HYDE — On a perfect afternoon for baseball at the Bison Sports Complex, pitcher Brandon Orsich and his Clearfield Area High School teammates spoiled Philipsburg-Osceola’s perfect start to a resurgent season with a well-deserved 4-2 Mountain League victory Monday.
Facing a potent lineup that featured four players hitting .385 or higher and was averaging more than nine runs, Orsich toughed out his fourth consecutive complete game on a four-hitter with a career-high10 strikeouts even though he wasn’t feeling well.
“I said to him before the game, ‘You want to wait til (Tuesday)?’, and he said, ‘Nope, today’s the day,’” Clearfield coach Sid Lansberry said. “It was a tall order, but he’s a competitor. He was up to the challenge, and he pitched a great game.”
With pitching coach Chris Peacock calling for a lot of curves and cutters, especially early in the count, Orsich was able to neutralize the Mounties by feeding them a steady diet of his breaking balls and an occasional changeup.
The Mounties had raked opposing hurlers at a .344 clip and outscored their opponents 65-5 en route to their 7-0 getaway that included five league victories.
‘“I looked at their stats (Sunday) night, and they made me sick,” Lansberry said.
Orsich made him feel a lot better with his exceptional effort that halted the Bison’s three-game slide.
The senior right-hander appeared on his way to a 2-0 shutout with two outs in the sixth inning, for he had surrendered only a single by Caleb Belinda in the second and a walk to Isaac Knepp in the fourth.
However, the lone Bison misplay gave the Mounties life, and they promptly tied the score when Logan Williamson drove in Derek Shaw from first base with a double to deep left center and Knepp followed with a single over shortstop.
Clearfield answered right away with the deciding runs off Josh Earnest, one of three hurlers who had finished every game and owned a brilliant 0.34 earned run average.
Ty Bender drilled a double up the left center alley and scored the winning run when Logan Lykens’ sharp grounder to the right side was misplayed. After pinch-runner Reese Wilson stole second, pinch-hitter Seth Bumbarger bounced a single through the middle past Earnest for an RBI.
“Seth had a key hit; that extra run means a lot,” Lansberry said.
Mountie Gage Coudriet led off the top of seventh with a double to deep center, but Orsich reached back to log two of his strikeouts around a groundout to notch his third win in four decisions.
Clearfield bunched four of their eight hits off Earnest for two runs in the fourth frame.
Marcus Luzier doubled into the left field corner and Bender fisted an opposite-field single to right to get the Bison on the scoreboard. Bender advanced to third when Lykens hammered a double to the base of the fence in left and trotted home when Tommy Hazel’s high fly fell in short left center for a hit.
“P-O’s a good team,” Lansberry said. “That’s a big win for us.
“We’ve been playing steady defense. I think we’re averaging one error a game, which is pretty good for a high school team.
“But we haven’t had many clutch hits until today. Eight hits is great against a good pitcher.
“Hopefully, that’s a turnaround for us. We’ll see. We have a long ways to go.”
Clearfield climbed back above .500 at 4-3 and is 4-2 in the ML.
The Bison go to Brookville for a non-league game Tuesday.
Philipsburg-Osceola eked out a 2-1 win in the junior varsity game. Losing pitcher Alex Coval worked six innings, giving up five hits and one earned run. He also had two hits, as did Eli Glass, who drove in Clearfield’s run.
Mountain League standings — Philipsburg-Osceola 5-1, Huntingdon 4-1, Clearfield 4-2, Bald Eagle Area 3-3, Central 3-3, Penns Valley 2-4, Tyrone 1-4, Bellefonte 0-5.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA — 2
Josh Earnest p-2b 3000, Derek Shaw c 3100, Logan Williamson ss 3111, Josh Bryan 2b 0000, Cam Domblisky p 0000, Isaac Knepp dh 2011, Caleb Belinda cf 3010, Gage Coudriet 1b 3010, Mike Askey pr 0000, Brandon Kephart lf 3000, Landon McDonald 3b 3000, Hunter Ammerman rf 3000. TOTALS: 26 2 4 2.
CLEARFIELD — 4
Justin Fedder 2b 4010, Zane Morgan c 2000, Brandon Orsich p 3000, Marcus Luzier 3b 3110, Jake Sorbera rf 0000, Ty Bender dh 3221, Logan Lykens 1b 3010, Reese Wilson pr 0100, Jon Trimpey lf 2000, Seth Bumbarger ph 1011, Tommy Hazel cf 3011, Thayne Morgan ss 2010. TOTALS: 26 4 8 3.
Score by Innings
Philipsburg-Osceola 000 002 0 – 2 4 2
Clearfield 000 202 x – 4 8 1
E – Bryan 2; Luzier. DP – Philipsburg-Osceola 1 (Ammerman and Williamson). LOB – Philipsburg-Osceola 4; Clearfield 6. 2B – Williamson, Coudriet; Luzier, Bender, Lykens. SB – Fedder, Z. Morgan, Wilson, T. Morgan. PO – Shaw (Bumbarger).
Pitching
Philipsburg-Osceola – Earnest 5-2/3 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K; Domblisky 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
Clearfield – Orsich 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K.
WP – Domblisky 1.
W – Orsich (3-1). L – Earnest (2-1).
Umpires – Joe Shick (plate) and Kenny Knepp (bases).
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/29 | CENTRAL | 11 – 5 | 1 – 0 |
| 4/01 | HUNTINGDON | 3 – 1 | 2 – 0 |
| 4/04 | BELLEFONTE | ppd. | 2 – 0 |
| 4/05 | BELLEFONTE | ppd. | 2 – 0 |
| 4/06 | BELLEFONTE | 3 – 0 | 3 – 0 |
| 4/07 | @ Tyrone | ppd. | 3 – 0 |
| 4/08 | @ Punxsutawney | 4 – 9 | 3 – 1 |
| 4/11 | CURWENSVILLE | ppd. | 3 – 1 |
| 4/12 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ppd. | 3 – 1 |
| 4/13 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 1 – 2 | 3 – 2 |
| 4/15 | @ Penns Valley | 3 – 4 | 3 – 3 |
| 4/18 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 4 – 2 | 4 – 3 |
| 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 | ||
| 5/19 | CURWENSVILLE |