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Philipsburg Pirates fall to Clarence in Centre Co. League playoffs
Thursday, August 02, 2012
By Andy Stine Sports Writer
PHILIPSBURG - When a downpour came on Tuesday evening around 8 p.m. and drenched the Don Womer Baseball Complex, it was reasonable to think it could be just what the Philipsburg Pirates needed in their game against Clarence.
When the game resumed on Wednesday evening, it turned out the break helped both teams with their offense.
Down 6-5 in the top of the sixth inning at the end of Tuesday night, the Pirates tied the game at 7 after six innings of play. But a couple of timely Clarence hits helped them regain the lead as Justin Taylor held off Philipsburg in the seventh inning to win, 9-7, in the third game of the Centre County League semifinals.
The Clarence win kept their season alive with Philipsburg leading the best-of-five series, 2-1.
Both teams kept each other off the scoreboard for the first two innings. Philipsburg starting pitcher Parker Watson only gave up one hit in the first two frames, while Clarence starter Ty Rumsey brushed off three hits and left three runners on base.
But Clarence got themselves on the board in the top of the third inning. Watson walked designated hitter George Schall before Ryan MacNamara hit a towering home run to left field to give Clarence the 2-0 lead.
Philipsburg got one of those runs back in the bottom half. Second baseman Matt Curtis ripped a double to start it off and advanced to third on a wild pickoff attempt by Rumsey. Matt McCamley drove Curtis home on a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit in half.
Clarence added another run in the top of the fourth inning and threatened to score more. With the bases loaded and two outs, Watson buckled down and got Brian Kochik to fly out and keep Philipsburg in the game.
Watson, who is furthering his baseball career at Lock Haven University in the fall, saw a preview of what to expect at the collegiate level, according to Philipsburg shortstop Ryan Mostyn.
"It's a great experience for Parker and he did a nice job," said Mostyn. "Their lineup is full of college hitters. He did a nice job of throwing strikes. If you look back at the three games that we've played so far, he's actually had one of the better pitching outings."
Leadoff doubles in the top of the fifth inning from Taylor and Adam Fisher off Watson gave Clarence another run. A.J. Robinson was brought on in relief of Watson, who was effective and didn't allow any more damage in the inning.
The Pirates rallied in the bottom of the fifth inning to take their only lead of the game. With the bases loaded and no outs, Mostyn hit a single that plated Aaron Lidgett and Curtis. Mostyn went to second on catcher's indifference.
After a strikeout, Tyler Good came up with the big hit on a double in the gap to score McCamley and Mostyn and put the Pirates up 5-4.
MacNamara and Justin Koleno led off the top of the sixth inning with singles. Robinson forced a flyout, but Taylor had his biggest hit with a two-run triple to put Clarence ahead just before the heavy rain came.
When action picked up again Wednesday, Adam Fisher hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Taylor.
With two outs and Curtis at first base in the bottom of the frame, Taylor uncorked a wild pitch that sent Curtis to second base. McCamley drove Curtis home on a base hit and advanced to second on another wild pitch.
Mostyn hit a groundball on a 1-2 pitch to shortstop, but the throw was errant and allowed McCamley to score from second base to tie the game.
With two outs in the top of the seventh and a man at second base, Robinson elected to intentionally walk MacNamara. Koleno came up with a base hit to center field. McCamley threw home and nearly threw out John Schall at home plate.
MacNamara got caught in a rundown between second and third base and ended up safe at third base after bumping into a Philipsburg infielder.
MacNamara was brought home on a Kochik single, but Koleno was thrown out at third base to keep the score at 9-7.
Good started things off in the bottom of the seventh on a single. But Taylor forced a double play to end any rally thoughts that the Pirates had.
"For the most part, we didn't hit as we're accustomed to," said Mostyn. "We had some timely hits, but a credit to them, they had some pretty good pitching too. Rumsey is a very good pitcher and Taylor had an excellent year at college. He's throwing upper 80s to lower 90s. He's a real good pitcher."
"We'll have Josh Potter pitching tomorrow night and we'll put our best lineup out there to try and get this series wrapped up."
Game 4 is scheduled for tonight in Clarence. First pitch is at 5:45.
Clarence-9
MacNamara cf 4322, Koleno 1b 3121, Kochik 3b 5011, Taylor ss-p 3232, Fisher c 3012, Young lf 4120, D. Schall rf 4000, J. Schall 2b-ss 2100, Rumsey p 0000, G. Schall dh-2b 2111. Totals: 30-9-12-9.
Philipsburg-7
Curtis 2b 3310, McCamley 3b-cf 3222, Mostyn ss 4122, Robinson rf-p 3010, Good 1b 4022, Jo. Potter cf 1010, Je. Potter 3b 3000, Watson p-rf 0000, Daye dh 4000, Mason c 2000, Lidgett lf 3100. Totals: 30-7-9-6.
Score by Innings
Clarence 002 113 2-9 12 3
Philipsburg 001 042 0-7 9 0
Errors-Rumsey, Young, J. Schall. LOB-Clarence 9, Philipsburg 6. DP-Clarence 1. 2B-Taylor 2, Fisher; Curtis, Good. 3B-Taylor. HR-MacNamara (1 on, 3rd inning). Sac-G. Schall. SF-Fisher; McCamley. SB-Mostyn.
Pitching
Clarence: Rumsey-4+ IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO; Taylor-3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO.
Philipsburg: Watson-4+ IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 2 SO; Robinson-3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO.
WP-Taylor. LP-Robinson.
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