Clearfield wins wild, two-day affair over P-O
Monday, July 02, 2012
By Jaclyn Yingling Sports Editor
PHILIPSBURG - Wild. Insane. Crazy. Unbelievable.
Just some of the terms that were being thrown around during Friday's District 5 11- and 12-year-old Clearfield/Philipsburg-Osceola game that continued into Saturday afternoon after the game was suspended due to darkness.
The game actually continued for an inning into the darkness, but was eventually stopped with a 19-19 tie after six innings.
The two came back to finish on Saturday and needed just 20 minutes to determine a winner.
Clearfield, which won the flip on Friday to be the home team, scored an unearned run to win 20-19.
The ending was quick to a game that had lasted 2 hours and 17 minutes on Friday and saw nine pitchers and a combined 37 hits.
"That's probably the craziest Little League game I have ever seen," said Clearfield manager Dave Learish. "I have seen some crazy games in my lifetime, but to go back and forth like that was fun."
The home team took the win in the bottom of the seventh inning, using two singles, a fielder's choice and an error to score the winning run.
Clearfield's Michael Ternoway turned out to be the hero, knocking a ball between the P-O shortstop's legs and into the outfield, allowing Jake Sorbera to scamper home from second to win the game.
"It was a pretty intense game," said P-O manager Lenny Martin. "That was a nailbiter right to the end.
"We fought our way back, but Clearfield just kept putting them on the board, too. It was a close game right to the end."
The tone of the game was set early on, as Clearfield scored six runs with two outs in the bottom of the first inning.
Noah Rumsky double, before coming home on an RBI single by Sorbera. A two-base error allowed Sorbera to move to third, where he was plated by another error on a ball hit by Noah Bloom.
A third error on a ball hit by Ternoway allowed Bloom to score. Eli Glass followed with a double before Ethan McGinnis launched a three-run homer over the right-field fence, putting Clearfield up, 6-1.
Philipsburg-Osceola responded right back, scoring nine runs on eight hits to take a 10-6 advantage.
P-O led off the frame with three straight singles by Micah Martin, Hunter Ammerman and Brandon Anderson. Anderson drove home a run on his single, before Brandon Kephart walked to load the bases.
A walk to Josh Bryan brought home a run before Matt Johnson hit into a fielder's choice. A two-run single by Josh Earnest cleared the bases, before Gage Coudriet hit a two-run blast.
The visitors batted around, and Micah Martin singled and scored for the second time on a single by Kephart.
Not to be outdone, Clearfield scored five runs in the bottom of the second, inching ahead, 11-10.
Ternoway, Glass and Matt Ryan each had an RBI in the frame, while the other two runs scored on errors.
P-O only put up two runs in the third, but it was enough to retake the lead, 12-11.
Clearfield continued to hit whichever Philipsburg-Osceola pitcher was put in front of it as it scored four runs in the bottom of the third to take the 15-12 advantage.
But the craziness was not over yet.
Clearfield padded the lead to 16-12 in the bottom of the fourth.
P-O promptly retook the lead in the top of the fifth, scoring six runs to retake an 18-16 lead.
"Both teams hit the ball well," Learish said. "P-O is a good hitting team. Our guys hit well, too. Hopefully, they will continue. There's been some excitement with the guys, it's been nice to see that."
With it getting dark, the umpires decided to let the game play out.
Philipsburg-Osceola scored a run in the top of the sixth, as Earnest singled then scored on two passed balls and a wild pitch, increasing its lead to 19-16.
Despite the fact that it was so dark even the home plate umpire said he was having a hard time seeing, the umpires decided that to be fair they needed to allow Clearfield to bat.
Clearfield took advantage of that, scoring three runs, including two with two outs.
Sorbera, Bloom and Ternoway all singled with one out to start the frame. Sorbera scored on Ternoway's hit, while Bloom and Ternoway each scored with bases-loaded walks to tie the game at 19-19.
P-O brought in Matt Johnson, who got the third out.
It was then decided to call the game and come back on Saturday to finish. That set up Ternoway's heroics to advance Clearfield to the winner's bracket championship.
"The ballgame should've been called in the fifth, and we should have come back to play from there," Martin said. "It was kind of dangerous for the kids. That's what I was concerned about, the safety of the kids.
"The street lights were actually on in the sixth inning. So, when you see the scoreboard glowing, you know it's time."
Ternoway finished the game with two hits, four runs scored and three RBIs. Glass added two hits, three runs scored and three RBIs, while McGinnis added two hits, one run scored and three RBIs.
Sorbera had three hits and four runs scored, and Bloom and Collins each scored three runs.
Rumsky picked up the win, pitching three innings and allowing one earned run on two hits and five strikeouts.
"I think our kids coming to this knew P-O has always played us well and there was an element of they have always beaten us in the past," said Learish.
"This is an opportunity for them to realize that we can play with the area teams. We have a lot to polish up. Our defense isn't anything to be desired and we have a lot of things to work on."
Coudriet had four RBIs, three hits and two runs scored, while Ammerman had four hits and two runs scored. Micah Martin notched three hits and three runs scored, while Earnest had three hits, four runs scored and two RBIs.
Earnest also picked up the loss for P-O, which was eliminated on Sunday with a 12-2 loss to Four Leaf Clover.
Clearfield hosts Four Leaf on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
Philipsburg-Osceola-19
Bryan ss-p-ss 5211, Johnson 2b-p-2b 4210, Jones 2b 1000, Earnest cf-ss-cf-p 4432, Ma. Martin 3b-rf 3000, McDonald 3b-lf-3b 1110, Coudriet p-1b 5234, Mi. Martin lf-p-cf-lf-2b-cf 5331, Ammerman c-lf-rf-c 5240, Anderson rf-p-lf 5232, Johnson pr 0000, Kephart 1b 1111, Shaw 1b-3b-c-3b 3000. Totals: 42-19-20-11.
Clearfield-20
Learish lf-3b-lf 4001, Collins p-lf-cf 5321, Rumsky cf-p 5230, Sorbera c-ss-c 5431, Bloom ss 3310, Coval 2b 1000, Ternoway 1b 5423, Ryan pr 0000, Glass 3b-p-3b 3323, McGinnis rf 4123, Ryan 2b 2011, Porter c-3b 2012. Totals: 39-20-17-15.
Score by Innings
P-O 192 061 0-19 20 8
Clearfield 654 103 1-20 17 5
Errors-Bryan 3, Ma. Martin 2, Mi. Martin 2, Shaw; Rumsky, Bloom, Sorbera, Collins, Learish. LOB-Philipsburg-Osceola 6, Clearfield 11. 2B-Anderson; Rumsky, Glass. HR-Coudriet (1 on, 2nd inning); Collins (solo, 4th), McGinnis (2 on, 1st). SAC-Coval. SB-Ryan. HBP-Ma. Martin and Earnest (by Collins); Collins (by Coudriet), Glass (by Bryan). WP-Coudriet 4, Anderson 2; Collins 4, Glass 1, Rumsky 1. PB-Shaw 1; Porter 3, Sorbera 2.
Pitching
Philipsburg-Osceola: Coudriet-2+ IP, 9 H, 13 R, 4 ER, 2 BB,1 SO; Mi. Martin-1/3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO; Bryan-1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO; Anderson-1 2/3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 BB, 3 SO; Johnson-1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO; Earnest-1/3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.
Clearfield: Collins-2 1/3 IP, 10 H, 12 R, 9 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO; Glass-1 2/3 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO; Rumsky-3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO.
WP-Rumsky. LP-Earnest.
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