HYDE — Hoping to erase the bad taste in their mouths from a day earlier, the Clearfield Bison returned to their home diamond for their third Mountain League game in five days. This time, the Golden Eagles of Tyrone made the trip north for the showdown, and with the sun shining and the warm temperatures, fans on either side were pleased to be watching some high school baseball.
Unfortunately for the Bison, early momentum suddenly got shut down. Tyrone capitalized on another game filled with errors, while defensively they played strong, keeping Clearfield off the scoreboard for six consecutive innings, and handing the Bison a 14-3 loss.
The Golden Eagles got on the board first as following a single by Rodney Shultz, pitcher Ross Gampe connected on a line drive into center field, bounding to the wall and allowing him to round all the way to third, and bringing Shultz home for the opening run. Two batters later, while Brendon Grazier was awaiting the opening pitch, the ball got past Matt Bailor, and courtesy runner Jesse Yingling made it home on the wild pitch to make it 2-0. Grazier would ground out to finish the inning, but Clearfield was not down on themselves, as they were ready for the bottom half of the inning and came up in a big way.
Following a walk of Morgen Billotte and a single by Kyle Elensky, Blake Prestash came to the plate and let the first ball pass for the opening strike. The second pitch, the crack of the bat told the story. The ball sailed far, and long, bringing the entire team to the dugout fence. It would clear the left field wall, and the entire team came out to greet Prestash and his three-run blast that put Clearfield in front.
Unfortunately, that was the only time Clearfield would score in the entire game.
Gampe settled down after that, and would pitch the remaining six innings to earn the complete-game victory, handing out only four more hits, but striking out five more batters, totaling eight for the afternoon. Defensively, the Golden Eagles took charge, and ensured Clearfield would not get on the board.
Tyrone took the lead for good in the top of the second thanks to an RBI-single from Bryce Hunter to first tie it up, then a two-RBI single by Brandon Lucas. The Golden Eagles would add runs in all the remaining innings, with the score going to 9-3 after five innings. The biggest hit of the game for Tyrone came in the sixth. With runners on second and third, Gampe helped his own cause as he took a 2-1 pitch and struck hard, going in the same direction as Prestash had in the earlier part of the game. His shot went over the left field wall, a three-run homer that put the score at 12-3, in a game that was already becoming well out of reach.
For the Bison, Kyle Elensky got tagged with the loss in his four-inning effort, yielding seven runs, only three earned, while striking out two.
Clearfield (4-7-1) gets a day of rest before they host their fourth consecutive home game on Thursday, a 4:30 start against the Central Dragons.
SCORE BY INNING
Tyrone 231 123 2 – 14 16 0
Clearfield 300 000 0 – 3 6 5
Tyrone – 14
Bryce Hunter-CF 4121, Rodney Shultz-SS 5330, Brandon Lucas-3B 4112, Jesse Yingling-PH 0200, Ross Gampe-P 5235, Aiden Coleman-DH 4011, Brendon Grazier-1B 4120, Michael Buck-2B 3011, David Lang-2B 3122, Nicholas Lehner-PH 1000, Zack LaGars-RF 3210, Luke Brooks-PH 1100. TOTALS 37 14 16 12.
Clearfield – 3
Morgen Billotte-CF 3120, Karson Rumsky-SS 3010, Kyle Elensky-P/3B 3110, Blake Prestash-2B/P 3113, Hunter Dixon-1B 2000, Nick Domico-3B/1B 1000, Nolan Barr-2B/P 3010, Matt Bailor-C 3000, Ryan Gearhart-LF 2000, Cole Bloom-RF 3000. TOTALS 26 3 6 3.
LOB: 9/4
E: Dixon, Domico, Elensky, Rumsky-2
ROE: Shultz, Lucas, Gampe
2B: Grazier, Buck
3B: Gampe
HR: Gampe/Prestash
SF: Lang
FC: LaGars
HBP: Gearhart
SB: Shultz-2, LaGars
CS: Hunter
Pitching
Tyrone: Gampe-7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 8 SO, 1 BB.
Clearfield: Elensky-4 IP, 9 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 2 SO, 2 BB; Prestash-2 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB; Barr-1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 3 BB.
W-Gampe
L-Elensky
