HYDE — The Clearfield Area High School baseball team has had several days to refocus after winning the program’s first District 9 championship since 2003 and prepare for a very formidable opponent, South Park, in the first round of the PIAA Class AAAA Tournament.
The Bison (15-7) and District 7 (WPIAL) runner-up Eagles (20-3) will go at it Monday at 4:30 p.m. on Rich Kuntz Memorial Field in Punxsutawney with a berth in Thursday’s quarterfinals on the line.
“We expect a good, solid team,” offered Bison coach Sid Lansberry, who had no comparisons between the two teams and very few statistics to review. “When you get to this level, that’s the way it’s gonna be.”
South Park fulfilled preseason projections by winning the WPIAL Class AAAA Section III crown with a 13-1 record and advancing to the D-7 title game before losing 3-0 to highly-regarded Blackhawk (21-2), which had lost in the finals the last two years.
The Eagles’ only other hiccups were against Chagrin Falls, Ohio, in their six-game, season-opening trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. and section foe Belle Vernon.
They had Chagrin Falls down 5-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning before the Tigers rallied to tie and then win, 6-5, in the eighth. Chagrin Falls finished 16-4-1 and No. 36 in the MaxPreps state rankings, No. 6 in Division III, the second highest of four classifications in Ohio.
Belle Vernon, which boasted a trio of college-bound pitchers, ended South Park’s 10-game winning streak, 8-2, on April 26 and went on to second place in Division III at 12-2 and earn the No. 5 seed for the WPIAL Playoffs but was ousted by Quaker Valley, 3-2, in the first round.
South Park closed the regular season with five wins in a row but had to come from behind to set up the showdown with Blackhawk.
Down 6-1 early, `the Eagles of South Park roared back to outlast New Castle (13-9) 13-11.
Then, in the semifinals, the Eagles wiped out Hopewell’s 2-0 edge with nine runs in the sixth inning as junior Tyler Bywalksi pitched a four-hitter for his seventh win, with sophomore Kevin Vaupel getting the final out. Vaupel sports five wins and one save.
Senior Kyle Thompson, an all-section pitcher last year, started the title game and gave up only four hits to Blackhawk in five innings while striking out eight. He is 3-2 with 3.13 earned run average and 31 Ks in 29 innings.
The Eagles have scored at a 8.1-run per game clip, reaching double figures eight times with 11 of their wins by six or more runs.
Bywalski, who plays shortstop when not on the mound, is hitting over. 400 with 22 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.
He led off against Blackhawk and was followed by center fielder and Clarion University football recruit, a four-year starter and two-time all-section selection; Thompson with a team-high 26 RBIs, and third baseman Josh Wagner, a Penn State Behrend commit.
Morris and Wagner are seniors, as are catcher Bryce Groff, who is headed to Alderson Broaddus, and left fielder Mitchell Roell.
Other probable starters are juniors Mike Kentzel at first base, Eric Vaughn at second and Steve Moore in right field.
Vaupel was the designated hitter for Vaughn against Blackhawk.
South Park, one of 24 Class AAAA teams in the WPIAL, has scored 187 runs and given up 70, just over three per game.
Clearfield shows 140 runs, with at least six in nine of its last 10 games, while the mound staff has yielded 85, just under four per game.
Junior Josh Sorbera (4-2, 2.22 ERA) started both of the Bison’s District 9 playoff games, notching the ‘W’ in the 12-2 victory over Bradford in the finals.
He has made nine starts, while senior Will Myers (5-2, 3.21 ERA) has seven and sophomore Eli Glass (3-2, 4.90 ERA) has four.
Senior Tommy Hazel (3-1, 1.40 ERA) has been utilized as a relief specialist, summoned from left field in 10 of his team-high 12 appearances. He has two saves.
All four have worked 30 or more innings for a total of 144-2/3 with a combined ERA of 2.83.
If Sorbera gets the nod, Myers (.262, 14 RBIs) will be at shortstop and Glass (.298, 19 RBIs) at third base. Should Myers go to the bump, Glass will slide over to short and Harrison Peacock will be at the hot corner.
Joining them in the lineup will be Zane Morgan (.410, 16 RBIs) behind the plate, Seth Bumbarger (.277, 12 RBIs) at first base, Thayne Morgan (.316) at second base, Hazel (.354, team-high 20 RBIs), Reese Wilson (.317, 11 RBIs) and Ty Bender (.297, 14 RBIs) in the outfield from left to right and Allan Myers (.444) as the designated hitter.
Zane Morgan has a 10-game hitting streak, while Hazel and Wilson have hit safely in six consecutive games and Bumbarger has two hits in each of the last five games.
“We just have to keep playing the way we’ve been playing and hope to compete,” Lansberry said.
The pitching, hitting and defense have come together for nine wins in the last 10 games.
Victory would send the Bison to Thursday’s quarterfinals against either District 10 champion Slippery Rock (20-2) or Hopewell (14-10), which advanced with a 1-0 over No. 4 seed Deer Lakes on sophomore southpaw Joey Rock’s no-hitter in the WPIAL consolation game.