DUBOIS — The playoff feeling for the Clearfield Bison at one point did not seem possible, but as the season wore on, the team came together, finishing strong and putting itself in a great position for the second part of the year. After having a couple games at the end of the regular season canceled due to weather, Clearfield would make it to the semifinals in the District IX playoffs. In order to advance to the championship, the first step was to work its way past a team that they were held scoreless 10-0 against earlier in the year, the Bradford Owls.
This game could be defined by one term: desire. Clearfield would fall behind early, but had the desire to not quit. They not only found a way, but rode that wave in a big fashion, as they used a huge fourth inning to punch their way to the championship with a 12-2 win.
Bradford got on the board first in the second inning. After being struck out three times by Hunter Rumsky in the first inning, the Owls loaded the bases with a single and two walks for Matthew Perry, who hit a sacrifice fly into center field that allowed Talen Reese to cross home for the opening run. One batter later, Tarren Reese managed an RBI-single to send Evan Whitmore across the plate. Coaches and teammates came out to calm Rumsky’s nerves, and he ultimately got out of the inning thanks to a fly out into right field.
Clearfield’s offense got those runs back in the bottom of the inning. Two outs were on the board with runners on first and second. Number nine hitter Kam Kushner then hit a deep liner into center, allowing Derrick Mikesell to make his way from second to the plate. One batter later, Cole Bloom did the exact same thing to let Elijah Quick make his way home. After two innings, the game was back where it began, evened up with more opportunities to come.
Rumsky then began to command the mound in a big way, and his teammates followed. For the next inning, Rumsky struck out three of the four batters, and would hurl the entire remainder of the game. Over five innings, he tossed nine strikeouts, gave up three hits, and only gave up the two runs in the second.
Bison head coach Sid Lansberry did not waste anytime praising his star pitcher.
“Hunter did a great job after the second inning. I think he got stronger as the game went on and he settled in nicely,” Lansberry said. “That let the rest of the guys settle into the game as well. That ended up being a key to the game because we played disciplined ball against a very good pitcher and it could have been easy to swing against some pitches that we shouldn’t be.”
Clearfield’s momentum changed in a big way in the bottom of the third, starting with a single by Bumbarger. One batter later, O’Brian Owens connected on a curve ball that hooked its way into deep right field, landing and bouncing to the fence. Bumbarger hustled as fast as he could from first, with Owens nearly catching up to him in the process. Bumbarger would have just enough in him to make his way home as the RBI-triple put the Bison in the lead, a lead they would not give up.
One batter later, Mikesell would ground out, but not before Owens made his way home. The final run of the inning came as Kushner reached first on a dropped third strike, only to see the potential toss out go over the first baseman’s head. Rumsky managed to make it home while Kushner tried to make second, only to get tagged out after reversing course.
The 5-2 score was enough that Bradford’s Talen Reese was starting to struggle and the Owls dugout began getting concerned.
That concern went into worry in the fourth inning, as the Bison turned up the wick and never looked back. With two runners on, and one out on the board, Bumbarger hit a liner into right field that was deep enough to bring Bloom and Christian Welker across home. Two batters later, a fielder’s choice by Mikesell was enough to have courtesy runner Maddix Carfley cross home. Rumsky followed up with an RBI-double to center, and what was a 5-2 gap then got increased to near impossible to overcome. Clearfield went through the entire lineup in one inning as Bloom’s second at-bat was a two-RBI single to make it 11-2.
By that point, Reese was pulled and the bullpen called in to get out of the inning, but it appeared the damage was already done.
Clearfield needed only one run to put the mercy rule into effect in the fifth, and it appeared as though the way the game had gone, a deep shot was going to be the final nail. Welker walked to start the inning, then a single by Bumbarger and another walk to pinch-hitter Matt Irvin loaded the bases. It looked as though Mikesell only needed to make a ground ball up the gap to put the game away.
It never came to that because relief pitcher Noah Swanson hurled a 1-1 pitch that caught Mikesell in the back, and that caused an easy walk to first, and all the runners advanced. When Welker touched home, the 10-run rule was in effect, giving Clearfield the opportunity to win a championship.
“You look at how we started the year, we lost to Central 17-1, but then came back and beat them at their field. That’s how much we’ve improved over the year,” Lansberry said. “Bradford beat us in the first matchup, held us scoreless, but today we played smart and fed off each other’s momentum. That’s a credit to these guys and the work they put in.”
Clearfield (10-8) will take on St. Marys in the District IX Championship for Class 4A on Thursday, May 23. Just like the semifinal, both teams will be on neutral ground as they will play at Showers Field in DuBois, with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Bradford 020 00 – 2 3 2
Clearfield 023 61 – 12 13 0
Bradford – 2
Adam Ward-ss 3000, Jackson Nannen-2b 2000, Liam Haven-3b 3000, Anthony Lama-c 2010, Talen Reese-p/cf 2110, Evan Whitmore-cf/rf 1100, Wyatt Stark-1b 1000, Matthew Perry-lf 1001, Tarren Reese-dh 1011 Noah Swanson-p 1000, Brody Halivand-cr 0000. TOTALS 17 2 3 2.
Clearfield – 12
Cole Blooms-c 4143, Anthony Lopez 4010, Christian Welker-rf 2200, Hayvin Bumbarger-1b 4132, Maddix Carfley-cr 0100, O’Brian Owens-2b/3b 3121, Matt Irvin-ph 0000, Derrick Mikesell-lf 3213, Hunter Rumsky-p 3011, Elijah Quick-dh 0200, Kam Kushner-cf 2011. TOTALS 25 12 13 11.
- 2B: Rumsky
- 3B: Owens
- HBP: Nannen/Kushner, Mikesell
- SF: Perry
- SB: Bloom-2, Mikesell
- E: Lama, Nannen
PITCHING
- Bradford: Talen Reese-3.2 IP, 11 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 4 SO 4 BB; Haviland-0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB; Swanson-0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB.
- Clearfield: Rumsky-5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 9 SO, 2 BB.
W-Rumsky
L-Talen Reese
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 8 – 3 7 – 7
5/08 BELLEFONTE 5 – 4 8 – 7
5/09 @ Forest Hills 5 – 1,suspended 8 – 7
5/10 @ Huntingdon cancelled 8 – 7
5/13 @ Bellefonte 1 – 12 8 – 8
5/15 PUNXSUTAWNEY cancelled 8 – 8
5/16 HOLLIDAYSBURG 5 – 2 9 – 8
5/21 D9 Playoffs vs. Bradford @ DuBois 12 – 2 10 – 8
5/23 D9 Championship vs. St. Marys @ DuBois