HYDE — Sophomore Jake Sorbera and junior Tommy Hazel teamed up to keep the Huntingdon batters in check and Hazel drove in two runs with sacrifice flies as Clearfield made it a two-win week to open the season by edging the Bearcats 3-1 at the Bison Sports Complex Friday afternoon.
Prior to the first game, Bison coach Sid Lansberry wasn’t sure who he would call on after handing the ball to returning starter Brandon Orsich against Central Tuesday.
Sorbera rewarded the longtime mentor for giving him a chance by frustrating the Bearcats for six innings.
In his first varsity appearance, the right-hander scattered five hits, all singles, struck out four and issued just one walk.
He did hit two Bearcats, and the first free ticket cost him a shutout, though the run was unearned because he threw away a pickoff attempt.
A groundout and a soft single to the left side by Brian McLaughlin chased home Leif Brown to put Huntingdon (1-1) ahead in the second inning.
McLaughlin then became the only other Bearcat to touch third base via Nick Zanic’s groundout and a wild pitch, but Sorbera stranded him there with a strikeout.
Sorbera was able to quell a trio of Bearcat threats by inducing ground ball outs, two of them comebackers, with runners at first and second in the first, third and fifth innings.
“He hung in there,” Lansberry said. “A great job in his first varsity start. At the end, he had enough pitches and was ready to come out.”
Hazel relieved for the seventh inning and slammed the door on the Bearcats with three strikeouts around Nick Holesa’s second hit of the Mountain League game.
“It was good to have Tommy to come in,” Lansberry said. “Maybe he’s gonna be a decent closer for us.”
The Bison wasted opportunities against Landon Fisher in the first two innings when they had three runners in scoring position with no outs.
In the third frame, Hazel’s first sac fly tied it up after Zane Morgan was hit by a pitch and Marcus Luzier drilled a double to left field.
Fisher walked Will Myers and Justin Fedder on eight pitches to begin the bottom of the fifth, prompting a pitching change, but Holesa couldn’t prevent Clearfield from going in front.
With one out, Luzier pushed a teammate into scoring position for the second time with a hard grounder into left field and Hazel skied to center for the game-winning RBI. Orsich followed with a single to right to drive in the insurance run.
“Those two sac flies were really big,” Lansberry said. “We didn’t hit as well as we did the other day, and we left a lot of guys on base, too.”
The Bison wound up with six hits, with freshman Ty Bender matching Luzier’s double and single.
Lansberry pointed out that good defense was a key for the Bison, who made all the plays except one to strand nine Huntingdon runners.
“As long as we play solid defense, we should be competitive,” he said. “That is what these kids did last summer, too. In Teener League and legion both, they were able to stay in a lot of games that way.”
The Bison will continue their home stand Monday against Bellefonte, which many had pegged as the team to beat but has dropped three games in a row.
Clearfield’s junior varsity also moved to 2-0 with a 10-inning, 9-8 victory. Eli Glass singled home the deciding run to make Hunter Hipps the winning pitcher.
Evan Brown led the Bison underclassmen with three hits and three RBIs. Noah Rumsky also had a trio of hits while Alec Graham and Johnny Gates chipped in two apiece.
Mountain League standings — Clearfield 2-0, Philipsburg-Osceola 2-0, Central 2-1, Bald Eagle Area 1-1, Penns Valley 1-1, Huntingdon 1-1, Tyrone 0-2, Bellefonte 0-3.
HUNTINGDON — 1
Chris Alleman lf-cf 4000, Nick Holesa ss-p-ss 4020, Jon Wagner 3b-ss-3b 4010, Logan Fisher rf 000, Landon Fisher p 0000, Mike Huntsman 3b 0000, Alex Mykut c 0000, Kodiak Heaton dh 3010, Leif Brown c-p 2100, Jared Showalter 1b 3010, Brian McLaughlin 2b 3011, Nick Zanic cf 2000, Drew Weglarz ph-lf 1000. TOTALS: 28 1 6 0.
CLEARFIELD — 3
Justin Fedder 2b 3100, Zane Morgan c 3100, Marcus Luzier 3b 3020, Tommy Hazel cf-p 1002, Brandon Orsich 1b 2011, Ty Bender rf 3020, Reese Wilson rf-cf 0000, Jon Trimpey lf 3000, Jake Sorbera p-rf 3000, Will Myers ss 1000, Seth Bumbarger ph 0000, Thayne Morgan pr-ss 1110. TOTALS: 23 3 6 3.
Score by Innings
Huntingdon 010 000 0 – 1 6 1
Clearfield 001 020 x – 3 6 2
E – Wagner, Luzier, Sorbera. PB – Z. Morgan. LOB – Central 9; Clearfield 8. 2B – Luzier, Bender. SF – Hazel 2. SB – Wagner; Fedder.
Pitching
Huntingdon – La. Fisher 4+ IP (faced 2 batters in 5th), 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Holesa 1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K; Brown 1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER,0 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Sorbera 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; Hazel 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
HB – La. Fisher 1 (Z. Morgan); Sorbera 2 (Lo. Fisher, Brown). WP – Sorbera 1. BK – Sorbera 1.
W – Sorbera (1-0). L – La. Fisher (0-1).
Umpires – Rob Murphy (plate); Mike Lepionka (bases).
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/29 | CENTRAL | 11 – 5 | 1 – 0 |
| 4/01 | HUNTINGDON | 3 – 1 | 2 – 0 |
| 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 |