BROOKVILLE-Endurance was the name of the game on Friday when the Clearfield Bison made the trip to take on the Brookville Raiders. The game started at a normal time, but that was the end of any normalcy. The two squads battled almost to a draw, one where seven innings would not be enough. The two would go into extras, and more extras…and even more.
The Bison and Raiders would need 11 innings to settle it, and as the sun was setting and the darkness began coming in, Clearfield would fall in walk-off fashion, 7-6.
It would be the Bison doing the scoring through the first four innings as an RBI-single by starting pitcher Hunter Rumsky got things going in the first. Two innings later it was a two-RBI double from Morgen Billotte to increase the lead, and then an RBI-single by Anthony Lopez in the fourth gave Clearfield a comfortable 4-0 lead. It would be the bottom of the fifth when the Raiders managed to finally get on the board, yet Clearfield answered back right away in the top of the sixth inning, seemingly in comfortable position to take a victory.
But, oh how things changed. The bottom of the sixth inning suddenly swapped the pressure.
Three consecutive singles by Sergio Sotillo, Carson Weaver and Bryce Weaver suddenly loaded the bases for Rumsky. That jam got the better of the Bison pitcher, as he would hit Riley smith on a 3-1 pitch, putting a second run on the board for Brookville. Back-to-back ground outs would put a pair of outs on the tally, but it also allowed two runs across the plate. That 5-1 lead suddenly was reduced to a single-run gap, and one batter later an RBI-single from Luke Burton tied the score up. The Bison dugout was looking concerned, and got even more worried when a fielding error suddenly allowed a sixth run to come across the plate.
What ooked like a strong win for Clearfield now was one inning away from being over. However, the fight the Bison had would not go away as Kam Kushner pulled through with an RBI-double to give Clearfield a game-tying sixth run.
With the Raiders unable to score in the bottom half of the inning, this game would go a bit further.
By the time the game went to extras, Clearfield put Craig Mays on the hill after Rumsky went six innings, giving up five runs while striking out five. Clearfield would out-hit Brookville on the afternoon, 17-11. On the opposite side, Brookville was on their third pitcher after seven innings, as Ladd Blake came in from first. He would stay on the hill for a majority of the afternoon, actually going over 100 pitches, in the win for the Raiders.
Both teams went scoreless in the eighth, ninth, and tenth innings. It was frustrating for the Bison as on a few occasions they had runners in position to score, including fully-loaded opportunities, but ended up with nothing to show for it. Clearfield would strand 22 runners on the afternoon, compared to Brookville’s nine.
In the bottom of the 11th, things finally went the way of the Raiders. A lead-off single by Carter Kessler would put a runner on base. Sotillo sacrificed an out on a bunt, moving Kessler to second. Carson Weaver then stepped to the plate, and waited for the pitch he wanted.
It took one pitch, as he connected into center field, and when the ball hit the grass it was deep enough that Billotte could not make a throw to home, as Kessler rounded the bases and the Raiders began to celebrate their home victory after what seemed like a marathon afternoon.
Clearfield (2-8) will try to start the second half of their season in a positive way when they play host to Bradford on Monday at the Bison Baseball Complex. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Clearfield 102 101 100 00 – 6 17 2
Brookville 000 015 000 01 – 7 11 3
Clearfield – 6
Cole Bloom-c 7210, Anthony Lopez-ss 7141, Morgen Billotte-cf 5132, Hunter Rumsky-p 7032, Hayvin Bumbarger-1b 3010, Isaac Durandetta-cr/1b 0000, Christian Welker-2b 5010, Will Domico-rf 6110, Matt Irvin-3b 4120, Elijah Quick-cr/3b 0000, Craig Mays-ph/p 1000, Kam Kushner-lf 4011. TOTALS 49 6 17 6.
Brookville – 7
Carter Kessler-cf 5110, Sergio Sotillo-ss 5110, Carson Weaver-lf 5131, Bryce Weaver-dh 5010, Dylan Tollini-ph 0100, Riley Smith-c/3b 3101, Ladd Blake-1b/p 4011, Pierson Ruhlman-3b/p/1b 2101, Sam Krug-p 1010, Luke Burton-ph/lf 4111, Noah Shaffer-rf 5021. TOTALS 39 7 11 6.
- LOB: 22/9
- E: Lopez, Mikesell/Smith, Krug, Sotillo
- ROE: Billotte, Bloom, Rumsky/Shaffer
- 2B: Billotte-2, Irvin, Kushner/C. Weaver
- SAC: Ruhlman, Sotillo
- FC: Bloom-2, Domico/Shaffer, Burton
- HBP: Smith, Kessler, Ruhlman
- GIDP: Irvin/C. Weaver, B. Weaver, Blake
- SB: Rumsky
- CS: Domico
PITCHING
- Clearfield: Rumsky-6 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 5 SO, 1 BB; Mays-4.1 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 3 BB.
- Brookville: Krug-4 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 SO, 2 BB; Ruhlman-2.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; Blake-4.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 8 SO, 7 BB; Fleming-0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB.
W-Blake (1-2)
L-Mays (0-2)