HYDE — The long afternoon, evening and night for the Clearfield Bison on Friday was still fresh in the minds of coaches, players, and fans. A marathon night that saw missed opportunities to take the lead and victory had the entire team down. However, it was back to work on Monday as the Bison welcomed in the Bradford Owls to the Bison Sports Complex, a game played in temperatures more suited for the complex across the road that included a track and end zones.
Nothing felt better than Clearfield being back on their home ball field, but what made it was being able to take advantage of opportunities. Despite only having six hits on the afternoon, fielding errors and easy bases allowed Clearfield to take a 12-1 triumph in just five innings.
“Nothing went right on Friday. We had the bases loaded in the eighth, ninth, tenth, AND eleventh innings, but didn’t score,” Bison head coach Sid Lansberry said afterwards. “We had 17 hits, but only had six runs. Then today, we had just six hits, but had 12 runs.
“We needed this win because we were down. Friday was a tough loss, so tonight is a pleasant change.”
The biggest difference-maker on the day came in the form of pitcher Elijah Quick. Getting the nod for the start, it would ultimately be his best performance of the entire season. From start to finish, he was dealing tough pitches, which led to fast innings. Quick would pitch the entire five-inning contest, giving up four hits, but would strike out eight on the afternoon on his way to the second win for him on the season.
After a scoreless first inning and top of the second, the Bison got rolling in the second.
After a lead-off walk to Cole Bloom, along with a steal of second, designated hitter Christian Welker connected on a liner to center field for an RBI-double to get Clearfield on the board. Will Domico backed up the double with an RBI-single to short, which was just enough to plate Welker to make it 2-0. Then another run came through when a throwing error from pitcher Aiden Willard, and then a sacrifice fly brought in a fourth run. Three more runs came home when Morgen Billotte stole home while Anthony Lopez stole second. Run number six came in when shortstop Talon Reese failed to bring in a pop fly, and a seventh run came courtesy of a fielder’s choice. Three days earlier, Clearfield could not bring in a run over four innings.
In one inning they plated seven, more than enough to capture a victory.
Bradford’s struggles weren’t in the form of defense, but instead on the hill. All three pitchers for the Owls had trouble finding the strike zone, walking nine batters and only striking out one. Willard got dinged with the loss after just one and one-third innings of work, giving up four earned runs and three hits.
The Bison added five more runs over the next two innings to put the mercy rule into effect. A fielder’s choice by Billotte allowed Will Domico to cross home, then a two-RBI single by Lopez put the end closer. An RBI-single by Bloom then a sacrifice fly from Billotte in the fourth set all 12 runs for Clearfield.
Quick did find himself in a tough spot in the final inning, as a lead-off single by Jack Nannen was just enough to put a runner on base. It took an RBI-single from Adam Ward to get one run in, giving the Owls some hope.
With runners on the corners, Quick was adamant to finish the game, and the dugout could sense it as well. Looking at a 2-2 pitch, Travis Barger connected on a fast rip to the gap between first and second. It was within reach of Braison Patrick, and he leaped up to nab the ball for the final out, giving the Bison a much-needed win in front of the home crowd.
Lansberry was happy for everyone on the team, especially his pitcher.
“I’m really pleased by Elijah. Had a lot of strikes, leading to a lot of K’s. That’s an excellent ball game for him,” he said. “I told the kids that they were very patient, and had a lot of quality at-bats tonight. When you’re facing pitching that is not really good, it’s easy to get out there to try and slug the ball. They were real patient tonight, and that resulted in a victory.
Clearfield (3-8) will try to keep that feeling alive as they will be on the road Tuesday afternoon for a league matchup against Hollidaysburg.
SCORE BY INNING
Bradford 000 01 – 1 4 4
Clearfield 074 1X – 12 6 1
Bradford – 1
Adam Ward-3b 3021, Travis Barger-rf 3000, Wyatt Stark-2000, Chase Gray-dh 2000, AJ Lamb-c 2010, Jack Nannen-2b 2010, Talon Reese-ss 1000, Juan Gonzalez-ph/2b/ss 1100, Matt Perry-lf 2000, Evan Whitmore-cf/p 1000. TOTALS 19 1 4 1.
Clearfield – 12
Morgen Billotte-cf 1202, Anthony Lopez-ss 2212, Hunter Rumsky-3b 3100, Hayvin Bumbarger-1b 2000, Christian Welker-DH 3111, Will Domico-rf 1211, Derek Mikesell-cr/ph 0100, Kam Kushner-lf 1210, Matt Irvin-ph 1010, Elijah Quick-p 0001, Craig Mays-ph 1000. TOTALS 17 12 6 9.
- LOB: 4/6
- E: Reese-3, Willard/Quick
- ROE: Rumsky
- 2B: Irvin, Welker
- SF: Billotte, Quick
- FC: Gonzalez/Billotte, Bloom
- HBP: Billotte, Lopez
- SB: Lamb, Ward-2/Billotte-3, Bloom-2, Domico, Kushner, Lopez, Rumsky
PITCHING
- Bradford: Willard-1.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; Swanson-0.2 IP, 0 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 SO, 5 BB; Whitmore-2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB.
- Clearfield: Quick-5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 SO, 1 BB.
W-Quick (2-3)
L-Willard (0-2)
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 5 – 10 2 – 6
4/20 @ Bellefonte 0 – 4 2 – 7
4/21 @ Brookville 6 – 7 2 – 8
4/24 BRADFORD 12 – 1 3 – 8
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