HYDE — Eli Glass got the job done in a big way with his arm and bat to lead the Clearfield Area High School baseball team past Penns Valley 6-3 in Mountain League action at the Bison Sports Complex Thursday afternoon.
The sophomore, who throws right and bats left, hurled a three-hitter with 86 pitches, 54 of them strikes, in his first varsity start. He had three strikeouts.
Having struggled at the plate like most of his teammates in the first five games, Glass fueled the offense with three line-drive singles and two RBIs in the comeback win that balanced the Bison’s record at 3-3.
“Eli’s the story for sure,” Clearfield coach Sid Lansberry said. “Great job pitching. Clutch hits. He was right on the ball. And only a sophomore. I’m really pleased with his performance.”
Lansberry noted the importance of Glass’ off-season preparation in the Bison’s first complete game of the season.
“He came in and threw a lot this winter, more than any other pitcher,” he said. “In his other appearances this year, he’s been a little shaky with his control, but he seemed to get better as the game went on today. Hitting his spots. Throwing a little bit harder. And 86 pitches is great. That’s what we got out of (Brandon) Orsich a lot the last couple years.”
Glass was breezing along until walking No. 9 batter Calvin Russell with two outs in the third inning. Then, Hunter Homan clubbed a double into the left field corner and Keith Butts rapped a single to right, putting the Rams ahead 2-1.
After that, Glass allowed only an infield single, but the third of his four walks and an ensuing error on a potential double play resulted in a 3-1 deficit for the Bison when Lucas Sharer scored on Andrew Tobias’ groundout in the fourth inning.
Clearfield took advantage of late-inning defensive lapses by Penns Valley (0-7, 0-5 ML) to come from behind.
“They’ve been in just about every game, but they’ve been shooting themselves in the foot all year is what (coach) Jon Bowersox told me,” Lansberry said.
With one out in the fifth, Jake Sorbera drilled a hit into left and Glass ripped a single to right that was misplayed, allowing both runners to advance one base. Reese Wilson plated Sorbera with a flyout to right and Thayne Morgan beat out a chopper to the right side as courtesy runner Alex Coval sprinted across with the tying run.
In the sixth, big right-hander Luke Snyder’s only two walks and a botched rundown play by the Rams had the Bison in a bases-loaded, one-out situation, and they capitalized with a sacrifice fly by Sorbera and a single by Glass that turned into two runs when the outfield throw wasn’t handled at third base.
Glass then wrapped up his first victory with his second clean inning, spearing Russell’s wicked one-hopper for the final out.
Tommy Hazel and Ty Bender had doubles for the Bison.
Lansberry is hoping to look back on the win as a momentum-builder.
“We’ve got a really tough week ahead, so this game would have really hurt not to come back and win,” he said. “We start right back up with Central Monday and Philipsburg-Osceola Tuesday. And then we have Punxsutawney next Thursday.”
Mountain League — Bellefonte 4-0, Central 5-1, Huntingdon 2-1, Bald Eagle Area 2-2, Clearfield 2-3, Philipsburg-Osceola 2-3, Tyrone 1-3, Penns Valley 0-5.
PENNS VALLEY — 3
Hunter Homan lf 3110, Keith Butts cf 2022, Luke Snyder p 3000, Lucas Sharer rf 2100, Thomas Kauffman 3b 3000, Logan Snyder c 3000, Andrew Tobias 1b 3001, Nate Gillespie ss 3000, Calvin Russell 2b 1100. TOTALS: 23 3 3 1.
CLEARFIELD — 6
Thayne Morgan 2b 3011, Zane Morgan c 3000, Tommy Hazel lf 2110, Will Myers ss 2000, Seth Bumbarger 1b 3100, Ty Bender rf 2210, Jake Sorbera 3b 2111, Eli Glass p 3132, Reese Wilson cf 2001. TOTALS: 22 6 7 5.
Score by Innings
Penns Valley 002 100 0 – 3 3 4
Clearfield 010 023 x – 6 7 2
E – Lu. Snyder, Sharer, Kauffman, Tobias; T. Morgan, Bumbarger. DP – Clearfield 1 (Myers, T. Morgan and Bumbarger). LOB – Penns Valley 3; Clearfield 3; 2B – Homan; Hazel, Bender. Sac – Myers. SF – Sorbera, Wilson.
CS – Russell (by Z. Morgan); Coval (by Lo. Snyder).
Pitching
Penns Valley – Lu. Snyder 6 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3, ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Glass 7 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K.
WP – Glass 1.
W – Glass (1-0). L – Lu. Snyder.
Umpires – Terry Bean (plate) and Mike Campbell (bases).
Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/27 | CENTRAL | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 3/28 | @ Central | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 3/29 | CENTRAL | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 3/30 | @ Huntingdon | 7 – 5 | 1 – 0 |
| 4/01 | @ Central | ppd. | 1 – 0 |
| 4/04 | @ Bellefonte | ppd. | 1 – 0 |
| 4/05 | @ Bellefonte | 0 – 10 | 1 – 1 |
| 4/06 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | ppd. | 1 – 1 |
| 4/07 | TYRONE | ppd. | 1 – 1 |
| 4/08 | @ Central | 2 – 8 | 1 – 2 |
| 4/10 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 1 – 2 | 1 – 3 |
| 4/11 | CURWENSVILLE | 10 – 2 | 2 – 3 |
| 4/13 | PENNS VALLEY | 6 – 3 | 3 – 3 |
| 4/18 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 4/20 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | ||
| 4/21 | CENTRAL | ||
| 4/24 | HUNTINGDON | ||
| 4/25 | TYRONE | ||
| 4/27 | BELLEFONTE | ||
| 4/28 | BROOKVILLE | ||
| 5/01 | @ Bradford | ||
| 5/02 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 5/05 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ||
| 5/08 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 5/09 | @ Curwensville | ||
| 5/11 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ||
| 5/15 | @ DuBois |