HYDE — It appears the Clearfield Bison turned a corner in the past week as they ended their losing skid to get a pair of victories in different ways. The one style of game that they have yet to compete in this year was one where the players on the mound were the deciding factors. On Tuesday, when they played host to the Eagles of Bald Eagle Area, they finally got that.
The duel between Clearfield’s Craig Mays and Bald Eagle’s Connor Perry was one that both sides of the field could say they enjoyed. The two combined to pitch nearly the entire game. The defense kept the game close, but it was Clearfield that got the early lead, and held on late to take the 2-1 triumph to extend their win streak to three.
The Bison defense made the first big play of the afternoon. With an out on the board, Isaac Johnson walked on four straight pitches. Brayden Dubbs then took a swing at the first pitch he saw, but Braison Patrick scooped the ball up and got it quickly to second, where O’Brian Owens was waiting, and then saw the ball hurled to first. The throw went into the glove of Matt Irvin, completing a very exciting 6-4-3 double play to keep the Eagles off the board.
The bottom of the inning proved to be interesting, as Owens reached first on an error by Johnson. Noah Wriglesworth then lined into right field for a single, moving Owens all the way to third. Christian Welker then had one ball on the tally, but on the second throw outside of the box, the umpire made a call of catcher’s interference, and Welker was awarded the base to load the bags for Irvin.
The 0-1 delivery went to Irvin, who hit a ground ball to short, but Johnson again mishandled the offering, and it allowed Owens to hustle home. At the same time, it allowed Wriglesworth to make it home as the toss to get the out was off-target. Before the first out was recorded, Clearfield had a 2-0 lead on Irvin’s RBI plus a bonus run on the error.
At that point, once the inning was over, the battle began on the mound. Both Perry and Mays were locked in, neither giving an inch. Clearfield only managed two singles on the afternoon, while Bald Eagle only managed three hits, with just one for extra bases. The two combined to pitch for a total of 12 and 2/3rd innings of the game, with 13 strikeouts between the two.
Mays would keep going, finding the zone and when he does see a batter connect, the defense was ready, keeping the Eagles off the board until the sixth when Teagun Runkle ground out to first, allowing Johnson to cross home to make it a one-run game.
In the top of the seventh, Kaleb Irion got the tying run on base with a single to left, who then was relieved by courtesy runner Kaden Clark. Mays then pitched ball one to Graysen White, but Clark decided to bolt and try for second. The throw by Colton Bumbarger got to Patrick, who made the tag in time for the first out. White then would strike out swinging for the next out.
Dawson Lomison grounded to Mays for another single to get the tying run back on base. During the at-bat, Mays would eclipse the 100-pitch count, namely due to him seeing two pitches against White be fouled away before the strikeout. Due to rules, he could not complete the entire game, so head coach Sid Lansberry went to the bullpen to bring in Connor Peacock to get the final out and the save on the afternoon.
The first two offerings to Luke Hosband were in the zone, but never swung on. The next three pitches were outside the box, loading the count and turning the pressure up. The next pitch, Hosband went for the shot, and found nothing but air, going down swinging and giving the Bison a very tough, yet deserving win.
It is just the first game of the week for Clearfield (5-6) as they will be watching their pitchers carefully. The Bison have five games in five days, and Mays will be unavailable to be on the hill as he is on the required seven-day rest period. The Bison will play host to Bellwood-Antis on Tuesday afternoon, weather depending, with the first pitch slated for 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Bald Eagle Area 000 001 0 – 1 3 4
Clearfield 200 000 X – 2 2 1
Bald Eagle Area – 1
Connor Perry-p 3000, Isaac Johnson-ss 1100, Brayden Dubbs-1b 3010, Teagun Runkle-cf 3001, Wyatt Spackman-rf 2000, Kaleb Irion-c 3010, Kaden Clark-cr 0000, Graysen White-lf 2000, Dawson Lomison-2b 3010, Luke Hosband-3b 3000. TOTALS 23 1 3 1.
Clearfield – 2
O’Brian Owens-2b 3100, Noah Wriglesworth-lf 3110, Christian Welker-3b 2000, Matt Irvin-1b 2002, Colton Bumbarger-c 3000, Braison Patrick-ss 3010, Hayden Rumsky-cf 2000, Rex Butler-dh 3000, Craig Mays-p 2000, Connor Peacock-p 0000. TOTALS 23 2 2 2.
2B: Dubbs
HBP: Johnson/Rumsky
CS: Clark
E: Irion, Johnson-3/Patrick
Pitching
- Bald Eagle Area: Perry-6 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 5 SO, 1 BB.
- Clearfield: Mays-6.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 SO, 3 BB; Peacock-0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB.
W-Mays (2-1)
L-Perry
S-Peacock
Clearfield Baseball Scoreboard
03/18: at Central 14 – 8, 1 – 0
03/20: BELLEFONTE ppd, 1 – 0
03/21: BELLEFONTE 0 – 10, 1 – 1
03/25: BISHOP GUILFOYLE 6 – 5, 2 – 1
03/27: TYRONE 5 – 8, 2 – 2
04/01: at Hollidaysburg 7 – 8, 2 – 3
04/04: at Somerset 1 – 16, 2 – 4
04/08: HUNTINGDON ppd. 2 – 4
04/11: FOREST HILLS ppd. 2 – 4
04/14: at Philipsburg-Osceola 3 – 9, 2 – 5
04/16: BELLWOOD-ANTIS ppd. 2 – 5
04/17: FOREST HILLS 3 – 13, 2 – 6
04/22: at Penns Valley 11 – 0, 3 – 6
04/24: DUBOIS 6 – 4, 4 – 6
04/26: BELLWOOD-ANTIS ppd. 4 – 6
04/28: BALD EAGLE AREA 2 – 1, 5 – 6
04/29: BELLWOOD-ANTIS
04/30: BRADFORD
05/01: HUNTINGDON
05/02: BISHOP CARROLL
05/05: at Greater Johnstown
05/07: ST. MARYS
05/09: CENTRAL
05/12: at Bellefonte
05/14: at Punxsutawney
