HYDE — Reese Wilson singled home Will Myers with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Clearfield a thrilling 3-2 victory over Punxsutawney in a well-pitched, well-played high school baseball game at the Bison Sports Complex Thursday afternoon.
The run capped a comeback that rewarded Eli Glass for his second route-going performance in as many starts.
The sophomore right-hander shrugged off a rocky start to put the clamps on the Chucks by retiring 17 of 19 batters, including 11 in a row, before issuing his second walk with one out in the seventh.
One out later, Jacob Weaver singled through the open right side on a perfectly executed hit-and-run, but Glass pounced on Trenton Stouffer’s spinner up the first base line to close out his 91-pitch outing.
He finished with a four-hitter, striking out one.
“Wow, that’s a great job, outstanding for a sophomore against a pretty good team,” Bison coach Sid Lansberry said. “He didn’t have great stuff early, but he pitched to contact. He doesn’t worry about strikeouts.
“The ball wasn’t carrying, and we made some good plays defensively.”
The Bison made ’em all, backing Glass with their first errorless game of the season.
The win that got them back over .500 at 5-4 might loom even more important when the District 9 Class AAAA Playoffs roll around.
“It’s always a big game to beat Punxsy,” Lansberry said.
Before Glass slammed the door on the 3-4 Chucks, he surrendered both runs on two-out RBI singles by Joey Dipietro and Logan Johnston in the first inning.
The question then was whether the Bison could get to Punxsy ace Brandon Matthews, a Youngstown State University recruit.
“He’s one of the best pitchers we’re gonna see, as far as movement he has on the ball,” Lansberry said. “He has a curve, slider and tailing fast ball, and a couple guys said every pitch moves somewhere. But we hung in there and had some good at-bats against him.”
Two of the biggest tied the score in the fourth inning.
Glass slashed a double to left center and Ty Bender ripped a double off the left field fence.
An inning earlier, Clearfield got on the board when Wilson bounced a single through the left side, stole second, moved to third on a passed ball and crossed the plate on Zane Morgan’s grounder that was misplayed.
Matthews allowed five hits and one walk while striking out seven through six innings.
Due to a high pitch count, Dipietro went to the mound in the seventh and was tagged with the loss.
Myers reached on an infield single with one out, advanced to second on a groundout and came around on Wilson’s high fly into the left field corner that Caleb Smith might have lost in the sun.
“He was in position to catch the ball, but he never touched it,” Lansberry said “It’s tough out there with the sun.”
Wilson was the only player with more than one hit.
The Bison finished 2-1 in what Lansberry deemed a tough week, having beaten Central 3-2 in eight innings Monday before losing 9-6 at Philipsburg-Osceola Tuesday.
“I told the guys after the Philipsburg game, ‘If you come back and beat Punxsy, that’s a good week,’” he said. “That ‘s three pretty good teams, and we faced all of their No. 1 pitchers.”
Clearfield will play four home games next week, beginning with Huntingdon Monday.
PUNXSUTAWNEY — 2
Lucas Burkett 2b-c 2100, Brandon Matthews p-2b 3000, Isaac Stouffer 3b 3010, Joey Dipietro c-p 3111, Addison Neal cr 0000, Caleb Smith lf 0000, Logan Johnston dh 3011, Tyler Richardson ss 2000, Daren Byers rf 3000, Jacob Weaver cf 3010, Trenton Stouffer 1b 3000. TOTALS: 25 2 4 2.
CLEARFIELD — 3
Thayne Morgan 2b 3010, Zane Morgan c 3011, Tommy Hazel lf 3000, Eli Glass p 2110, Seth Bumbarger 1b 3000, Ty Bender rf 3011, Will Myers ss 3110, Jake Sorbera 3b 3000, Reese Wilson cf 3121. TOTALS: 26 3 7 3.
Score by Innings
Punxsutawney 200 000 0 – 2 4 1
Clearfield 001 100 1 – 3 7 0
E – Richardson. PB – Dipietro. LOB – Punxsutawney 4; Clearfield 4. 2B – Glass, Bender. SB – Neal; T. Morgan, Wilson. CS – Z. Morgan (by Dipietro).
Pitching
Punxsutawney – Matthews 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K; Dipietro 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
Clearfield – Glass 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K.
WP – Matthews 1.
W – Glass (2-0). L – Matthews (0-1).
Umpires – Dave Adams (plate) and Jim Cushion (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 |
| 4/17 | CENTRAL | 3 – 2, 8 inn. | 4 – 3 |
| 4/18 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 6 – 9 | 4 – 4 |
| 4/20 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 3 – 2 | 5 – 4 |
| 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 |