DUBOIS — The Clearfield Area High School baseball team was unable to interrupt Punxsutawney’s long streak of District 9 Class AAA championships Thursday evening as shutdown pitching by John Matthews and production from the bottom of the batting order carried the Chucks to an 8-1 win at Showers Field.
Matthews proved to be the best hurler the Bison saw this season as he limited them to three hits, matching their season low, while striking out eight with no walks. He did hit Zane Morgan twice.
Five Bison were caught looking at strike three.
“He’s good,” coach Sid Lansberry said after Clearfield’s first trip to the district finals since 2009. “He has three or four different pitches, and everything he threw moved.
“I knew it was going to be tough. You’re gonna have to beat him 2-1 or 1-0, but they’re too good a hitting team.”
The trio of Bison pitchers handled the meat of the Punxsy lineup, but the bottom four of Dylan Huey, Peyton Graham, Lucas Ambler and Brandon Matthews combined for seven hits and five runs and drove in five runs.
“They’ve got two top-notch pitchers, and they have nine hitters,” Lansberry said. “I think they can make a run at this whole thing.
“Our kids did the best they could. It was a closer game than 8-1. We didn’t play our best game, either. We made a couple mental mistakes, but they’re better than us. It’s just that simple.”
Will Myers set down the first five Chucks before running into trouble in the bottom of the second inning after hitting Huey.
Graham, who was 4-for-4 when the Chucks beat the Bison 9-4 on April 9, rifled a double over right fielder Ty Bender’s head to chase Huey home.
Like Graham, Ambler jumped on the first pitch he saw for an RBI single and moved up on the throw to the plate. Brandon Matthews made it 3-0 with a solid single to center.
The way John Matthews was dealing, that lead virtually assured the Chucks of their 13th consecutive district title.
The Bison avoided a shutout in the third inning on Logan Lykens’ sharp single to left, an errant pickoff throw and groundouts by Jon Trimpey and Thayne Morgan.
They might have gotten more if not for Punxsy second baseman Lucas Burkett’s backhanded stop of Trimpey’s hard grounder headed for center field.
It was all Punxsy after that.
Clearfield’s only other hit was a ringing double inside third base by Lykens in the fifth inning.
Meanwhile, the Chucks continually widened their lead, starting with two more two-out runs off Myers in the third. Huey doubled to deep right center for an RBI and scored on an error.
Tommy Hazel, working in relief, surrendered five hits and single runs in the next two frames.
Hits by Brandon Giavedoni and Burkett at the top of the order set up the fourth-inning marker driven in by John Matthews with a forceout.
Singles by Huey, Ambler and Brandon Matthews prompted another Bison pitching change.
Jake Sorbera was charged with an unearned run in the sixth when Burkett singled and scored on a two-out error.
The Bison finished 12-9, including the first playoff win since 2009.
“I think we had a pretty good year,” Lansberry said, pointing out the Bison lost three one-run games. “It could have been better, but I’m satisfied with the season we had.
“We had only four seniors, so we had a pretty young lineup. And we had a lot of injuries early on.”
First baseman Lykens, pitcher/first baseman/designated hitter Brandon Orsich, second baseman Justin Fedder and outfielder Jon Trimpey will be graduating next month.
“Brandon has got to be one of the best pitchers we’ve ever had at Clearfield when you look at all his stats for three years,” Lansberry said. “Fedder was our most improved player. Lykens was hurt most of the season but started to hit the ball late. And Trimpey was solid defensively.
“I couldn’t have asked any more of them. They worked hard in the offseason.
“In my opinion, the definition of a winner doesn’t go by stats or wins and losses. It’s whether you can get the most out of your ability.
“I think all four of them did.”
Punxsutawney (17-4) advances to a PIAA play-in game against District 8 (Pittsburgh City League) representative Obama Academy next week.
CLEARFIELD — 1
Thayne Morgan ss 3011, Justin Fedder 2b 3000, Zane Morgan c 1000, Will Myers p-3b 3000, Eli Glass 3b-lf 2000, Jarrit Wagner ph 1000, y Bender rf 2000, Jake Sorbera rf-p 1000, Reese Wilson cf 0000, Tommy Hazel p-rf 0000, Brandon Orsich dh 3000, Logan Lykens 1b 3120, Seth Bumbarger 1b 0000, Jon Trimpey lf 2000. TOTALS: 24 1 3 1.
PUNXSUTAWNEY — 8
Braxton Giavedoni cf 3110, Lucas Burkett 2b 4120, John Matthews p 3001, Lance Pennington rf 3100, Joey DiPietro c 4000, Dylan Huey 3b 3321, Peyton Graham 1b 3111, Jacob Weaver lf 0000, Lucas Ambler dh 3121, Brandon Matthews ss 3022. TOTALS: 29 8 10 6.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 001 000 0 – 1 3 2
Punxsutawney 032 111 x – 8 10 2
E – Fedder, Bender; J. Matthews 2. LOB – Clearfield 4; Punxsutawney 7. 2B – Lykens; Huey, Graham. SB – Huey. CS – J. Matthews (by Z. Morgan).
Pitching
Clearfield – Myers 3 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Hazel 1-2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K; Sorbera 1-1/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
Punxsutawney – J. Matthews 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K.
HB – Myers 2 (Giavedoni, Huey); J. Matthews 2 (Z. Morgan 2). WP – J. Matthews 1.
W – J. Matthews. L – Myers (1-2).
Umpires – Terry Bean (plate), Mike Campbell (first), Lee Krull (second) and Mark Zimmerman (third).
Final 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 | 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 | 6 – 4 | 8 – 5 |
| 5/05 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 2 – 5 | 8 – 6 |
| 5/09 | @ The Kiski School | cancelled | 8 – 6 |
| 5/10 | PENNS VALLEY | 11 – 7 | 9 – 6 |
| 5/11 | @ Bellefonte | 3 – 4 | 9 – 7 |
| 5/13 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 0 – 5 | 9 – 8 |
| 5/17 | DUBOIS | 4 – 1 | 10 – 8 |
| 5/19 | CURWENSVILLE | 9 – 0 | 11 – 8 |
| 5/24 | D9 AAA Semifinals | ||
| 5/24 | BRADFORD | 9 – 0 | 12 – 8 |
| 5/26 | D9 Finals | ||
| 5/26 | vs. Punxsy (at DuBois) | 1 – 8 | 12 – 9 |