HYDE — Like most coaches, Clearfield Area High School baseball mentor Sid Lansberry usually will reject the view, in quick fashion, that his team is in a rebuilding mode.
However, he admits he has no other choice in assessing the 2016 Bison.
Few of his previous 44 CAHS squads have had less experience.
“My biggest concern is replacing seven starters,” Lansberry said.
Eight players, including six multi-year starters and a seventh regular, received their diplomas last year after helping produce the first winning record in six seasons at 14-7.
The cupboard isn’t completely bare with seven lettermen on hand, though four saw only limited action and combined for just 31 official at-bats.
Returning are seniors Justin Fedder, Logan Lykens, Brandon Orsich and Jonathan Trimpey and juniors Tommy Hazel, Marcus Luzier and Will Myers.
Last year, Orsich was the No. 2 pitcher and earned All-Mountain League Second Team honors for the second time, while Myers and Hazel were full-time starters at second base and right field, respectively, and Luzier was the designated hitter in four of the last five games.
Orsich, the lone two-year veteran and a Pitt-Bradford recruit, will anchor the pitching staff after back-to-back springs with 1.75 and 2.77 earned run averages for 24 appearances, including a dozen starts and eight complete games.
The right-hander’s 6-5 record is somewhat deceiving, for he allowed 92 hits and 32 earned runs in 95.2 innings while compiling 66 strikeouts and 22 walks.
“The most amazing thing about him so far is he’s not a strikeout pitcher, but he hardly ever walks anybody,” said Lansberry, noting the Pitt-Bradford recruit had 52 strikeouts and only three walks in 59.1 innings for the Clearfield American Legion Post 6 team last summer. “That’s unheard of, at any level. I’ve never had a pitcher with that kind of control.
“In a way, that’s not good, because batters dig in on him. Sometimes, he gets hit hard because he throws too many strikes.”
Lansberry isn’t sure who else will go to the mound in the early games.
The only other varsity innings belong to Hazel, who made three starts with no decisions and a 2.00 ERA for 14 innings, and Myers, who won his lone start and had a 1.24 ERA for 5.2 innings.
While they figure to become regular starters as the season progresses, neither is being counted on right away because they were very instrumental in the Bison basketball team’s deep run in the postseason and haven’t gotten much preseason work.
“They’ve only had a couple of bullpens,” Lansberry said, adding the success the duo had in summer ball will carry over to the scholastic scene.
Junior Zane Morgan, sophomore Jake Sorbera, Lykens, Fedder and Luzier could be in the mix, especially early on, according to Lansberry.
Lettermen will fill most of the lineup for opening day, Tuesday against Central at the Bison Sports Complex.
Myers, who had a .281 batting average with seven runs batted in last season, is sliding over to shortstop, and Hazel (.200) is making the shift to center field.
Rounding out the infield will be Lykens at first base, Fedder at second base and Luzier (.412) at third base.
Trimpey will patrol left field while freshman Ty Bender, Sorbera and junior Evan Brown are in contention for the right field job.
Zane Morgan will handle the catching duties, with Bender his back-up.
Providing depth will be Orsich, sophomore Seth Bumbarger and Hazel at first base, junior Thayne Morgan and sophomore Wyatt Porter at the other infield positions and junior Jarrit Wagner and sophomore Reese Wilson in the outfield.
If the Bison utilize a designated hitter, Bender and Orsich are the top candidates.
Lansberry pointed out that several Bison played legion ball and most of the underclassmen played on the Wise Eyes team that won the VFW Teener state championship.
“How much they played in the summer is a big plus, but it’s a big step from Teener League to varsity baseball,” Lansberry said. “Judging from what they did, I think we’re gonna be fairly solid defensively, but I’m worried about the offensive production because they’re still untested.
“We’ve had a pretty good preseason because of the weather, and these kids are very coachable and very intelligent. Fifteen of the 17 are on the honor roll. That’s pretty unusual.”
Another winning record and a District 9 Class AAA playoff appearance are the goals Lansberry is hoping the Bison can achieve against their seven Mountain League rivals and five non-league foes.
“The league is very tough,” Lansberry said. “Bellefonte looks like the team to beat with two Division I pitchers, and Central always is good.
“In District 9, Punxsutawney is loaded again, and Bradford returns its top pitcher along with several lettermen.”
Non-league opponents, in addition to Punxsy, are Curwensville home-and-home and DuBois, Brookville and newcomer Kiski Prep (Saltsburg) in single games.
Lansberry, whose record stands at 575-398-3, is assisted on the varsity level by Donnie Shimmel (26th year), Brandon Billotte (12th), Chris Peacock (11th) and Ed Yeager (17th).
Shimmel heads the junior varsity staff that includes Sean Zimmerman (2nd), Dave Learish (2nd) and first-year coach Derek Danver.
The 2015 seniors were four-year starter Cole Kephart, three-year starters Thomas Summers, Josh Sorbera and Spencer Herrington, two-year starters Sawyer Rowles and Erik Sellers, Noah Cline and Dan Collins. They earned a total of 23 letters.
Summers, who is playing for NCAA Division I Maryland-Eastern Shore, was a Mountain League All-Star at two positions, first-team pitcher and second-team outfielder. Sellers and Rowles also joined him and Orsich on the second team at first base and outfield, respectively.
Summers (.362 batting average, 25 hits, three home runs, 15 RBIs last season) hit over .300 three times in his career but wound up with a .296 average (69-for-233) and 41 RBIs. On the mound, he was 7-2 with a scintillating 1.79 ERA and completed six of his nine starts to boost his career totals to 10-11, 3.12 ERA, 19 starts in 32 appearances, 136.2 innings, 122 strikeouts and 82 walks.
Kephart (.261 last year) was a .272 career hitter with five home runs and 35 RBIs, Sorbera (.338 LY) had a .288 average with 24 RBIs, Herrington (.320 LY) hit .291 with 25 RBIs, Rowles (.286 LY) hit .244 with 24 RBIs and Sellers (.279 LY) hit .248 with 21 RBIs. Herrington also was 3-1 pitching in relief last season.
The roster, with (*) indicating lettermen:
Seniors – Justin Fedder (*), 2b; Logan Lykens (*), 1b, p; Brandon Orsich (*), p, 1b; Jonathan Trimpey (*), of.
Juniors – Evan Brown, of; Tommy Hazel (*), of, p; Marcus Luzier (*), 3b, p; Ethan McGinnis, of, p; Will Myers (*), ss, p; Thayne Morgan, of, if; Zane Morgan, c, p; Jarrit Wagner, of.
Sophomores – Seth Bumbarger, 1b; Wyatt Porter, if, c; Jake Sorbera, of, p; Reese Wilson, of, p.
Freshman – Ty Bender, c, of.
* * * * *
The schedule, with (ML) for Mountain League games, home games in capitals and starting times 4:30 p.m. unless noted:
March
29 – CENTRAL (ML)
April
1 – HUNTINGDON (ML); 4 – BELLEFONTE (ML); 7 – at Tyrone (ML); 8 – at Punxsutawney, 4:15 p.m.; 11 – CURWENSVILLE; 12 – BALD EAGLE AREA (ML); 15 – at Penns Valley (ML); 18 – PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA (ML); 19 – at Brookville, 4:15 p.m.; 21 – at Central (ML); 26 – at Huntingdon (ML); 29 – at Bellefonte (ML).
May
2 – TYRONE (ML); 3 – at Curwensville, 4:15 p.m.; 5 – at Bald Eagle Area (ML); 9 – at Kiski Prep (Saltsburg), 7 p.m.; 10 – PENNS VALLEY (ML); 13 – at Philipsburg-Osceola (ML); 17 – DUBOIS.
