ||
| 5/03 | @ Curwensville | ||
| 5/05 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ||
| 5/09 | @ The Kiski School | ||
| 5/10 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 5/13 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 5/17 | DUBOIS |