PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. (D9Sports) — The Clarion Bobcats defeated the North Clarion Wolves 6-2 behind a strong pitching effort from Reed Anthony and aggressive base running Friday at Punxsutawney’s Rich Kuntz Memorial Field to move on to the District 9/10 Class 1A semifinals.
(Photo: Spencer Miller. Photo by Cory Geer)
Clarion’s manager Robert Jewett said one thing he really liked what he saw from Anthony, who threw a one-hitter but allowed just his second earned run of the season, was his resilience on the mound.
“From the dugout, I thought he was getting squeezed a little bit by the umpire,” Jewett said. “He is someone who relies on hitting his spots, and today he didn’t do that early on. He changed his approach on the mound and did a great job in the later innings.”
Anthony threw a complete game, surrendering the one earned run while striking out five and walking three.
“The changeup was working well today along with my curve that I controlled better than normal,” said Anthony.
Offensively, the Bobcats used timely hitting and aggressive base running to put six runs on the scoreboard.
Clarion finished the game with 10 all, all of which were singles, but they made up for the lack of power with aggressive base running stealing nine bases on the day.
“We do like to put pressure on the defense with our team speed,” Jewett said. “This is something we’ve done all year. Today we tried to take advantage of it with them having a freshman catcher behind the plate.”
Clarion got timely hits from their shortstop, Spencer Miller, who finished the day 3-for-3 with a walk, three RBIs and three stolen bases.
“Last game (a North Clarion win), they pitched hard in and I knew that was coming today,” Miller said. “They went with a lot of curveballs, and I took advantage of that.”
Clarion got on the scoreboard first in the first inning when Miller drew a leadoff walk and stole second base. He moved to third base when Ryan Anthony grounded out to North Clarion’s second baseman Matson Higgins.
With a runner on third North Clarion’s starting pitcher Zander Hargenrader struck out Sterling Conner for the second out of the inning, but Miller scored on a wild pitch with Reed Anthony batting,
The Bobcats scored two more runs in the bottom of the second inning.
Kyle Patterson led off the inning with a sharp single up the middle and stole second base before being driven in on a single by Ryan Anthony.
With one out and runners on second and third base, Conner hit a line drive back to the pitcher Hargenrader. Hargenrader fired to third base attempting to double up Miller. The throw sailed wide allowing Miller to score to make it 3-0.
In the top of the third inning, North Clarion got their only two runs of the game.
Anthony issued consecutive base on balls to Zyler Hargenrader and Jacob Bauer.
With runners on first and second Zander Hargenrader hit a slow ground ball to Miller at short. Miller fielded the ball and threw it over Clarion first baseman Dominic Fleming’s head to allow Zyler Hargenrader to score on the play.
North Clarion added another run on a Sam Minich sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.
After that, it was smooth sailing for Anthony who allowed one more baserunner in the fourth when Tyler McCord-Wolbert singled through the left side of the infield for the Wolves’ lone hit of the day.
Anthony went on to retire the next 10 North Clarion batters before hitting Zyler Hargenrader in the top of the seventh inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Miller added two more runs for Clarion with a two-run single to make it 5-2.
The Bobcats tacked on an insurance run in the sixth when Miller singled, stole second and scored on a Ryan Anthony single.
Hargenrader took the loss for North Clarion, going four innings, giving up four hits and three earned runs. Hargenrader also walked four and struck out four. Higgins relieved him, going two innings, giving up three hits and one earned run.
Clarion advances to play the winner of the District 10 championship game/D9-10 quarterfinal contest between three-win Kennedy Catholic and three-win Jamestown that is scheduled to be played Saturday at Slippery Rock University.
It will be an unfamiliar opponent for Clarion, but that is something that Jewett isn’t worried about.
“I’ve seen some things online, but at the end of the day it will be just another game for our team,” said Jewett.
Story by Cory Geer