HYDE — Clearfield rode the two-hit pitching of Brandon Orsich to a 3-1 victory over Philipsburg in a rain-shortened Central Penn American Legion League baseball game at the Bison Sports Complex Tuesday evening.
Heavy rains delayed the first pitch 40 minutes, caused a 17-minute stoppage in the bottom of the first inning and finally forced the umpires to call a halt to action with the Chiefs batting in the fifth frame.
Clearfield climbed back to .500 at 5-5 and dropped Philipsburg to 2-5.
Orsich breezed through the Phils lineup the first time around and was working on a perfect game when Tanner Wilson reached base on an error with two outs in the fourth inning.
He lost the no-no in the fifth as Luther Harlow drilled a double to left center and scored on Travis Arnold’s one-out liner to short center that barely got under Sawyer Rowles’ diving attempt for a shoestring catch.
Orsich, who struck out five and walked none in his third win, retired the next two Phils on grounders to protect a 2-1 lead.
Clearfield then tacked on another run before the diamond became unplayable, Cole Kephart hustling into second base on a dropped fly ball and came around to score on two groundouts, with Thomas Summers picking up the RBI.
Curt Collins had two of the Chiefs’ six hits off Matt Hample, scored the first run and drove in the second.
He led off the lower first with a single through the middle, advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches and beat the throw to the plate on Kephart’s fly ball to medium right field.
Orsich’s double to deep left set up a second-inning tally. Courtesy runner Jake Sorbera moved up on a misplayed grounder and trotted home when Collins cracked a single to left center.
Because the Chiefs will play four games in the Bellefonte Bandits Tournament this weekend, their CPL game at Mifflin County scheduled for Thursday has been pushed back to Wednesday, July 2, at Lewistown.
Manager Sid Lansberry also announced new dates for rainouts of two home games. The Chiefs will host Altoona Monday and DuBois on July 9.
Tourney pairings pit Clearfield against Hatfield at 12:30 and Pennsylvania Lightning at 3 on the Philipsburg-Osceola Area High School diamond Friday afternoon and Albion at 12:30 and the NorChester Bulldogs at 3 at Bellefonte’s Governor’s Park Saturday afternoon.
PHILIPSBURG — 1
Matt Hample p 2000, Tanner Wilson 2b 2000, Vince McDowell 3b 2000, Luther Harlow 1b 2110, Nate Kerlin rf 2000, Travis Arnold ss 2011, Aaron Mason cf 2000, Derek Shaw c 2000, Kyle Johns lf 1000, Jesse Martin eh 1000. TOTALS: 18 1 2 1.
CLEARFIELD — 3
Curt Collins 2b 3121, Sawyer Rowles cf 3000, Cole Kephart 3b 2101, Jon Janocko 1b 3010, Thomas Summers lf 2001, Zach Timchak rf 2010, Brandon Orsich p 2110, Josh Sorbera c 2010, Will Myers ss 1000. TOTALS: 20 3 6 3.
Score by Innings
Philipsburg 000 01 – 1 2 2
Clearfield   110 01 – 3 6 1
E – Harlow, Johns; Kephart. LOB – Philipsburg 2; Clearfield 6. 2B – Harlow, Arnold; Orsich. Sac – Myers. SF – Kephart.
Pitching
Philipsburg – Hample 4-2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Clearfield – Orsich 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.
WP – Hample 2.
W – Orsich (3-2). L – Hample.
Umpires – Rob Morgan (plate) and Lee Krull (bases).
