HYDE — The outside temperatures made it feel like everyone should be sitting in the bleachers at the Bison Sports Complex ready to welcome players in helmets and pads instead of at the baseball complex with players in spikes and gloves. Those were the cards dealt for the Clearfield Bison on Thursday afternoon, hoping to overcome the season-opening loss just days earlier. Another Mountain League showdown was set with the Hollidaysburg Tigers in town.
Fans had to withstand the wind and the cold, and for the home squad they had to withstand an onslaught. A breakdown midway through the game spilled over, as Clearfield saw a very similar fate as they did in the season opener, falling to Hollidaysburg in five innings, 15-5.
Hollidaysburg struck first in the opening inning, as starting pitcher Elijah Quick saw two runners get on base with a lead-off single from Joe Bukosky and a walk from Matt Smith. Two batters later, a fielder’s choice from Ethan Karageaner platted Bukosky to give the Tigers the early 1-0 lead. Clearfield battled right back in the bottom half of the inning, and did so in some unexpected and unorthodox ways.
With Cole Bloom on third, Morgen Billotte connected into left field. Bloom managed to get to the plate on the RBI-double. Anthony Lopez, who had already tagged up, pushed his way to the plate to give the Bison the lead. Billotte gambled and went for home, as the outfielder for the Tigers hurled the ball to the plate. Catcher Tucker Rossman nabbed the ball just in time, tagging Billotte out at home, but not before the Bison had their first lead of the afternoon. Two batters later, Hayvin Bumbarger managed an RBI-single to plate Will Domico. The 3-1 lead gave the home dugout a boost of confidence.
Even with the additional run to cut the lead to one in the second inning, the lead felt strong for the young Clearfield squad. But, an inning later, things went a bit awry.
Drew Banks managed to get an infield hit to shortstop Anthony Lopez, bringing Karageaner to the plate and tying the score. Two batters later, the two-RBI single from Matt Smith, who also was the starting pitcher for the Tigers, gave Hollidaysburg the lead. Try as they might, the Bison stranded a pair of runners in the bottom half of the inning.
In the fourth, things went downhill to the point even Bison head coach Sid Lansberry was showing frustration.
Having already pulled Quick after his three innings of work, he turned the duties over to Hunter Rumsky, who moved over from second. Quick would get tagged with the loss, but it was Rumsky that had the most difficulty on the afternoon.
With two outs, Rumsky faced pinch-hitter Isaac Miller with the bases loaded. Miller line drived the ball to left field, scoring one. The next batter, Bukosky, blasted a full-count pitch into right field, and Kam Kushner could not make the play on it as the ball landed and never bounced. The ground wasn’t hard enough to get a bounce, as the ball just hit the damp mud and grass. The delay allowed a pair of runs to cross home, and suddenly a 5-3 lead suddenly increased to 8-3. To make matters worse, Smith then followed up with a two-RBI single into center field to increase the lead yet again.
Lansberry then made the call to pull Rumsky, and in his place came Craig Mays. The change didn’t do much difference, as the first at-bat he faced resulted in Karageaner hammering an RBI-single to left field.
The 11-3 score continued to snowball, as a balk from Mays moved Landon Perry to third with Karageaner to second. Afterwards, Jake Hileman was struck in the side on a full count, resulting in another bases-loaded situation. Over the next two at-bats, a bases-loaded walk to Tucker Rossman and then a misplayed fly ball to short resulted in a two-RBI infield single. After finally getting the third out in the inning, Clearfield’s coaches had a sigh of relief, but not without seeing a two-run deficit suddenly go to 14-3.
Karageaner got a final run on an RBI-single in the fifth, and Clearfield was left with having to try and get three runs in the bottom half inning to keep the game going.
With EJ Ulery in for relief duty after a four-inning effort by Smith, one that saw him strike out eight in a winning effort, Will Domico got some scoring starting with an RBI-single. Three batters later, a bases-loaded walk brought Clearfield to within 10 runs, but one more needed scored in order to force another inning.
That would not happen as Kushner hit a grounder to Brady Steiner, who came in for the final inning, and the quick tag out for the fielder’s choice finished the afternoon.
Clearfield (0-2) goes on the road for the first time this season on Monday when they travel to face Tyrone, with first pitch set for 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Hollidaysburg 113 91 – 15 15 2
Clearfield 300 02 – 5 6 3
Hollidaysburg – 15
Joe Bukosky-ss 5344, Matt Smith-p/lf 4123, Landon Perry-1b 3100, Ethan Karageaner-rf 5233, Jake Hileman-cf 2310, Tucker Rossman-c 3001, EJ Ulery-lf/p 3332, Drew Banks-3b 4011, Keagan Hockey-2b 2000, Isaac Miller-ph 2111, Connor McCrystal-cr 0100. TOTALS 33 15 15 15.
Clearfield – 5
Cole Bloom-c 1100, Anthony Lopez-ss 2100, Luke Casher-ph 1000, Morgen Billotte-cf/p 3131, Hunter Rumsky-2b/p/1b 2100, Will Domico-lf 2121, Hayvin Bumbarger-1b 2011, Derrick Mikesell-ph 0000, Matt Irvin-3b 2000, Christian Welker-ph 1000, Elijah Quick-p/2b 2000, Isaac Durandetta-ph 0001, Kam Kushner-rf 3000. TOTALS 21 5 6 4.
- LOB: 12/7
- E: Smith, Bukosky/Irvin-2, Lopez
- ROE: Smith, Bukosky, Karageaner
- 2B: Billotte-2
- FC: Hileman, Karageaner, Perry/Kushner, Lopez
- HBP: Hileman-2
- SB: Hileman, Bukosky/Billotte, Bloom, Domico, Lopez
PITCHING
- Hollidaysburg: Smith-4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 8 SO, 3 BB; Ulery-1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 SO, 3 BB.
- Clearfield: Quick-3 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 6 SO, 1 BB; Rumsky-0.2 IP, 3 H, 7 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 3 BB; Mays-0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB; Billotte-1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB.
W-Smith (1-0)
L-Quick (0-1)