BROOKVILLE — A trio of rookies led the way as the Clearfield Area High School baseball team began the second half of a postponement-plagued season with a 14-4 non-league win over Brookville at McKinley Field Tuesday.
Freshman left-hander Hunter Dixon gave the pitching staff a boost in his varsity debut by working six innings, while sophomores Hayden Williams and Nate Barr had three hits apiece to pace a 13-hit attack that made four Blue Raider hurlers pay for issuing a dozen walks.
Eight of the Bison who received free passes eventually scored, as did a ninth after forcing out a teammate who had walked.
Williams, the No. 9 batter who entered the game 0-for-3, doubled twice and drove in three runs, Barr also walked once and had one RBI with Cade Walker, his courtesy runner, scoring three times, and Ty Bender and Harrison Peacock added two RBIs apiece.
The Bison took the pressure off Dixon with five runs in the first inning, thanks to five walks by Cole LaBenne. Reese Wilson scored on a wild pitch and Peacock walked with the bases loaded before Tyler Park relieved. Three more runs crossed the plate on a forceout by Alec Graham and singles by Caullin Reed and Williams.
After Brookville (3-6) closed the gap to 5-3 with two runs in the fourth inning, Clearfield (8-3) responded with another five-spot in the fifth, chasing Park with four hits.
Two walks and a single by pinch-hitter Allan Myers produced the first run. With two outs, Barr had an RBI single, Seth Bumbarger drew a free ticket with the bases loaded and Bender doubled for his two RBIs.
The Bison tacked on four runs off Tyler LaBenne and Chase Palmer in the seventh frame. The rally began with a single by Barr and walks to Eli Glass and Bumbarger. An error on Peacock’s grounder allowed two runs to score before Williams doubled home the final two markers.
Williams and Myers gave the Bison four hits and four RBIs in the No. 9 hole.
Dixon surrendered 11 hits and walked three but worked his way out of three middle-inning jams to earn the victory. He had four strikeouts.
Junior Hunter Hipps made his first mound appearance in the seventh inning, inducing two groundouts before ending the game with a strikeout.
Dane Lyle, Trenton Gilhousen and Adam Mackins each had singles for Brookville.
Clearfield will host undefeated and runaway Mountain League leader Huntingdon (13-0) in a make-up game Wednesday and then close out the four-game week against Bald Eagle Area at Wingate Thursday.
CLEARFIELD — 14
Reese Wilson cf 5100, Nate Barr c 4331, Hunter Dixon p 0000, Hunter Hipps p 0000, Eli Glass dh 4220, Seth Bumbarger 1b 2211, Ty Bender rf 3112, Harrison Peacock 3b 3202, Alec Graham lf 3111, Caullin Reed ss 4111, Hayden Williams 2b 4033, Allan Myers ph 1111. TOTALS: 33 14 13 12.
BROOKVILLE — 4
Brady Caylor 2b 3011, Seth Dunkle ss 2111, Tanner LaBenne 1b-p-3b 4010, Dane Lyle c 3121, Cole LaBenne p-cf-1b 4010, Tyler Park cf-p-cf 3000, Shaun Reynolds ph 1000, Trenton Gilhousen rf 3120, Chase Palmer 3b- 3110, Adam Mackins lf 3020. TOTALS: 29 4 10 3.
Score by Innings
Clearfield      500 050 4 – 14 13 0
Brookville      100 210 0 –  4 11 2
E – Caylor 2. DP – Clearfield 1 (Reed, Williams and Bumbarger); Brookville 1 (Dunkle, Caylor and T. LaBenne). LOB – Clearfield 11; Brookville 8. 2B – Bumbarger, Bender, Williams 2. Sac – Graham. SF – Dunkle.
SB – Reed. CS – Graham (by Lyle).
Pitching
Clearfield – Dixon 6 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K; Hipps 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
Brookville – C. LaBenne 1/3 IP, 0 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 BB, 0 K; Park 4-1/3 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 3 K; T. LaBenne 1-1/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K; Palmer 1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
WP – C. LaBenne 1, Park 1.
W – Dixon (1-0). L – C. LaBenne.
Bison Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
3/27 @ Central ppd. 0 – 0
3/28 @ Central ppd. 0 – 0
3/31 @ Huntingdon 1 – 5 0 – 1
4/03 BELLEFONTE ppd. 0 – 1
4/05 @ Tyrone ppd. 0 – 1
4/06 BELLEFONTE ppd. 0 – 1
4/09 @ Central ppd. 0 – 1
4/10 BALD EAGLE AREA 4 – 2 1 – 1
4/11 @ Punxsutawney susp. 1 – 1
4/13 @ Penns Valley 3 – 0 2 – 1
4/14 @ Tyrone 8 – 7 3 – 1
4/16 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA ppd. 3 – 1
4/19 CENTRAL ppd. 3 – 1
4/20 BRADFORD 10 – 3 4 – 1
4/21 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 5 – 0 5 – 1
4/23 @ Curwensville 7 – 2 6 – 1
4/24 HUNTINGDON ppd. 6 – 1
4/27 @ Bellefonte 8 – 9 6 – 2
4/28 @ Central 3 – 4 6 – 3
4/30 TYRONE 16 – 1 7 – 3
5/01 @ Brookville 14 – 4 8 – 3
5/02 HUNTINGDON
5/03 @ Bald Eagle Area
5/07 CENTRAL
5/08 PENNS VALLEY
5/09 BELLEFONTE
5/11 @ Philipsburg-Osceola
5/14 DUBOIS
5/15 CURWENSVILLE
5/18 @ Punxsutawney (susp 4/11)
