HYDE — The middle part of this season for the Clearfield Bison on the baseball diamond has been a crisis that the team cannot quite shake. The last six games, they have split with three wins and three losses, but no real performance that has stood out for any. Hoping to get back in form, the squad took to their home field once again on Thursday afternoon. Long-time rival dating back to the days of the Mountain League, Philipsburg-Osceola, came to town ready for some action under the blue skies.
That action, at least for the Mounties, was a happy one. The offense was on fire, the pitching was superb, and the defense never gave in. For Clearfield, they had no answer, and could not muster one hit, as the Mounties took a 10-0 victory in five innings.
P-O pitcher Zach Yoder lost his bid for a perfect game in the first inning when he caught Rex Butler in the side of the ribs. But, despite that, he wouldn’t let one run get across home, as he struck out O’Brian Owens to get out of the first.
By contrast, Connor Peacock lost his bid for a perfect game in the second inning during the first at-bat.
After hurling a strike to Parker Lamb, the second offering got a big swing, and soared over the left field wall for a solo home run to open the scoring. That hit would be the only one in the inning, but it gave P-O the lead, and they never looked back.
The Mounties would get more runs in the second, all coming after two outs on the board. Connor Guenot would walk, then Archer Baughman reached on an error to put runners ultimately on second and third. Fisher White then drilled a two-strike shot to shallow right field to bring Guenot in for an RBI-single to make it 2-0. Fresh off his home run, Lamb drilled another deep shot to right-center. This one would not go over the wall, but was enough to plate a pair of runs, part of his three-RBI afternoon. Yoder then helped his cause with an RBI-single to center to make it 5-0 through three innings.
Yoder continued to rely on his pitching, and his defense, to keep that no-hitter intact. The closest any batter for Clearfield got to a run was in the fourth inning when an error and a walk put runners on first and second. Unfortunately, Colton Bumbarger struck out and a fly out by Hayden Rumsky left both runners stranded.
Yoder and his no-hitter would be enough to take the win, as he struck out six and walked five in his five innings of work.
Peacock would struggle once he gave up the initial home run, but the fifth inning is what shortened the game. After an RBI-single by Damarcus Law made it 7-0, Connor Guenot then singled to center to bring in Law. One batter later, Archer Baughman took a two-ball, two-strike pitch, and launched it almost to the exact same spot that Lamb did earlier in the game. The two-run homer would make it 10-0, and put the pressure on the Bison to get just one run across the plate to continue to play.
It was not to be, as a ground out plus a pair of strikeouts in the fifth made it an official game, giving Peacock the loss with giving up 10 runs, six of them earned, in four and two-thirds innings.
Clearfield (5-6) is hoping to get back to an even record on Friday as they will be back on their home field, hosting Central Cambria, at 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Philipsburg-Osceola 014 14 – 10 10 1
Clearfield 000 00 – 0 0 3
Philipsburg-Osceola – 10
Connor Guenot-2b 3321, Archer Baughman-3b 3212, Fisher White-1b 4122, Parker Lamb-ss 3223, Zach Yoder-p 3011, Mason Klinger-cr 0000, Nick Desimone-rf 3110, Damarcus Law-lf 3111, Connor Matier-c 3000, Jake Lucas-cf 3000. TOTALS 28 10 10 10.
Clearfield – 0
Jayce Brothers-rf 2000, Braison Patrick-ss 3000, Rex Butler-lf 1000, O’Brian Owens-c 2000, Connor Peacock-p/2b 0000, Colton Bumbarger-2b 2000, Hayden Rumsky-cf 2000, Brody Ryen-3b 0000, Landon Brady-p 1000, Jake Bloom-1b 1000. TOTALS 14 0 0 0.
2B: Guenot
HR: Baughman, Lamb
HBP: Butler
SB: Guenot-2, Baughman, Law-2
E: Guenot/Butler, Ryen-2
Pitching
Philipsburg-Osceola: Yoder-5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 SO, 5 BB.
Clearfield: Peacock-4.2 IP, 10 H, 10 R, 6 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB; Brady-0.1 IP-0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB.
W-Yoder
L-Peacock (3-2)
Clearfield Bison Baseball Scoreboard
| DATE AND OPPONENT | SCORE | RECORD |
| 3/16 BISHOP GUILFOYLE | PPD. | 0-0 |
| 3/19 at Tyrone | 7-6 | 1-0 |
| 3/23 HOLLIDAYSBURG | PPD. | 1-0 |
| 3/26 at Bishop Guilfoyle | 6-4 | 2-0 |
| 3/27 BEDFORD | PPD. | 2-0 |
| 3/30 at Huntingdon | 0-15 | 2-1 |
| 4/1 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | PPD. | 2-1 |
| 4/8 at Bellwood-Antis | 4-6 | 2-2 |
| 4/10 at Westmont Hilltop | 16-10 | 3-2 |
| 4/13 PENNS VALLEY | 2-1 | 4-2 |
| 4/14 HOLLIDAYSBURG | 3-9 | 4-3 |
| 4/16 at Bald Eagle Area | 6-7 | 4-4 |
| 4/17 BEDFORD (4 p.m.) | 5-4 | 5-4 |
| 4/20 PUNXSUTAWNEY | PPD. | 5-4 |
| 4/21 PUNXSUTAWNEY | 2-10 | 5-5 |
| 4/23 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 0-10 | 5-6 |
| 4/24 CENTRAL CAMBRIA | Â | Â |
| 4/27 at Central | Â | Â |
| 4/29 at Richland | Â | Â |
| 4/30 at Bradford | Â | Â |
| 5/4 BELLEFONTE | Â | Â |
| 5/6 at St. Marys | Â | Â |
| 5/7 BISHOP GUILFOYLE | Â | Â |
| 5/11 TYRONE | Â | Â |
| 5/13 at Dubois | Â | Â |
