HYDE – After falling behind early, Clearfield scored in every inning except the second and bailed closer Parker Herrington out of a seventh-inning jam with a double play to outlast West Branch 10-8 in a scholastic non-league baseball game at the Bison Sports Complex Monday afternoon.
\”I knew it would be a good, tough battle,\” coach Sid Lansberry said after the Bisons\’ fifth win in 16 games. \”I\’ve known (West Branch coach) Jake Myers for years. I know he\’s a good baseball man. I knew they would be prepared.
\”That\’s a good hitting team. The scouting reports we got on them all said they\’ve got three or four outstanding hitters, and they do.
\”So, I knew it was not gonna be easy. It certainly wasn\’t.\”
West Branch (7-8) made sure of that right away by jumping on Clearfield starter Corey Bookhamer for three runs in the first inning.
Tyler Meersand earned an eight-pitch walk after being in an 0-2 hole, Chris Dotts easily beat out a bunt to the left side, and Lance Kolesar doubled to deep left for the initial run. Then, Ethan Lidgett lined a single to center for an RBI, and Jeremy Kanouff lofted a sacrifice fly to center.
However, Bookhamer gave up only one run over the next four innings, Kolesar clubbing a double to left center and scoring on Kanouff\’s groundout in the third. The Bison lefthander exited after pinch-hitter Chris Beveridge whacked a three-run home run in the sixth but picked up his second victory in four decisions.
\”He pitched a good game after that first inning,\” Lansberry said. \”He settled down and kept them off balance a little bit. And we had some clutch hits, down 4-1, to come back.\”
The biggest blow was Tanner St. Clair\’s fourth homer of the season, a three-run smash to left center that rocketed the Bisons in front 5-4 in the third.
Clearfield followed up with three more runs off loser Justin Kopchik in the next inning, with Jarrin Campman and St. Clair ripping RBI-singles. One of West Branch\’s six errors accounted for the other marker.
A walk, a wild pitch, a groundout and a dropped fly ball gave the Bisons a 9-4 lead through five frames.
But the gritty Warriors weren\’t going away without a fight.
Gavin Luzier reached base on an error and Dylan Corl walked to begin the sixth. Two outs later, Myers summoned Beveridge to hit for Meersand, and he promptly jerked the first pitch he saw over the fence in the left field corner, chasing Bookhamer.
Herrington got the call to preserve the win, and Bookhamer gave him extra insurance with an RBI-single in the lower sixth.
That proved all-important in the seventh when Kanouff and Luzier walked and Corl drilled a single to center to make it 10-8.
With two on and no outs, Myers couldn\’t afford to play for a tie on the road with a sacrifice attempt, and relief pitcher Tim Martin\’s hard smash down the third base line was corralled by Justin Hoffman, who stepped on the bag and fired to first for the double play. Bookhamer had to step into foul territory to make a tough backhanded grab for the second out.
\”Hoffman made the play of the game, I think,\” Lansberry said, noting the sophomore was inserted at third when Derek Danver shifted to short during the pitching change. \”That ball gets through, or even if we get one out, we\’re in trouble. And Bookie made the save at first. We needed that double play.\”
Herrington nailed down his first save with a strikeout, though eight Warriors saw 38 pitches.
\”He was throwing hard, but he was missing off the corner just a little bit,\” Lansberry said. \”A lot of those pitches were close.\”
Campman, St. Clair and DH Isaac Butler had two hits apiece for the Bisons, while Kolesar and Lidgett each had two for the Warriors.
Campman also stole two bases and now has 16 steals in the last 12 games. He hasn\’t been thrown out yet.
Lansberry said he saw a lot of good things in the first diamond game between the two schools since May 11, 1971, one year before he took over as Clearfield head coach.
\”We made a couple mistakes on the bases we shouldn\’t have, but overall, I thought we played pretty well,\” Lansberry said.
\”With what we\’re looking at (Tuesday) and Thursday, we needed to win this one.\”
The Bisons will be at home against Central Penn League opponent State College (8-5) Tuesday and travel to Huntingdon Thursday.
WEST BRANCH — 8
Tyler Meersand cf 2100, Chris Beveridge ph-cf 1113, Chris Dotts rf 4110, Lance Kolesar 2b 3221, Ethan Lidgett 1b 4021, Jeremy Kanouff c 2102, Gavin Luzier 3b 2110, Dylan Corl ss 3111, Justin Kopchik p 2010, Tim Martin p 2000, Ryan Wesesky lf 4010. TOTALS: 29 8 9 8.
CLEARFIELD — 10
Jarrin Campman 2b 3321, Parker Herrington ss-p 3101, Tanner St. Clair lf 3124, Derek Danver 3b-ss 3101, David Welker rf 3000, Isaac Butler 3020, Matt Lonjin c 0000, Corey Bookhamer p-1b 3011, Michael Moyer 1b 2210, Justin Hoffman 3b 1000, David Ryan cf 1200, Aaron Sayers ph 1000. TOTALS: 26 10 8 8.
Score by Innings
West Branch 301 003 1 – 8 9 6
Clearfield 104 311 x – 10 8 3
Errors – Kolesar 2, Corl, Kopchik, Martin, Wesesky; Campman 2, Hoffman. DP – Clearfield 1 (Hoffman and Bookhamer). LOB – West Branch 7; Clearfield 8. 2B – Kolesar 2. HR – Beveridge; St. Clair (4). SB – Meersand; Campman 2.
Pitching
West Branch – Kopchik 4 IP, 7 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K; Martin 2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Bookhamer 5-2/3 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K; Herrington 1-2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
WP – Kopchik 1, Martin 1.
W – Bookhamer (2-2). L – Kopchik (3-2). Save – Herrington (1).
