|
|
Clearfield 15- and 16-year-old teeners eliminated from VFW State Tournament
Monday, August 06, 2012
By Andy Stine Sports Writer
LEBANON - With rain showers delaying the start time of the second round of the loser's bracket for over three hours, the Clearfield 15- and 16-year-old Teener League team had a chance to play a rare under-the-lights game on Saturday night.
However, Lebanon and its starting pitcher Izzy Matias had other plans and spoiled Clearfield's party by scoring four runs in the first inning. The host team smacked five hits in the frame while holding Clearfield to few opportunities to win, 7-1, in the State VFW Teener League tournament.
The loss eliminated the Clearfield teeners, who went 1-2 on the weekend.
"It's disappointing to end that way," said Clearfield manager Sid Lansberry. "But, I have to give their pitcher credit. He mixed up his pitches well. We never really got used to what he was throwing. We had a few hits here and there, but every time we got on base he got a strikeout or a double play."
Clearfield starting pitcher Devin Jones struggled in the opening inning, giving up three straight singles to open the game to Nick Gonzalez, Matias and Caleb Albright to give Lebanon a quick run.
After a groundout that advanced the runners, Hunter Torres blasted a ground-rule double to score Matias and Albright. Torres later scored on an error by Jones to take a 4-0 lead after just half an inning.
In the bottom of the first, Cole Kephart and Wyatt Westen reached base on a walk and a base hit, respectively. Josh Kennedy hit into a fielder's choice before a popout. Curtis Collins drew a walk to load the bases, but all runners were stranded on a groundout to end the inning.
Matias went back to work, this time at the plate in the top of the second inning. Matias launched a double with two outs and scored on a throwing error on a dropped third strike against Clearfield relief pitcher Jon Janocko. Janocko ended the inning on a flyout two batters later.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, Jonas Kochan drew a walk to set up a Kephart double to put runners in scoring position. Just like the first inning, Matias forced a groundout to escape damage.
Clearfield stranded 11 runners in the game.
"We left a lot of runners on base," said Lansberry. "I think that's a credit to their pitcher. He got tough when he had to with people on base."
Matias, who was a thorn in Clearfield's side throughout the contest, reached base for the third time in the fourth inning on a base hit. He stole second base to set up a RBI double from Albright to give Lebanon a 6-1 lead.
After the double, Janocko settled down and pitched a quality game. He gave up five hits in 6 2/3 innings of work and struck out 10 Lebanon batters.
"Jon did a great job," said Lansberry. "That was his best outing in quite a while. He held them down and pitched well. When you get down four or five runs right away, it's tough to come back, especially against a good pitcher like this kid."
Clearfield scored its lone run in the bottom of the fourth with the bases loaded again.
Noah Cline and Kochan had base hits, while Westen drew a walk. With two outs, Kennedy hit a grounder through the right side of the infield to plate Cline. Janocko followed hit a chopper to the third baseman that was bobbled, but was picked up to make the tag on Westen.
Lebanon scored one more insurance run in the seventh inning as Donovan Ott reached on a two-base error and scored on a Dylan Blaich base hit to make the score 7-1.
"I thought we played well this weekend," said Lansberry. "It was a tough match to start out with Bald Eagle, which I think is the best team down here. We came back this morning, but we ran into a good pitcher tonight.
"I don't know if the rain delay or playing under the lights had any effect, but that would just be an excuse. They were just better than us tonight."
Clearfield finished its season at 17-8-1.
"We'd like to thank Wise Eyes, too, for sponsoring us," said Lansberry. "This is more than just Clearfield. They've been sponsoring us all season."
"We have a great group of kids. We got a lot of compliments from umpires that they're a classy group. I'm proud of them."
Lebanon defeated Schuylkill East, 9-5, on Sunday and was scheduled to meet Altoona in the loser's bracket final this morning. The winner of that game played Bald Eagle for the championship this afternoon.
Lebanon-7
Gonzalez ss 3110, Matias p 4330, Albright c 4122, Ott 3b 3100, Torres 1b 3112, Cramer ph 1000, Blaich lf 3011, Martin cf 4020, Martinez eh 4000, Hartman 2b 2000, Cantrell ph 1000, Loeper rf 2000. Totals: 34-7-10-5.
Clearfield-1
Kephart ss 2010, Westen cf 3010, Kennedy 3b 4011, Janocko 1b-p 4010, Collins lf 3010, Herrington 2b 4000, Jones p 0000, Cline dh 3120, Summers 1b 0000, Timchak rf 3000, Kochan c 1010, Sorbera c 1000. Totals: 28-1-8-1.
Score by Innings
Lebanon 410 100 1-7 10 1
Clearfield 000 100 0-1 8 5
Errors-Loeper; Jones, Kochan 2, Kephart, Summers. LOB-Lebanon 10, Clearfield 11. DP-Lebanon 2. 2B-Matias, Albright, Torres; Kephart. SB-Matias, Albright, Blaich, Martin, Loeper; Taylor. HBP-Blaich (by Jones), Loeper (by Janocko).
Pitching
Lebanon: Matias-7 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 SO.
Clearfield: Jones-1/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO; Janocko-6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO.
WP-Matias. LP-Jones.
Clearfield 6, Schuylkill South 2
Clearfield scored four runs in the fifth inning and two in the sixth to eliminate Schuylkill South from the tournament on Saturday morning at Coleman Park.
Thomas Summers threw the first five innings and pitched effectively throughout his outing. He gave up just four hits and two unearned runs, while striking out five batters.
Schuylkill South got its pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning.
Luchiano Valenti and Gene Werley drew walks with one out. An errant pickoff attempt at second base went into center field and allowed the runners to move up a base. On the throw home, Valenti was caught in a rundown, but was safe on a throw home. Werley came home on an error later in the inning.
Clearfield got on the board in a big way in the bottom of the fifth.
Zach Timchak got hit by a pitch and Kephart had a base hit. After Westen moved the runners over on a sacrifice bunt, Kennedy blasted the first pitch from Schuylkill starter Danny Blugis over the left field fence for a 3-run jack.
Janocko hit a double to the gap on the second pitch after the homer and was plated on a Collins single to put Clearfield up 4-2.
Clearfield added two more runs on three hits in the sixth inning. Westen had an RBI single and Kennedy added a sacrifice fly for his fourth RBI of the game.
Devin Jones took the mound for the last two innings and was in shutdown mode. He allowed just one base hit on a flare from Jared Zook. He struck out three Schuylkill batters to pick up the save.
Schuylkill South-2
Zook 2b-ss 4010, Bailey c 4010, Hunyera 1b 2010, Barton 3b 2000, Fanelli cf 3000, Valenti lf 2100, Werley rf 2100, Harding eh 3011, Blugis p-2b 1000, Smerlick ph 1000, Ulsh ss-p 3010. Totals: 27-2-5-1.
Clearfield-6
Kephart ss 3110, Westen cf 2111, Kennedy 3b 3114, Janocko 1b 3120, Collins lf 4011, Summers p 3020, Jones p 0000, Herrington 2b 3010, Sorbera c 0000, Cline dh 3000, Kochan c 0000, Timchak rf 2210. Totals: 26-6-10-6.
Score by Innings
Schuylkill South 000 200 0-2 5 3
Clearfield 000 042 x-6 10 4
Errors-Ulsh, Zook 2; Janocko, Summers 2, Herrington. LOB-Schuylkill South 9, Clearfield 8. 2B-Janocko. HR-Kennedy (2 on, 5th inning). SAC-Westen, Kephart. SF-Kennedy. SB-Hunyera 2; Westen. HBP-Timchak (by Blugis).
Pitching
Schuylkill South: Blugis-4 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO; Ulsh-1 2/3 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO.
Clearfield: Summers-5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 5 BB, 5 SO; Jones-2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO.
WP-Summers. LP-Blugis. SV-Jones.
|  |
|
|
|
