ST. MARYS – Finally, everything came together for the Clearfield Area High School baseball team.
The Bisons got a complete-game five-hitter from Michael Moyer, mounted an 11-hit attack and played near-flawless defense to upend St. Marys 9-4 at Berwind Park Monday for their long-awaited first win of the season.
\”We had good pitching and a lot of clutch hits and made some good defensive plays,\” Clearfield coach Sid Lansberry said. \”That\’s what it takes, but this is the first time this year we\’ve been able to do it.\”
The Bisons, who got three hits from Aaron Sayers and two from Tanner St. Clair and David Welker, came from behind twice to junk their nine-game losing streak.
After a walk, Brett Quiggle\’s triple to deep center and a groundout staked St. Marys starter J.J. Bilodeau to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Clearfield drew even with singletons in the next two frames, both coming on two-out safeties.
Derek Danver walked, raced to third on Sayers\’ single to right and scored on Corey Bookhamer\’s liner to center in the second. Jarrin Campman walked and was perched at third via a groundout and a wild pitch when Welker came through with a hard high-hopper over the mound in the third.
The Flying Dutch (4-3-1) went up again by two runs when Quiggle drilled a sinking liner to right for a double following the Bisons\’ lone miscue and Brian Tamburlin\’s hit.
Unlike in previous outings, Clearfield battled back from the mid-game deficit while Moyer was blanking the Flying Dutch over the last four innings.
The turnaround came in the fifth, a four-run rally that included season-high five hits for one inning.
Campman sliced a single to right and sped to second when the ball was booted. Parker Herrington doubled into the right field corner for an RBI. After St. Clair\’s fly ball fell in short right for the Bisons\’ third consecutive opposite-field hit, Danver jerked a Bilodeau curve into left to tie the game.
Sayers grounded a single through the middle for the game-winning RBI.
A forceout left Bisons on the corners, and a forced balk attempt turned into an insurance run on one of St. Marys\’ four errors.
\”Whenever you\’re in the game or even pull ahead a little bit, you can do more things\” Lansberry said. \”That\’s what people don\’t realize. But so many games this year we\’ve been down early, and it\’s tough to come back.\”
Moyer wasn\’t about to waste the opportunity to nail down his third varsity victory, finishing strong with five of his seven strikeouts in the last three innings.
Lansberry did hold a brief conference with his junior right-hander in the sixth with the Bisons ahead 8-4 after cashing two walks by St. Marys reliever Derek Meyer into runs, one on a throwing error as David Ryan broke for third on a wild pitch and the other on St. Clair\’s groundout.
Moyer had issued his second and third walks on 10 pitches. Another free pass or a hit probably would have prompted Lansberry to re-trace his steps and, reluctantly, make a pitching change.
\”I was hoping we didn\’t have to,\” he said. \”Sayers had a groin problem and Herrington was sick the whole day.\”
Neither had to warm up.
Moyer took matters into his own hands with back-to-back strikeouts and then set down the Flying Dutch in order in the seventh.
\”That was the key for him right there, finishing off hitters,\” Lansberry said. \”That\’s what he hasn\’t been able to do. That was a confidence builder for him, no doubt.\”
Sayers led off the seventh with a single, advanced to second on pinch-hitter Chris Barr\’s sacrifice bunt, took third on a wild pitch and got a good jump to score Clearfield\’s final run on Bookhamer\’s groundout.
\”We played heads-up and ran the bases extremely well,\” Lansberry said. \”Even Barr\’s bunt got us a run. It\’s the little things like that we haven\’t been doing.\”
\”The win was good for the team and the program. We\’re to the point where we\’re just trying to play better baseball as the season goes on. We\’ve got a lot of tough games let.\”
Clearfield\’s next outing will be in the Dean Patterson Curve Classic Friday at 12:30 p.m. in Altoona\’s Blair County Ballpark against Central Penn League foe Hollidaysburg. Win or lose, the Bisons will play again on Saturday.
CLEARFIELD — 9
Jarrin Campman 2b 3210, Parker Herrington ss 3211, Tanner St. Clair dh 4121, Matt Lonjin c 0000, David Welker rf 4021, Derek Danver 3211, Aaron Sayers lf 3131, Michael Moyer 3000, Chris Barr ph 0000, Corey Bookhamer 1b 4012, David Ryan cf 3100, Isaac Butler ph 0000. TOTALS: 30 9 11 7.
ST. MARYS — 4
Ryan Quinn 4100, Ryan Longhi cf 0000, Brian Tamburlin lf 3210, Brett Quiggle c 3123, Josh Schlimm ss 4001, Jon Petrocchi 3b 3000, Dillon Kline 3b 0000, John Ackley rf 3010, Mitchell Straub 2000, J.J. Bilodeau p 0000, Troy Ehrensberger 2b 0000, Derek Meyer 2b-p 2010, Shealin Mulcahy 1b 3000. TOTALS: 27 4 5 4.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 011 042 1 – 9 11 1
St. Marys 202 000 0 – 4 5 4
Errors – Campman; Quinn, Quiggle, Petrocchi, Bilodeau. LOB – St. Marys 6. 2B – Herrington; Quiggle. 3B – Quiggle. Sac – Barr. SB – Welker; Tamburlin.
Pitching
Clearfield – Moyer 7 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 7 K, 3 BB.
St. Marys – Bilodeau 5 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 6 K, 3 BB; Meyer 2 IP, 2 Hi, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 K, 2 BB.
HB – Moyer 1 (Quiggle). WP – Bilodeau 1; Meyer 3.
W – Moyer (1-5). L – Bilodeau (1-2).
