Our Bobcats Win The 2023 PIAA State Class-1A Baseball Championship, Down Fellow District Nine DuBois Central Catholic Team In A Great Game
Above photo by Bev Lauer – Front Row kneeling – Tanner Miller, Noah Harrison, Bryce Brinkley, Dawson Smail, Gabe Anderson, Gary Matus, Derek Smail, Wyatt Watterson, Aaron Renninger. Back Row – Coach Lee Weber, Coach John King, Devon Lauer, Daunte Girvan, Hayden Weber, Drew Martz, Matt Alston, Adrian Weber, Trainer Steve Seifert, Coach Rob Jewett
Missing Eli Rudesyle.
Our Clarion Area Bobcats are the 2023 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class-1A Baseball Champions. They defeated DuBois Central Catholic 4-1, on Thursday, June 15th at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, on the Penn State Campus, in State College, in the championship game.
Clarion is the District Nine Champion and DuBois is the number two team from the district. Kind of neat that this matchup occurred. It is very rare for two teams from the same district to meet in a state final. But with this year’s baseball bracketing, which runs through next year also, it happened.
The Bobcats and Cardinals put on quite a show for the fans, with both having a pretty strong contingent in attendance.
After allowing the first Cardinal batter to reach on a walk, in the top of the first, Clarion starter Devon Lauer got the next batter to pop out to left fielder Tanner Miller. The next batter reached on an infield hit, giving DCC runners at first and second, with one out. But on the next play, second baseman Noah Harrison fielded a grounder, stepped on the bag and threw to first baseman Derek Smail who tagged the batter before he got to first, to end the threat.
Dawson Smail opened the bottom of the inning with a single up the middle to left center. Then Bryce Brinkley walked, giving Clarion runners on first and second with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt by Harrison moved both runners up. Derek Smail followed with a sacrifice to the third baseman, which scored Dawson Smail, giving the Cats a 1-0 lead. Brinkley moved to third on the play, but another out ended the inning.
The top of the second saw DCC go down in order on a fly out to center and Lauer following by throwing a pair of strikeouts.
Miller beat out an infield hit to second, to start the bottom of the inning. Matt Alston hit a hard single past first base with Miller moving to third. Then Dauntae Girvan came up and launched a long fly to right, which the right fielder caught along the line. If it fell in, it was probably extra bases and a pair of runs. But as it ended up, Miller scored the Bobcats second run, for a 2-0 lead.
The Cardinals brought four runners to the plate in the third. The first flied out to center. Then Matt Pyne singled to center. Then another flyout to left center, for out number two. With the next batter up Pyne stole second. But Lauer shut the top half of the inning down, by throwing another strike out.
The Bobcats went down in order, in their half of the third, on three consecutive fly outs.
The Cardinals threatened in the fourth. Opening with two singles, first and second were occupied with nobody out. Lauer fielded a grounder and threw to third for the out. A Carter Himes single right, had DCC with the bases loaded and one out. But the next batter struck out on a foul tip, that was held by Haden Weber. But Lauer struck out the next batter to end the threat.
The Bobcats went down 1-2-3 and still clung to a 2-0 lead after four.
Derek Smail came on in relief to start the fifth.
Weber had a nice defensive play to begin the top of the inning, fielding a ball that hit just in front of the plate and throwing it to new first baseman Alston for the out. The next Cardinals batter Aiden Snowberger reached on a bunt and was driven home on a Brayden Fox triple, cutting the Bobcats’ lead in half at 2-1. After a base on balls, with the runner later stealing second, DCC had runners at second and third with just one out. But a with fly out to Alston in foul territory and Derek Smail throwing a strikeout, no further damage was done.
Girvan drew a walk to open the Bobcats’ fifth, and with Weber at bat, he moved to second on a wild pitch. Weber singled up the middle scoring Girvan with what proved to be the winning run, giving Clarion a 3-1 lead. Wyatt Watterson came in to run for Weber. With Dawson Smail up, Watterson stole second and came around to score when Smail singled to center to close out the scoring at 4-1, Bobcats. Smail stole second, but the next three Clarion were set down.
The Cardinals opened the sixth with a hit. But the next batter flied out to Dawson Smail at short who quickly got the ball to Alston at first to double up the runner. Derek Smail got the next batter looking, to end the DCC sixth.
The Bobcats had one hit in the sixth, with Alston reaching on an infield single.
With successive flyouts to Brinkley in center and Miller in left center, to start the seventh, the Bobcats were starting to taste the victory. The end was delayed a bit, as Braydon Fox singled to right. But the next batter hit a grounder to Harrison at third, who threw to Alston at first for the game’s final out.
The Bobcats’ celebration began with the guys whooping it up in the infield. Then the Trophy and Medals Presentation, with DuBois Central Catholic, who were last year’s State Champion first, then this year’s State Champion Bobcats. Great Day For District Nine and two CLASS PROGRAMS.
Having been involved in compiling stats and researching history for the Bobcat Football program in the past, I have become acutely aware of the significance in milestones and first and lasts. And how important these are to coaches and athletes and how they can bring great remembrances at team reunions over the years and something to tell the grandkids about in forty years or so.
I’d like to share some of these:
Every member of this team can say you were the first Bobcat Baseball Team to win a state title. You went 4-0 in the state playoffs, shutting out the first three and only giving up one run in the championship game. You never trailed in any state playoff game and the only times that the score was tied, was before you scored your first run. You finished your state championship run outscoring the opposition 32-1.
And now for the things to hold dear for the rest of your life for several individuals, so you get the point:
Devon, you were the starter and winning pitcher in the Bobcats’ first State Championship victory. Dawson, you had the first hit and scored the first run. Noah, you fielded the final ball that was put in play and threw to first for the out. Matt, you caught the ball and when the game ended it was in your glove.
So with just these few examples to go by, there are probably tons you guys can next to your name: (I caught the first/last fly out, I had the first put out, I stole the first base etc. Again, just those things that you’ll cherish the rest of your lives.
And most of all, you’ll putting in all the work with your teammates and coaches, in-season and off-season to win this championship, that has brought much pride and happiness to the Clarion Area School District and the Clarion community as a whole.
And how special is this for the lone senior on the squad, Gary Matus to say you closed out your career with a State Championship. I’m sure your friends in the IUP “Legends” Band will be very happy for you.
(An aside: I would be absolutely amiss if I didn’t mention this. Youth sports is said to be all about the kids. Your coaches and others say it all the time. I agree with this statement wholeheartedly and when you see some of the quotes I share from Coach Rob Jewett a little further down, you’ll see he agrees with it to.
But I have a caveat. There are those “rare” times when it is about the coaches too.
I was literally choking back tears when, we were interviewing coach Jewett. Looking at this man I’ve known for years, who had a Cheshire Cat Smile on his face that wouldn’t quit, so happy for “His Guys.” We first met in the weight and fitness room at the high school a number of years ago. I was a volunteer with the strength and conditioning program Rob and I would have some good conversions there. And when we’d talk you could absolutely sense the great love he has for the game, the love he has for his players, not just as players but human beings and his drive to win, not for himself but the kids. This isn’t what he does, This is who he is.
And to the man Coach Jewett has been joined at the hip with for I don’t know how long, Coach Lee Weber. I’ve known Coach Weber for a number of years also and the same sentiments go for him. He absolutely loves the kids and has an absolute passion for the game. Likewise, this isn’t what he does, this is who he is. I’m sure this is being caught by the younger coaches.
Bobcats, as I’m sure you all do, continue to hold these men in utmost esteem.)
Coach Jewett’s first comments to the media gathered on the field were, “I am just so proud of those boys and what they did this year. That was all them, putting in the hard work and it paid off. I remember the first day of practice we said, ‘This is the first step to the state championship.’ I don’t know how much they believed it, but I’m telling you what, we (the coaches) believed it. And they got a lot of good stuff happening. I’m glad it worked out for them.”
As for what has been his mound duo throughout the playoffs and how the defense complimented them, Coach Jewett said, “Pitching wise, I’m going to get what I’m going to get out of Devon. But I listened to him and I asked him and he said ‘I’m done.’ Next guy up… And I’m hoping Derek could finish the game. That part of the script worked where I wanted it to.”
“I knew he (Devon) wasn’t going to go too much, because he’s pitched quite a bit. I was just hoping to get three. He gave us four. That’s perfect. He wiggled out of jams. He’s a competitor.
“Derek has done a great job of controlling his emotions… These last two games, he’s taken the ball, trusted his defense, threw the strikes, throws quality pitches. He had a dominate slider that last inning. That was huge. My hat’s off. He’s really matured into a good pitcher.”
“And the And of course, the defense showed up again, getting us out of some serious jambs. They (DCC) were just missing that big hit to open the game up. That’s been kind of the story all year. The defense is helping our pitching.”
“Our outfield is tremendous. That’s one of our strengths. Just like DCC’s outfield is their strength. My guys call themselves the ‘No Fly Zone – (We’ll Catch Anything).’ And it shows… They trust each other. They communicate. They know when to keep balls in front. They know when to go after some balls. They get good reads. They hit their cuts (cutoff men). We were tremendous on relays, kept people to doubles that should be, you know. We practice a lot about that and it shows in the game.”
The hitting was there when it needed to be. “I felt we could have hit a little bit better… But we got the clutch hits when we needed them.”
What about next season? “We’ll see what happens (next year). Next year is next year. We’re going to enjoy this now. It’s nice but it’s sad to see Gary leave, but at least he gets to leave on a high note.”
As for the day’s opponent, Coach Jewett said, “They are a good team (DCC). I knew nobody was going to blow anybody out. You saw some bunts, some quality pitches, some quality plays. I knew that was going to happen. It almost came down to who was going to bend first or who was going to break first. I don’t think anybody really broke first, just good baseball.
“And District Nine as a whole. “You knew you were going to see something good here. I’m glad it was quality baseball. That’s a good program over there (DCC). We’re a good program. There’s a whole lot of good programs… Punxy, Karns City, Redbank, they all made it pretty far. Just goes to show, we’ve got a lot of good athletes, good programs, good coaches. It’s cool to see that. But there’s quality programs all around. It’s pretty cool.”
And for the Clarion Area School District. “I’m so pumped the school got another state champion. I Know our volleyball team has been running through. To have a different program do that, it really shows the strength of the programs coming through Clarion. Really pumped.”
Dawson Smail was named the PCN-Lebanon Valley College Player of the Game.
Congratulations on a Super Season, Bobcats – 2023 PIAA State Class-1A Baseball Champions!!!!
Thank you to those who contributed photos: Maria Wilson, Bev Lauer, Kim Constantino, Shephanie Brinkley and my right hand man sport after sport, season after season, Nate Girvan and those who helped spot for me at the game, Dr. Carrico, Natalie Miller-Martini, Jill Spence and Keith Murtha.
(Note: Thank you to PCN who has given CSZ permission to use their sports broadcasts for game coverage, notes etc. They were invaluable this time, in helping me to double check my notes etc.)