Bobcats Advance To D-9 Baseball Championship Game With 5-2 Win Over Elk County Catholic (05/27/15)

The Clarion Area Baseball Team participated in the second game of a day night, District Nine Class-A Semifinal doubleheader, at the beautiful, state of the art Showers Field in DuBois, on Tuesday (May 26th) and punched their ticket to the Title Game with a 5-2 victory over Elk County Catholic. The Cats will face Oswayo Valley on Thursday (May 28th) at 4:30, at Berwind Park in St. Marys. Oswayo downed DuBois Central Catholic 4-2 in the opener.

If you look at the box score, you would think that the game went the other way. The Crusaders had six hits to just one for the Bobcats. But box scores don’t always tell the whole story.

The Cats spotted ECC a two run lead, in the bottom of the first, with Crusader, Jeff Wiehler delivering an RBI single and later crossing the plate, himself. That would be all the scoring for the home team.

The Cats came back in the top of the second, scoring all five of their runs, in an unusual fashion. With one out, Max Lane drew a walk and was replaced by courtesy runner Kyle Patterson. Then Leo Aiello took another walk. The next batter, Caleb Wilson was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.

Max Lane had a great performance on the mound.

Cameron Craig drew a free pass, scoring Patterson. Then Reed Anthony got the Cats’ lone hit, scoring Aiello, to tie the score. Spencer Miller walked, scoring Wilson. The next batter, Adrian Weber, drew another walk bringing in Craig.

And finally, Anthony scored on a free pass to Thomas Plummer, giving the Bobcats a 5-2 lead.

At that point, the Crusaders made a pitching change, bringing in Mitchell Struble, who struck out the first two batters he faced to end the inning.

All in all, it was an amazing inning for the Cats, as they sent eleven men to the plate and scored five runs and only had one hit.

The rest of the way, it was the Max Lane – Mitchell Struble Show, with both pitching masterfully, as neither allowed another run. Lane, who pitched a complete game for Clarion, finished with six strikeouts, scattering six hits and allowing only two walks. Struble went five and two-thirds innings allowing no hits. He struck out eight and walked just one.

The two also had great supporting casts, with both teams providing great defense. Notably for the Cats, were a Lauer-to Miller-to Weber double play to end the sixth and a super job all night, by Plummer in centerfield. Plummer snagged five fly balls, more than one on the warning track and got them back to the infield quickly in key situations, including three catches in a row in the fifth, after the Crusaders put men on first and second with nobody out.

Third Baseman Cameron Craig hauling in the final out

Wilson also had a nice catch from his right field slot for the second out of the final inning, when a ball was hit into no man’s land. Plummer gave it everything going after it, but it was just too far in front and to his left. Wilson sprinted a great distance and was able to make the play.

And the last out, what else a fly ball, this one to Craig at third base.

Both teams should be proud of the defensive show they put on. And it was great to see the Cats refusing to yield and hold on for the victory, that moved them to the Championship Game and also earned them a spot in the state playoffs.

CAT QUOTES:

Coach Rob Jewett said, “Well, we were patient. We took what they gave us. I thought Max had a really gutsy performance. He just threw a complete game on Thursday, so I know he wasn’t at his top. But he gave it his all and was able to throw strikes and keep them off balance a little bit.

Team meeting after the big win

“And our defense was amazing! We turned a double play at a clutch time. And our outfield… that’s something that I was afraid of, because of the lights. We don’t play under the lights that much. It (the ball) gets into the lights and it is difficult to track. But, boy, they were able to find it right off the bat and they really saved us there too.

“I wish the bats were a little bit more. You know, one hit is something you don’t want to boast over, but we took advantage of their walks and were able to stick with it. It was a big win.

“Thomas had about five or six put outs. And the big thing is, with some of his put outs, he got the ball in quickly, so they weren’t able to advance. So he was smart, he got it and threw it in, especially when they had first and second and no outs. The first one he had to get in quickly and the second one he was even deeper. They made a bad baserunning error, but we were still able to get it in there. It’s very nice to see.

“The boys did a great job.”

Pitcher Max Lane said, “It feels absolutely great. It was a great game, a really good team effort. We took advantage. We had that one inning where we got a lot of walks and got that big key hit. Reed Anthony got that big hit. That’s what set us apart. I just did my job for the rest of the game.

“The outfield was incredible today. Just incredible, Thomas Plummer and Caleb Wilson were just great. Luke Nellis is also a great outfielder. Plummer especially. He’s a senior. This could have been his last game. But he made so many good plays. You could tell he wanted it just as much as everybody else.”

Coach Jewett named Lane the Bobcat’s Player of the Game, saying, “Max had another gutsy performance coming off a complete game on Thursday. Max threw another complete game allowing only 1 earned run, scattering 6 hits, walking 2 and striking out 6. Max was able to hold a very good hitting team in check with some help from his defense, especially his center fielder Thomas Plummer who tracked 5 balls down in center field.”