JOHNSTOWN — Hoping to avoid any more rain delays or postponements, the Clearfield Bison made a long trip south to get in some baseball on a Tuesday afternoon. The one advantage they had, facing off against the Trojans of Greater Johnstown meant a consistent field due to a turf surface, giving a greater chance of getting the afternoon contest completed.
That did happen, but no one expected the game to be a battle of the bats. A total of 23 hits were recorded between the two schools, and a total of 25 runs. However, miscues were consistent among the Trojans. Seven errors proved costly in a high-scoring contest, with Clearfield taking advantage and achieving a 15-10 victory.
Clearfield got five runs through the first three innings, with the lone run in the first coming on a bases-loaded walk to Colton Bumbarger. An inning later, the first of those errors accounted for one of two runs. After Landon Brady scored on a wild pitch during Noah Wriglesworth’s time in the box, he would wind up on base when Eli Felosky could not get a handle on the liner to him. The error allowed Kam Kushner to make it home, one of his three runs on the afternoon.
In the third, Christian Welker would get run number four on a wild pitch by starter LJ Dunbar, and shortly afterwards Braison Patrick would ground out to second, but it would let Jayce Brothers cross home to make it 5-0. The Bison would not relinquish the lead, as Craig Mays kept consistently keeping the Trojans guessing.
Mays pitched four complete innings, not giving up a run until the bottom of the third on an RBI-double to Felosky. The Trojans scored two in the inning to cut into the lead, but the Bison managed to get both back in the fourth. It wasn’t until the bottom of the inning that Greater Johnstown made the Bison sweat a bit, as they cut into the lead and made the fans in red and black begin to worry.
An RBI-single by Nykos Kobal brought in the first run, then back-to-back doubles by Donte Tisinger and Felosky would let three runs across the plate. A 7-2 score entering the inning suddenly became a one-run affair.
That would not last as Mays helped his own cause one inning later with an RBI-double on a liner to left. Connor Peacock had the easy walk home as a balk by relief pitcher Kobal, who took over pitching duties from Dunbar in the fifth. A ground out by Wriglesworth was enough to bring Brady home to make it a 10-6 game. O’Brian Owens then doubled into center for another RBI that opened up the game back to the five-run gap.
Mays would get the win on the afternoon, his third on the year, with a four-inning performance. Dunbar got the loss on the afternoon, giving up seven runs in four innings.
Both teams split four runs in the final inning, as Brothers came in for relief in the fifth, but it was not enough as the Trojans could not overcome the initial five runs given up in the first three innings.
Clearfield (8-8) will finish out their home slate this week with a pair of games beginning on Wednesday afternoon when they host the Dutchmen of St. Marys. First pitch set for approximately 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Clearfield 122 240 4 – 15 12 0
Greater Johnstown 002 400 4 – 10 11 7
Clearfield – 15
Kam Kushner-cf 4300, Noah Wriglesworth-lf 5212, Xavier Lutz-cf 0000, O’Brian Owens-3b 4322, Christian Welker-dh 4222, Colton Bumbarger-c 4020, Braison Patrick-ss 5111, Craig Mays-p 2021, Jayce Brothers-cr/p 2100, Connor Peacock-2b 4110, Hayden Rumsky-rf 1000, Landon Brady-rf 2210. TOTALS 37 15 12 8.
Greater Johnstown – 10
Donte Tisinger-cf 3331, Eli Felosky-ss/p 4133, Manny Hill-1b 4112, Jaydan Caban-rf 4100, Rahjeay Odum-3b 4001, Heinz Petak-c 4011, Parker Cornelius-dh 4110, LJ Dunbar-p/2b 1000, Cortez Jordan-Mateljan-2b 1111, Nykos Kobal-2b/p 3211. TOTALS 32 10 11 10.
2B: Patrick, Mays, Owens/Tisinger-2, Felosky-2, Hill
3B: Owens/Cornelius
HBP: Owens/Jordan-Mateljan-2
SB: Bumbarger, Brothers-2, Brady-2, Kushner-2, Wriglesworth, Owens-2, Welker
CS: Butler, Wriglesworth
E: Felosky-2, Odum, Petak, Kobal, Jordan-Mateljan-2
Pitching
- Clearfield: Mays-4 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 5 SO, 2 BB; Brothers-3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 SO, 0 BB.
- Greater Johnstown: Dunbar-4 IP, 4 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 2 SO, 4 BB; Kobal-2.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB; Felosky-0.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB.
W-Mays (3-1)
L-Dunbar S-Mays
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 5 – 9, 5 – 7
04/30: BRADFORD 10 – 3, 6 – 7
05/01: HUNTINGDON 3 – 4, 6 – 8
05/02: BISHOP CARROLL 10 – 0, 7 – 8
05/05: at Greater Johnstown 15 – 10, 8 – 8
05/07: ST. MARYS
05/09: CENTRAL
05/12: at Bellefonte
05/14: at Punxsutawney
