HYDE — Fresh off a rallying victory one night prior over Somerset, the Clearfield Bison were right back on the diamond on a sunny Friday afternoon. Hoping to keep the momentum going, the squad welcomed in the Greater Johnstown Trojans, who were hoping to pull an upset on the day.
This game was close for the first few innings, but as the afternoon progressed the bats came alive for Clearfield. With a solid day on the mound from Hunter Rumsky, Clearfield opened the game up in the fifth inning, closing out a 10-0 victory in quick fashion.
Clearfield’s day got going in the opening inning. With one out on the board, but with a runner on third, Anthony Lopez grounded out, but the hit was enough to have lead-off batter Cole Bloom cross the plate for the first score. Both the Bison and the Trojans were not able to do much in the second inning, with the defense of Johnstown keeping Clearfield off base, while the pitching of the Bison’s Rumsky kept Greater Johnstown from even an opportunity at getting on base.
Rumsky’s day would be a complete-game shutout with 11 strikeouts, but for head coach Sid Lansberry, the pitch count was what he was happy with because of what his team was facing in a week’s time.
“He ended up only throwing 69 pitches, but only doing five innings is huge for us,” Lansberry said. “He could pitch Tuesday if we wanted, but we likely won’t. However, being that next week we have four games, having pitchers available is going to be critical. So a five-inning game today, that is big.”
The Bison would extend the lead in the third inning, with one of the more unique sequences of plays one could see. Elijah Quick used his designated hitter status to full use as he led off the third with a triple that went deep into right field. Bloom then walked on four pitches to put runners on the corners. He then went for a steal to second, and seemed to be caught in a rundown as Trojan pitcher Brock Kobal had him trapped. Yet, in a stunning twist, when he tried to get the ball to second base, he overthrew the ball into the outfield. Bloom made it to second, while Quick advanced home to increase the lead.
Then, with a 3-0 count, Kobal was called for a balk, and suddenly another runner was 90 feet away from scoring. Bloom did just that as Lopez hit a sacrifice fly to center, putting Clearfield up by three runs.
Lansberry was quick to point out that one of the things the Bison have struggled with has been base running in certain situations, and they showed up again against the Trojans.
“We’ve made some base-running mistakes this season, and they showed in the first couple innings there,” he said. “We have to work on that because that will absolutely kill you in close games. We have experienced a lot of those this year, those 1 or 2-run games, even last night.
It’s good to have a game like this where we have that cushion. Overall we played a good game, and got everyone a chance to hit.”
Clearfield plated two more runs in the fourth inning thanks to a two-RBI single by Lopez that was lined into right field, bringing home Kam Kushner and Derrick Mikesell.
However, the fifth inning ultimately was the best inning for the Bison, putting the game out of reach. With runners on second and third, Quick popped a ball up into right field that landed with enough of a gap to plate Rumsky. Bloom then plated another two runs on a deep line drive into left field to make it 8-0. By this time, the Trojans took Kobal off the mound, electing to put Dalton Lynch on the hill.
Unfortunately, it did not help as Christian Welker singled on a bloop into center field, bringing in courtesy runner Maddix Carfley. Two batters later, with the bases loaded, O’Brian Owens managed to loop a ball into center field, bringing Lopez across the plate for the tenth run, and ending the game with still two outs left in the fifth.
For Johnstown, Kobal took the loss in a three-inning effort, giving up four earned runs and striking out one.
Clearfield (6-7) has a busy week upcoming with only one day of rest during the school week. Up next, they will travel to Martinsburg for a battle against the Central Dragons on Monday
SCORE BY INNING
G. Johnstown 000 00 – 0 3 3
Clearfield 102 25 – 10 11 1
Greater Johnstown – 0
Devin Barrett-dh 2000, Casey Barrett-cf 2000, Brock Kobal-p/3b 1000, Manny Hill-1b 2000, Dalton Lynch-c/p 2010, Rahjeay Odum-3b 1000, Hinez Petak-c 1010, Brice Mroczka-lf/rf 2010, Tyler Penrod-ss 2000, Parker Cornelius-2b 1000. TOTALS 16 0 3 0.
Clearfield – 10
Cole Bloom-c 3222, Maddix Carfley-cr 0100, Anthony Lopez-ss 3123, Christian Welker-rf 3012, Hayvin Bumbarger-1b 1000, Luke Casher-cr 0000, O’Brian Owens-3b 4011, Hunter Rumsky-p 3100, Derrick Mikesell-lf 3220, Kam Kushner-cf 1100, Elijah Quick-dh 3231. TOTALS 24 10 11 9.
- 3B: Quick
- HBP: Bumbarker
- SF: Lopez
- SB: Quick, Bloom
- CS: Lynch, Mroczka
- E: Kobal, Odum, Penrod/Bloom
PITCHING
- Greater Johnstown: Kobal-3 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 SO, 4 BB; Lynch-1.1 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB.
- Clearfield: Rumsky-5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 11 SO, 1 BB.
W-Rumsky
L-Kobal (0-4)
BISON SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
3/18 CENTRAL ppd. 0 – 0
3/20 @ Bellefonte ppd. 0 – 0
3/22 CENTRAL 1 – 17 0 – 1
3/25 BISHOP GUILFOYLE 10 – 2 1 – 1
3/27 @ Tyrone 4 – 3 2 – 1
4/02 HOLLIDAYSBURG ppd. 2 – 1
4/05 SOMERSET ppd. 2 – 1
4/08 @ Huntingdon ppd. 2 – 1
4/10 SOMERSET ppd. 2 – 1
4/11 GREATER JOHNSTOWN ppd. 2 – 1
4/12 @ Forest Hills ppd. 2 – 1
4/15 @ Bradford 0 – 10 2 – 2
4/16 PHIILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 1 – 3, 8 inn. 2 – 3
4/18 @ St. Marys 3 – 4 2 – 4
4/19 @ DuBois 2 – 3 2 – 5
4/22 @ Bellwod-Antis 2 – 4 2 – 6
4/23 PENNS VALLEY 1 – 0 3 – 6
4/26 @ Bishop Carroll 18 – 0 4 – 6
4/29 @ Bald Eagle Area 4 – 5 4 – 7
4/30 SOMERSET ppd. 4 – 7
5/02 SOMERSET 6 – 5 5 – 7
5/03 GREATER JOHNSTOWN 10 – 0 6 – 7
5/06 @ Central
5/08 BELLEFONTE
5/09 @ Forest Hills
5/10 @ Huntingdon
5/13 @ Bellefonte
5/15 PUNXSUTAWNEY
5/16 HOLLIDAYSBURG