CLEARFIELD — Beech Creek moved closer to repeating as Central Penn League champion by snapping the Clearfield American Legion baseball team’s three-game winning streak, 11-0, at the Lawrence Township Recreation Park Field Friday evening.
The Crickets clinched at least a tie for first place at 11-2 with one game remaining.
The Chiefs were held to four hits, all in the first five innings off winning pitcher Kenny Heverly, who struck out nine and walked four.
Bryce Hanley mopped up with two hitless, scoreless innings. He had five strikeouts and no walks.
Beech Creek piled up 18 hits against three Clearfield hurlers.
The big blows came in the fifth inning, Heverly’s two-run home run off loser Bryce Timko and Mitch Smith’s three-run roundtripper off Josh Sorbera that increased the Crickets’ lead to 9-0.
They had jumped in front with three runs in the first frame, two crossing on Hanley’s single.
Toner Cor singled home the final two runs charged to Zane Morgan in the seventh inning.
Wyatt Koch and Caleb Seyler each had three hits while Heverly, Hanley, Smith and Talon Falls contributed two apiece.
Ty Bender doubled for the Chiefs, who lost 10-0 to the Crickets in their earlier meeting..
Clearfield, 10-6 with a 7-5 CPL record, will return to the LTRP diamond Sunday for an important 1 p.m. make-up game with Bellefonte, which is pressing the Chiefs for fourth place and a home opener in the league’s playoffs.
BEECH CREEK — 11
Toner Corl cf 4012, Colin Treaster 2b 4110, Talon Falls ss 4120, Wyatt Koch c 4230, Kenny Heverly p-1b 4222, Bryce Hanley 1b-p 4022, Caleb Seyler eh 4230, Ethan Watkins 3b 3010, Devin Nyman ph 1000, Connor Bauman rf 2000, Evan Prough rf 1210, Mitch Smith lf 4123. TOTALS: 39 11 18 9.
CLEARFIELD — 0
Justin Fedder 2b 3010, Wyatt Porter 2b 0000, Ty Bender rf 2010, Josh Sorbera 3b-p-c 3010, Zane Morgan c-p 2000, Reese Wilson cf 3000, Will Myers ss 2000, Jarrit Wagner eh 3000, Jake Sorbera lf 1000, Brandon Orsich 1b 2010, Bryce Timko p 1000, Alec Graham 3b 1000. TOTALS: 23 0 4 0.
Score by Innings
Beech Creek 301 050 2 – 11 18 0
Clearfield       000 000 0 –  0   4 3
E – Myers 2, Ja. Sorbera. DP – Beech Creek 2 (Treaster and Falls). LOB – Beech Creek 9, Clearfield 6. 2B – Treaster, Seyler; Bender. HR – Heverly, Smith. SB – Treaster.
Pitching
Beech Creek – Heverly 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 9 K; Hanley 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K.
Clearfield – Timko 4+ IP (faced 2 batters in 5th), 11 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 K; Jo. Sorbera 2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Morgan 1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
W – Heverly. L – Timko (1-2).
Umpires – Dave Neal (plate), Sam Bevak (bases)
