Bison Walk Their Way to 13-9 Victory Over Brookville

HYDE — It has not been an easy start to the baseball season for Clearfield. Having to sit a week because of the weather, only to be shut out in the first game of the season, was difficult enough. But, Bison Head Coach Sid Lansberry said before the home opener on Monday against the Brookville Raiders that his team had only been on their home field one other time leading into the game. The weather and all that it caused made the start to the year a challenge.

The challenge on this day was trying to match what their opposition was doing, and somehow Clearfield did just that, although in a rather unorthodox way. Clearfield fell behind early, but came back courtesy of some easy bases and trips to the plate. The Raiders gave up 13 walks, which allowed Clearfield to erase a six-run deficit to take home a 13-9 win to get their first win on the season.

Ryan Gearhart got the nod to start the afternoon, and gave up an opening double to Hunter Geer. After he stole a base while Jamison Rhoades was at the plate, he scored on a put out to first to give the Raiders the early lead. Clearfield, though, answered in the bottom of the inning in a big way. With a runner on first and two outs on the board, Blake Prestash stared down a 2-0 pitch low in the zone. He took a swing, and everyone knew by the crack of the metal that this ball was not coming back. His 2-run blast over the left-field wall put the Bison up by a run heading into the second inning.

The second inning would get a bit complicated, as both teams combined for 13 runs.

Another opening double, this one by Griffin Ruhlman, got things going, but after a strikeout by Carson Weaver, then a rather challenging put out of Owen Caylor, Ruhlman managed to round the bases when Prestash tried to get the ball home to keep the lead. Knotted up at two, and a runner on first, Riley Smith blasted a deep double into left field, almost in foul territory. Kessler hustled all the way from first to get the lead on the RBI-double to put the Raiders up 3-2. One batter later, Geer singled into right to bring another run in, then Rhoades singled into left-center to suddenly make the game a 5-2 score.

After Bryce Rafferty reached first on an error, bringing in Rhoades, Roney came to bat as the ninth hitter in the inning, and he took the first pitch from Gearhart to center field, and over the wall. The two-run homer made it 8-2 before Clearfield finally ended the inning.

The 8-2 deficit appeared to be a gap that could be difficult to erase. It turns out, all Clearfield had to do was take advantage of free bases.

After Gearhart reached on an error, three consecutive walks of Ty Troxell, Mike Fester and Elijah Quick put the score at 8-3 with the bases loaded. After Kyle Elensky lined out to center, another walk of Nolan Barr suddenly cut the lead in half. Morgen Billotte then hit a two-RBI double to make the lead 8-6, and it became clear that the pitching woes were catching up with Brookville.

Even after a pitching change with two outs, Clearfield managed to tie the game by the end of the second inning, drastically changing the outlook on the game.

Entering the third inning, Lansberry elected to make a pitching change, moving Prestash to the hill. It seemed to be a good move as he would only see three batters in the inning, keeping the score tied up heading to the bottom half of the third.

In the end, the third inning spelled the demise of the Raiders.

Four consecutive walks began the inning, giving Clearfield the lead, and then Barr would get struck in the ankle to move runners once again. After shaking off the hit, n Billotte walked as well, making it 11-9 at that point.

Brookville changed pitchers, but still had struggles finding the strike zone as Cole Bloom would add in another hit, an RBI-single to bring around Barr, before the scoring ended, as Clearfield took the 13-8 advantage.

The Raiders managed to get a run back in the fifth inning, and found themselves in the final inning looking at a bases-loaded situation with a pair of outs on the board. After Weaver walked, a pair of singles by Smith and Geer put Rhoades in prime position to make it a closer game. With darkness still falling, he swung on an 0-2 pitch, popping it up high towards third base, but Gearhart pulled the ball in for the final out.

Prestash would get the victory in his five innings of work, only giving up one run and striking out five. Lansberry said afterwards, “This was his first true varsity experience. We used him a bit last year, but sparingly, and not with as much success.

“He came in after a tough couple innings and was very poised, and could get the ball where he needed to. We have a young team, we’re still learning. Just getting on the field is what we are needing.”

Brookville saw Rafferty be tagged with the loss in his two-thirds innings of work, giving up four runs and walking five. In all, the Raiders gave up 13 walks, compared to just five for Clearfield.

There’s no time to waste for the Bison (1-1) as they are back on their home diamond Tuesday afternoon for a 4:30 p.m. pitch against Bald Eagle.

SCORE BY INNING

Brookville 170 010 0 – 9 10 1
Clearfield 265 000 X – 13 5 3

Brookville – 9

Hunter Geer-CF 4231, Jamison Rhoades-C/P 5120, Bryce Rafferty-1B/P 4201, Hunter Roney-SS 3112, Griffin Ruhlman-P/1B/RF 4120, Carson Weaver-LF/C 2000, Owen Caylor-3B 4002, Carter Kessler-2B 3100, Riley Smith-RF/LF 4121. TOTALS 33 9 10 7.

Clearfield – 13

Kyle Elensky-SS 3211, Nolan Barr-2B/1B 2022, Morgen Billotte-CF 3113, Blake Prestash-1B/P 3112, Cole Bloom-C 4022, Ryan Gearhart-P/1B/2B/3B 4100, Ty Troxell-RF 1200, Mike Fester-3B/2B 0200, Elijah Quick-DH 2201. TOTALS 22 13 5 11.

LOB: 8/5
2B: Geer, Smith, Ruhlman-2/Billotte
HR: Roney/Prestash
E: Roney/Barr, Gearhart, Fester
ROE: Geer, Roney-2, Rafferty, Smith, Caylor-2/Gearhart
FC: Caylor/Gearhart
SB: Rhoades, Geer
PIK: Fester
DP: Kessler
GIDP: Gearhart
HBP: Barr

Pitching

Brookville: Ruhlman-1.1 IP, 3 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 0 SO, 4 BB; Rafferty-0.2 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 SO, 5 BB; Rhoades-4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 SO, 4 BB.

Clearfield: Gearhart-2 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB; Prestash-5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 SO, 4 BB.

W-Prestash
L-Rafferty