HYDE — It was no question the weather did not feel like spring. The sun was out, but temperatures certainly made it feel more like mid-fall instead of the third day of spring. But, spring means baseball, and after cold temperatures kept them off the diamond for a few days, the Clearfield Bison finally got to step on the field Friday afternoon. It marked the first game in a new league, as head coach Sid Lansberry, his staff and players would take to the diamond in Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference action, doing so against a familiar foe, the Central Dragons.
This game got started on time, and ended rather quickly as well. The Bison could not get their bats going from the opening inning, while the Dragons got to swinging early and often. At the end of the afternoon, Clearfield only played four innings, as they dropped their first game of the year, 17-1.
Central got things going early as they would plate eight runs in the first inning.
Three straight singles by Hunter Smith, Griffin Snowberger and Britton Marko loaded the bases against Bison starting pitcher Hayden Rumsky. He then drew a four-pitch, bases loaded walk to put the first run on the board. After a pop out to Anthony Lopez, Jay Hoenstine would line a two-run RBI into right field to increase the lead to 3-0. An RBI-single by Wyatt Dilling, plus a two-RBI single from Mason Byler suddenly made the game 6-0 with only one out on the tally. The Dragons would go through the entire lineup in the opening inning as both Snowberger and Marko added an RBI-single each to make it 8-0.
With two outs on the board, the coaching staff made moves to the lineup as they pulled Rumsky in favor of Craig Mays. Unfortunately for Rumsky, he would take the loss on the afternoon in just two-thirds of an inning effort, yielding eight earned runs.
Clearfield got one run back in the second on a sacrifice fly by Mays, allowing Matt Irvin to come across the plate. But, the Dragons answered back in the third on the very first pitch.
Smith looked at the pitch by Mays, and blasted the ball over the left field wall for a solo home run to make it 9-1.
The fourth inning would put the game away rather quickly. A pair of singles and an error loaded the bases. Pinch hitter Zach Oakes then took a full-count pitch on a grounder to third base that allowed Hoenstine to cross home. The next batter, Smith, would walk on four pitches, and the bases-loaded run would put the first part of the mercy rule into effect.
Central would get six runs at the next six at-bats thanks to a pair of walks, an RBI-single by Troy McNichol, and a trio of fielder’s choice plays from Hoenstine, Dilling, and Cortlyn Hetrick. At that point, the 17-1 score meant unless Clearfield got two runs in the bottom of the fourth, the afternoon was seeing a rather quick conclusion.
Unfortunately for the home squad, a groundout by Kam Kushner, plus two strikeouts by Elijah Quick and Anthony Lopez finished the day.
Mason Sparks earned the victory for Central on the afternoon, pitching a two-hit effort over three innings, giving up just one run while striking out three.
The Bison will try to rebound and get their first win on the season on Monday afternoon. Clearfield (0-1) will again play host on the afternoon as they will welcome in Bishop Guilfoyle for a 4:25 p.m. first pitch, weather permitting.
SCORE BY INNING
Central 801 8 – 17 15 0
Clearfield 010 0 – 1 2 2
Central – 17
Hunter Smith-c 2422, Griffin Snowberger-2b 2222, Britton Marko-dh 3232, Lukas Black-3b 2202, Troy McNichol-rf 4011, Jay Hoenstine-lf 4223, Wyatt Dilling-ss 4222, Mason Byler-1b 3222, Cortlyn Hetrick-ph 1000, Adam Loucks-cf 2100, Zach Oakes-ph 1011. TOTALS 28 17 15 17.
Clearfield – 1
Anthony Lopez-ss 2000, Cole Bloom-c 2000, Christian Welker-2b/p/rf 1000, Hayden Rumsky-p/2b 2010, Matt Irvin-3b 2110, Craig Mays-p 0001, O’Brien Owens-rf 0000, Hayvin Bumbarger-1b 0000, Braison Patrick-2b 1000, Kam Kushner-cf 2000, Elijah Quick-lf 1000. TOTALS 13 1 2 1.
- 2B: Hoenstine/Rumsky, Irvin
- HR: Smith
- SB: Dilling, Byler
- CS: Snowberger
- SF: Mays
- HBP: Sparks/Bumbarger
- E: Irvin-2
PITCHING
- Central: Sparks-3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 SO, 4 BB; Harbaugh-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB.
- Clearfield: Rumsky-0.2 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 1 SO 2 BB; Mays-2.1 IP 5 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 SO, 3 BB; Welker-1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 SO 2 BB.
W-Sparks (1-0)
L-Rumsky (0-1)