CURWENSVILLE — Long overdue for a big game with the bats, the Clearfield Bison broke out with their biggest barrage of the season and got stellar pitching from Will Myers and Logan Lykens to blank Curwensville 13-0 in a schoolboy non-league baseball game Tuesday afternoon.
Senior second baseman Justin Fedder and sophomore outfielder Reese Wilson enjoyed career days while combining for half of the Bison’s season-high 14 hits off three Golden Tide hurlers.
Fedder was 4-for-4 with a walk, drove in two runs, scored three runs and stole three bases.
Wilson, who did not swing a bat in his three previous starts, was 3-for-4 and also had two RBIs and three runs scored.
“Outstanding job by those two,” coach Sid Lansberry said after Clearfield’s seventh victory in 12 games. “We’ve been waiting for an offensive explosion like that, up and down the order.”
Thayne Morgan, batting No. 9 right behind Wilson, added a pair of hits, scored three times and swiped second base twice.
Myers, who had been unable to take the mound because of injuries, dazzled the Golden Tide with his fastballs, curves and changeups for five innings, limiting them to two harmless singles and one walk.
The junior right-hander fanned nine, catching seven victims looking at third strikes.
“A lot of times, they just froze,” Lansberry said. “I thought he threw real hard, and he was hitting both corners.
“That’s a great performance for his first time out.
“He’s just had so much trouble getting healthy. It was great to see him get a chance to pitch and do well. It’s gonna help us a lot to have him throwing like he did last summer.”
Curwensville coach Tom Harzinski echoed Lansberry’s praise.
“Myers pitched well,” he said. “He threw strikes and he kept us off balance.
“We tell them to be aggressive, and they’re not being aggressive.”
Lykens closed out the Mercy Rule win with a clean sixth inning, registering two more punch-outs on called third strikes.
Clearfield changed the scoreboard in every inning except the third and posted crooked numbers three times.
Ahead 1-0 on Jon Trimpey’s RBI single in the first frame, the Bison made it 5-0 in the second with two runs scoring on Golden Tide miscues. Zane Morgan and Ty Bender plated the others with a groundout and a single, respectively.
Golden Tide sophomore starter Bryce Timko exited after escaping a bases-loaded situation in the third frame, having surrendered eight hits but only two earned runs.
“He’s a good young lefty,” Lansberry said. “I liked him as a freshman, and he throws harder than he did last year.
“They kicked the ball around a little behind him, and that didn’t help.”
Curwensville’s defense didn’t treat relievers Austin Lansberry and Noah Strickland any better as only two of the seven runs Clearfield tallied in the fifth and sixth innings were earned because of three more errors.
“That’s hard on our pitching,” Harzinski said of the misplays. “You’ve gotta make plays. You can’t give up extra outs. We need to fix that.”
The Golden Tide dropped to 4-8.
Both teams are back in action Wednesday, the Bison at home against Mountain League foe Tyrone and the Golden Tide at St. Marys for a 6:30 p.m. non-leaguer.
CLEARFIELD — 13
Zane Morgan c 5101, Justin Fedder 2b 4342, Will Myers p 0000, Logan Lykens p 0000, Ty Bender dh 5011, Jon Trimpey lf-rf 3112, Marcus Luzier 3b 4010, Brandon Orsich 1b 3110, Seth Bumbarger 1b 0100, Tommy Hazel cf 3010, Jarrit Wagner ph-lf 1000, Reese Wilson rf-cf 4332, Thayne Morgan ss 3310. TOTALS: 33 13 14 8.
CURWENSVILLE — 0
Noah Strickland cf-p 3010, Garrett Shaw lf-cf 1000, Christian Bakaysa ph 1000, Jake Terry ss 2000, Zach McClure 1b 0000, Bryce Timko p-1b-lf 2010, Hunter Lancaster c 2000, Austin Butlin c 0000, Noah VonGunden 2b 0000, R.J. Olson dh-3b 2000, Austin Lansberry p-1b-rf 2000, Avery Francisco 3b-ss 2000, Josh Terry rf-2b 1000, Matt Carter ph 1000. TOTALS: 19 0 2 0.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 140 134 – 13 14 1
Curwensville 000 000 – 0 2 5
E – Luzier; Ja. Terry, McClure, Lancaster, Olson, Francisco. DP – Clearfield 1 (T. Morgan, Fedder and Orsich). LOB – Clearfield 8; Curwensville 2. SB – Z. Morgan, Fedder 3, T. Morgan 2.
Pitching
Clearfield – Myers 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K; Lykens 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.
Curwensville – Timko 3 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Lansberry 2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 0 K; Strickland 1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
W – Myers (1-0). L – Timko.
Umpires – J.R. Rosselli (plate) and Mark Michelucci (bases).
Bison Scoreboard:
| 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 | 7 – 2 | 5 – 3 |
| 4/21 | @ Central | 0 – 6 | 5 – 4 |
| 4/23 | @ Tyrone | 7 – 0 | 6 – 4 |
| 4/26 | @ Huntingdon | 2 – 5 | 6 – 5 |
| 4/29 | @ Bellefonte | ppd. | 6 – 5 |
| 5/02 | TYRONE | ppd. | 6 – 5 |
| 5/03 | @ Curwensville | 13 – 0 | 7 – 5 |
| 5/04 | TYRONE | ||
| 5/05 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ||
| 5/09 | @ The Kiski School | ||
| 5/10 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 5/11 | @ Bellefonte | ||
| 5/13 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 5/17 | DUBOIS | ||
| 5/19 | CURWENSVILLE |