DUBOIS — “Have you ever; no I’ve never!” It’s a quote that has stood the test of time for the last 21 years between Mike Joy and Darrell Waltrip, and that is exactly what everyone felt at Showers Field on Thursday night. The District IX Championship between the Clearfield Bison and the St. Marys Flying Dutchmen personified those two sentences. A game that started with the sun in the sky went into the night, with the lights shining down on the diamond.
When everything was said and done, in one of the most unfathomable, unpredictable, and unprecedented games ever to be played at the high school level, the Bison and Dutchmen played one of the highest-scoring post season games to date. It was Clearfield that somehow pulled off a 16-13 victory that even had Bison head coach Sid Lansberry in disbelief.
“I have never had a game like that in my career,” he said afterwards. “That last inning, when we came back, with their closer on the hill, we stayed patient, didn’t quit, and that is what carried us through.”
The Bison put up the first five runs of the game, making it feel like it was going to be a runaway.
An RBI-single by Christian Welker put up the first run as Cole Bloom crossed home. A fielding error by Carter Redmond then allowed Welker to also make his way home in the first to give Clearfield the lead.
In the second inning, Welker then hit a two-RBI double that hooked into right field to make it a 5-0 game.
St. Marys got back in the game in the bottom of the second inning, first on an error by Anthony Lopez, then back-to-back RBI singles from Mason Nicklas and Ben Reynolds brought the Dutchmen within two runs at 5-3. Clearfield would get a pair of runs back in the top of the third on an RBI-double by Bloom to make the score 7-3.
The third inning, though, put a damper on the entire afternoon for the Bison.
After getting the first out, a walk, single and a hit batsman loaded the bases for starting pitcher Craig Mays. He then threw a bases-loaded walk to Chris Coudriet, then a two-RBI single by Ben Paul brought St. Marys to within one. Ben Reynolds did the same motion two batters later when a blast into left field plated two runs. What was a deficit for the designated home team suddenly was a lead.
Elijah Quick came in for relief on the hill, but he would not last as he gave up a bases-loaded walk to make it 9-7 before Lansberry came out to pull him from the mound. Welker got the nod to go to the hill, giving up a two-RBI single in his first at-bat to Jackson Vollmer. A sacrifice fly to Redmond put the second out on the board before a pop out finally ended the inning. What was a 7-3 lead all of a sudden went to a 12-7 deficit that had the Bison reeling.
Clearfield managed to get a pair of runs back in the fifth thanks to Welker’s two-RBI single to plate Bloom and Lopez, but the Dutchmen got one back in the bottom half to make it 13-9.
However, despite that deficit, Welker was still pitching strong, and the Bison defense began to put the issues behind them, something Lansberry took notice of.
“Christian (Welker) came in, and I cannot say enough about him. He’s only pitched maybe nine innings this year, but he’s done good every time he’s come in,” he said. “St. Marys was hitting the ball, and when Christian came in they were still hitting, but we made plays defensively. We had a lot of discipline at the plate, and that is what won us the game on Tuesday as well. The guys dug in there, tried and succeeded in getting them into their bullpen, and really that’s been the thing all year.”
Neither team scored in the sixth inning, and by then the Dutch put their ace on the hill, Lucas Bauer, to close out the night. The lights at Showers Field were shining down as the sun had set long into the night, but the hope was still there for Clearfield as Bloom came to the plate.
It took two pitches for him to reach base as he got struck in the back. Lopez then walked, as did Welker. No outs on the board, and the bases loaded, led to Hayvin Bumbarger connecting on a hard ground ball that made it into left field for an RBI-single. Clearfield was within three, until O’Brian Owens popped the ball into right field for another RBI-single to cut the lead down to two runs, and still left the bases loaded.
Derrick Mikesell then walked, pulling Clearfield to within a run and still no outs. Could the unthinkable actually happen?
Paul came in at pitcher, and his first batter, Hunter Rumsky, ground a hard 3-1 shot into center field. The two-RBI single all of a sudden had Clearfield in the lead. The entire crowd could not believe what they were seeing, with one half of the stands roaring in celebration, and the other baseline stunned in silence.
Mason Nicklas then got pulled to the hill in hopes to stop the rally, and managed to get Bloom to ground out into a fielder’s choice that kept another run off the board. Lopez then grounded out to first, but it allowed Quick to cross home. Welker then popped out to short to end the inning, but the seven-run rally ignited the entire Bison dugout along with the grandstand side draped in white and red.
Welker, who came in during the third inning run, knew he had a tall task ahead of him with the Dutchmen still having a strong hitting lineup coming to the bag. However, he knew what he needed to do, along with his defense.
“My biggest thing was I knew our defense was capable, so I had to do my job and put the ball where they could not get to it. I had to calm myself down for a bit,” he said.
Bauer started the bottom of the seventh, flying a 1-1 pitch out to right field where Quick took it out of the sky; out one complete. Vollmer then swung on an 0-2 curve that ground up the middle. Rumsky nabbed it and the soft toss to Bumbarger was in time. Two outs were on the board.
The only batter standing between the Bison and the victory was Redmond. He looked at the first pitch, then swung and missed on a fast ball. The third pitch connected to right field and began hooking, like many balls did the entire day. As it fell down, Quick got underneath, gripped the ball with his glove, and at that point the entire dugout emptied to celebrate the most unexpected comeback in the early rounds of the playoffs.
As the team took their medals and the team plaque, pitching coach Brandon Billotte posed for pictures with his hurlers, and in doing so got himself a shower in ice cold water, with Lansberry looking on with a smile. Welker was among the group smiling at the shower after he got the win in a four and two-third inning relief effort. Bauer would take the loss for St. Marys.
“Our pitching as of late has been excellent, and that’s key in these games. We got them to go deep into their bullpen, and we did not use up many pitchers either,” Lansberry said.
Clearfield (11-8) gets a week to savor the win but the task up ahead is not an easy one because the opponent they are facing is one of the best in the state, but also a team they have beaten.
“We’re going to keep practicing, especially knowing who we have coming up since we’re facing Bellefonte. We beat them once, then they come back and got it back. So this is a big one, and they are state ranked as well,” Lansberry said. “We’ve played an unbelievable schedule this year. Bellefonte, Bald Eagle, both whom are state-ranked; it’s a tough league, but in the long run that helps us.”
The Bison and Red Raiders will play at a time and place to be announced. The game will be played at a District 6 school.
*UPDATE*
The PIAA has updated the District 6/9 Subregional playoff between Bellefonte and Clearfield will happen on Tuesday, May 28, at 1 p.m. It will be played at Vets Field in Altoona.
SCORE BY INNING
Clearfield 232 020 7 – 16 14 2
St. Marys 039 010 0 – 13 13 2
Clearfield – 16
Cole Bloom-c 4432, Anthony Lopez-ss 3201, Christian Welker-rf/p 5235, Hayden Rumsky-cr/ph 0001, Braison Patrick-cr 0000, Hayvin Bumbarger-1b 4022, Maddix Carfley-cr 0100O, O’Brian Owens-3b 4120, Derrick Mikesell-lf 3101, Hunter Rumsky-2b 5222, Elijah Quick-dh/p/rf 4220, Kam Kushner-cf 3000, Matt Irvin-ph 1000. TOTALS 36 16 14 15.
St. Marys – 13
Ben Reynolds-c 4143, Tysen Beimel-cf 4100, Lucas Bauer-ss/p 4101, Jackson Vollmer-lf 4222, Carter Redmond-2b/ss 4122, Louie Nedzinski-1b 3200, Cameron Coudriet-p/3b 3111, Ben Paul-3b/p 4122, Mason Nicklas-rf/p 3121. TOTALS 33 13 13 12.
- 2B: Bloom, Welker/Vollmer, Nicklas
- HBP: Quick, Ha. Rumsky/Nedzinski
- SF: Redmond
- SB: Quick, Bloom-2/Himes
- CS: Quick/Reynolds
- E: Lopez, Bumbarger/Coudriet, Redmond
PITCHING
- Clearfield: Mays-2.1 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; Quick-0 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 SO, 3 BB; Welker-4.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 SO, 1 BB.
- St. Marys: Coudriet-2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 SO, 1 BB; Paul-3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 SO, 5 BB; Bauer-1 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 3 SO, 4 BB; Nicklas-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB.
W-Welker
L-Bauer