STRATTANVILLE, Pa. (EYT) – Cullen Williams was seeing the ball well Monday afternoon, and that was a bad thing for Clarion-LImestone.

Williams, Karns City’s junior catcher had four hits in six times to the plate, including a pair of doubles, while driving in six runs to help Karns City to a 17-7 win over the homestanding Lions.

Here is what Williams had to say about this day.

Martin, indeed, kept C-L at bay for most of his five innings allowing just three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out nine, including striking out the side in the fourth and the fifth.

C-L was able to get to the Karns City relief pitching for four runs over the final two innings, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a pair of seven-run innings by the Gremlins, who sent 12 men to the plate in both the second and seventh innings.

“Take a couple of innings out of the game, and we are right there,” C-L manager Brad Frazier said. “We scored seven runs, I was happy with that. But, obviously, you can’t take the innings away. I tip my hat to Karns City. They came right at it today.”

C-L grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when freshman Colby Lewis tripled and scored when Sam Leadbetter reached on an error on a fly ball that went in the book as a sacrifice fly.

But that was the high point for the Lions.

Karns City answered with the seven spot in the top of the second taking advantage of four walks and a hit batter issued by two different C-L pitchers – Alex Acree and Riley Hummell – and a double by Williams and a triple by Tyler Yough, who led off the inning with the three-base hit, to take control of the game.

“It’s about throwing strikes and getting ahead of hitters for us and getting that timely hit,” Frazier said. “We didn’t do that today. We put our defense back on their heels, and when that happens they don’t make a few players here and there and once it starts to snowball, that snowball really starts to take off.”

C-L did get two of the runs back in the third inning on a two-run single by Hummell that scored both Himes and Leadbetter.

Himes, only a freshman, was 3-for-4 on the day with two runs scored, while Leadbetter, a senior, was 2-for-2 with the walk and sac fly. He had a triple in the seventh and scored twice.

“Colby is hitting his stride right now,” Frazier said. “The kid just works extremely hard at what he does. He’s only going to get better. I can’t ask for anything more right now out of only a freshman.

“Sammy has been consistent for us over the last few years. This year is no exception.

“Once we get the other guys hitting on all cylinders, that’s only going to help them. Hitting is contagious.”

After Karns City made it 10-3 with a run in fourth and two in the fifth, C-L climbed back into the game with a three-spot in the sixth that featured RBIs from Colby Lewis and Taylor Smith and a balk that scored a run when Eric Dodd dropped the ball while on the rubber with a runner on third.

But any hopes of a comeback were dashed when Karns City’s bats came alive again in the seventh with seven hits, including two from Williams, who capped the inning with a two-run single.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

During one of Leadbetter’s at bats, he tapped his bat on the plate, like he always does, and then something strange happen. The mental bat broke in two. Everyone just sort of stood there in disbelief – after all metal bats rarely break let alone by just tapping it on the plate.

Leadbetter later said he wasn’t sure what happened at first, as he just sort of looked down at the bat on the ground.

The incident led Frazier to make a joke about the whole thing.

“With our budgets, we haven’t been able to get a bat for a few years,” Frazier said with a laugh. “I’m sure that was an older bat.”

He said he had never seen a bat break like that before.

“In that way, not at all,” Frazier remarked. I didn’t even know what happened. I Just saw the bat lying on the ground. It was kind of an interesting thing. It took me back to my minor league days with wooden bats. I didn’t hear the pitcher with an inside pitch or anything. I t just cracked. It was something else.”