WINGATE — The start to the 2023 season has been a struggle for the Clearfield Bison on the baseball diamond, both offensively and defensively. Their last outing saw them come just shy of a comeback victory, but the other two contests were ones that did not make the full distance due to the run rule. Thursday afternoon, hoping to get things right on the ship, the squad made their way to Wingate for their fourth-consecutive Mountain League contest, taking on Bald Eagle.
The trip home was not a happy one as Clearfield’s fate on this game was much like two prior losses, coming in a 12-2 final that only went five innings.
Clearfield got on the board first, striking in the second inning. With runners on the corners, Anthony Lopez took a 3-1 pitch on a line to center field, bringing in Hunter Rumsky for the RBI-single. The second run came one batter later on a ground out by Christian Welker, bringing in courtesy runner Derrick Mikesell. The 2-0 lead for Clearfield lasted through the middle of the second, as the Eagles answered back, in a big way.
Three consecutive singles started the bottom half of the inning, with the third bringing in Taten Yoder to get BEA on the board. Two batters later, a fielder’s choice got the first out, but allowed the second run to tie the game at two runs each. The next two at-bats put Bald Eagle in the lead for good, as a ground out by Cameron Watkins brought in Justin Bisel, then an RBI-double by Kahale Burns made the score 4-2.
Bald Eagle added in three more runs in the next two innings on a pair of RBI-singles, then a deep shot to right field by Gavin Eckley for an RBI-triple to put the score at 7-2.
Clearfield made a pitching change after the third, pulling Elijah Quick and having Craig Mays go to the hill. Quick got dinged with the loss on the afternoon, giving up six runs and seven hits.
Mays did not have a good outing as the fifth inning saw things go downhill quickly for the visiting squad.
It started out well as the Bison got the first two batters out in quick fashion, and then Watkins came to the plate. On the first pitch he saw, the swing of the bat struck and it sent the ball soaring over the left-field wall for a solo home run to ignite the Eagles dugout. Three batters later, with runners on the corners yet again, Tyler Serb connected on an RBI-single on a pop fly to second. The infield hit brought in Kahanle for the ninth run, and it got worse from there.
Taten Yoder was next up, and he grounded into left field far enough to bring home a pair of runs, making it 11-2. With one run left until the Mercy Rule would end the game, the Bison coaches made another pitching change, bringing in Isaac Durandetta.
His game lasted four pitches as Carson Nagle connected on a 2-1 pitch to center field, plating Yoder for the second time, and ending the game before ever getting the third out.
For the Eagles, pitcher Wyatt Coakley earned the win. The statistics weren’t big, as he yielded only three hits and struck out two, but it was defense that helped lift him to the victory.
Clearfield (0-4) will try to get their first win of the season on Monday when they travel to face Huntingdon.
SCORE BY INNING
Clearfield 020 00 – 2 4 3
Bald Eagle 042 15 – 12 13 0
Clearfield – 2
Cole Bloom-c 3000, Will Domico-rf 3010, Morgen Billotte-cf 2000, Hunter Rumsky-2b/1b 3110, Hayvin Bumbarger-1b 1010, Derrick Mikesell-cr 0100, Craig Mays-cr/p 0000, Anthony Lopez-ss 1011, Christian Welker-3b 2001, Matt Irvin-dh 2000, Kam Kushner-lf 1000. TOTALS 18 2 4 2.
Bald Eagle – 12
Kahale Burns-ss 4221, Gavin Eckley-rf 3111, Tyler Serb-lf 4111, Taten Yoder-2b 3222, Carson Nagle-c/p 3221, Justin Bisel-3b 3221, Gavin Burns-dh 2011, Parker Quick-1b 3112, Cameron Watkins-cf 3112, Heath Basalla-cr 0000. TOTALS 28 12 13 12.
- LOB: 5/5
- E: Welker-3
- ROE: Burns, Nagle, Serb
- 2B: Burns-2, Yoder
- 3B: Eckley
- HR: Watkins
- FC: Welker/P. Quick
- HBP: Yoder
- SB: Lopez, Rumsky/K. Burns-2
- CS: Yoder
- PIK: Mays
PITCHING
- Clearfield: E. Quick-3 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 3 SO, 1 BB; Mays-1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; Durandetta-0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB.
- Bald Eagle: Coakley-3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 SO, 3 BB; Nagle-2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB.
W-Coakley (1-0)
L-Quick (0-2)