HYDE — Having a bit of rest from the victory on Tuesday afternoon, the hard-ballers of the Clearfield Bison returned to their home diamond on Thursday afternoon with the intention of keeping the bats going. In town on this day was a Mountain League showdown against the Penns Valley Rams.
This game ended up being a battle of who could make the timely hit, or take advantage of a timely opportunity. In the end, the Rams would make the final deciding play in the final inning, giving Clearfield a heartbreaking 7-6 loss on the spring afternoon.
The battle between the two schools started off with trading runs in the first inning, with Penns Valley scoring in three different ways. A groundout by Hayden Houser put one out on the board, but scored Miles Brooks after a pair of stolen bases. A few batters later, Lucas Shawley made it home on a fielder’s choice. One batter later, while Mason Greene was at the plate, Jon Meyer took advantage of a throw to second base on a called second strike, as Jarrett Stover stole the base. Meyer gambled and headed home for back-to-back stolen bases to plate the third run.
The Bison answered back in the bottom of the inning as Cole Bloom scored on a fielding error, then a pair of RBI-singles by Will Domico and Hunter Rumsky suddenly tied the score at three. Clearfield then took its first lead of the game in the second, as Kam Kushner made it home on a wild pitch by Dakota Brodzina. Bloom scored a second time on a ground out, giving Clearfield a 5-3 lead.
The game was still within reach for Penns Valley, as they would come back in the third to tie it at five as Shawley scored on an error by Kushner, one of five Bison errors in the game. Jon Meyer then scored during the same at-bat on an RBI-single by Dalton Keith.
Each squad added a run each over the next two innings, keeping the battle tight heading into the later innings.
The pitching duel would be strong on the afternoon as Brodzina put in five and one-third innings work, striking out seven and giving up the six runs, with four earned. On the opposite side, Craig Mays would be on the mound for the entire game for Clearfield. Unfortunately for him, despite striking out five, he would give up seven runs, with only two earned, taking the loss for Clearfield.
That final run came in the seventh inning. With runners on second and third, Keith hit a ground ball into a fielder’s choice, with Braison Patrick getting the out at second with a toss to Anthony Lopez. However, Houser would make his way around to home to put the score at 7-6, with the bottom half of the inning left to play.
Houser would come in for relief in the sixth inning after Brodzina reached the 100-pitch count, and relied on his defense to get the win thanks to a groundout to short, a pop out to short, and a pop out to second to close out the game.
Clearfield (2-5) has a three-game slate next week, all on the road, starting on Monday with a trip up Rt. 322 to take on Philipsburg-Osceola.
SCORE BY INNING
Penns Valley 302 100 1 – 7 8 5
Clearfield 320 010 0 – 6 9 5
Penns Valley – 7
Miles Brooks-cf 4220, Hayden Houser-2b/p 4101, Dakota Brodzina-p 3020, Carson Webster-cr/1b/2b 0000, Jon Meyer-ss 4220, Dalton Keith-c 3012, Jarrett Stover-dh 4001, Mason Greene-lf 3000, Kolin Brungart-rf 2000, Jackson Romig-ph/rf 1010, Josh Lieb-1b 3000, Lucas Shawley-cr 0200. TOTALS 31 7 8 4.
Clearfield – 6
Cole Bloom-c 3220, Anthony Lopez-ss 4121, Morgen Billotte-cf 3000, Hayvin Bumbarger-1b 3000, Elijah Quick-cr/1b 0100, Will Domico-rf 4111, Hunter Rumsky-3b 4021, Derrick Mikesell-dh 3000, Christian Welker-ph 1010, Craig Mays-p 3010, Isaac Durandetta-ph 1000, Kam Kushner-lf 3100. TOTALS 32 6 9 3.
- LOB: 4/8
- E: Houser-2, Brooks, Meyer-2/Kushner, Mays, Rumsky-3
- ROE: Houser-2, Meyer/Bloom, Domico, Kushner
- 2B: Bloom
- 3B: Brooks/Bloom
- FC: Keith, Stover-2
- HBP: Bumbarger
- SB: Brooks, Meyer, Stover, Shawley/Bloom, Domico, Kushner, Lopez, Rumsky
- CS: Romig
PITCHING
- Penns Valley: Brodzina-5.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 7 SO, 1 BB; Houser-1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB.
- Clearfield: Mays-7 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 2 ER, 5 SO, 2 BB.
W-Houser (1-0)
L-Mays (0-1)
Bison Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
3/27 BELLEFONTE 2 – 13 0 – 1
3/30 HOLLIDAYSBURG 5 – 15 0 – 2
4/03 @ Tyrone 3 – 4 0 – 3
4/06 @ Bald Eagle Area 2 – 12 0 – 4
4/10 @ Huntingdon 3 – 0 1 – 4
4/11 ST. MARYS 12 – 7 2 – 4
4/13 PENNS VALLEY 6 – 7 2 – 5
4/17 @ Philipsburg-Osceola
4/20 @ Bellefonte
4/21 @ Brookville
4/24 BRADFORD
4/25 @ Hollidaysburg
4/28 TYRONE
5/02 BALD EAGLE AREA
5/05 HUNTINGDON
5/09 @ Penns Valley
5/11 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
5/15 @ Curwensville
5/16 @ Punxsutawney
5/18 DUBOIS
