DUBOIS — To say the Clearfield baseball team has experienced a roller coaster-type season wound be an understatement, but the Bison continued its recent strong play Thursday and put it all together in a hard-fought 9-5 victory against St. Marys in the District 9 class 4A championship game at Showers Field.
The Bison, now 10-11 on the season, got off to a strong start to the season, winning three of its first four games before hitting a rough patch that saw them drop to 4-9.
However, they have since won six of eight games to get back within a game of .500 as they won their second straight district crown.
Thursday’s title game mirrored the Bison’s season as a whole as they jumped out to 1-0 lead before falling behind 2-1 in the top of the second. Clearfield answered right back with two runs of its own to regain the lead at 3-2 only to see St. Marys go back up 5-3 with a three-run top of the fifth.
Clearfield once again had an answer, this time scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth on back-to-back home runs by Morgan Billotte (2-run) and Blake Prestash (solo) to grab the momentum and a 6-5 advantage.
Those two blasts seemed to take the wind out of the Dutchmen’s sails, as Prestash came on in relief in the sixth and retired six of the seven batters he faced to finish off the Bison’s championship victory.
Billotte, along with Prestash and Nolan Barr powered the Bison attack at the top of the order, although Clearfield got production all the way through the lineup.
Billotte finished 3-for-4 with doubles, the homer and five RBIs, while Barr was also 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored.
Prestash was 1-for-3 with the homer and two RBIs and also notched a save in relief of Kyle Elensky, who tossed the first five innings to get the win. Elensky allowed five runs, all earned, on nine hits while striking out three and walking a pair.
Elensky made quick work of St. Marys in the top of the fifth, then his team got him the lead with a run in the bottom of the inning.
Barr jump-started things with a double to left with one out and scored a batter later when Billotte doubled to left himself. St. Marys starter Christian Coudriet promptly got out of the jam though, as Billotte was called out on appeal that he left second too early when tagging on a flyout.
St. Marys carried that little bit of momentum into the second and struck for a pair of runs to take its first lead.
Charlie Coudriet singled with one out, stole second and scored on a single to center by Logan Mosier, who took second on the throw to the plate. Connor Bullers then delivered a clutch two-out single to left to plate Mosier to make it 2-1.
The back-and-forth battle continued in the bottom of the second.
Cole Bloom led off with a bloop single to right and went to third on a Ryan Gearhart single. Ty Troxell followed with a check swing roller out into the middle of the diamond for an infield single that plated Bloom. A late, errant throw to first allowed the runners to advance an extra base.
Hunter Rumsky then walked to load the bases before Coudriet struck out Shane Coudriet for the first out. Elensky helped his own cause, though, snacking a sac fly to right to chase home Gearhart to put the Bison back up 3-2.
The score stayed that way into the fifth, with both pitchers stranding runners in scoring position in either the third or fourth innings.
Elensky looked to be in good shape in the fifth as well, recording a pair of quick strikeouts. However, the Dutchmen put together a two-out rally started by a Conner Straub walk.
Carter Price and Charllie Coudriet followed with back-to-back singles, with Coudriet’s hit scoring courtesy runner Lucas Bauer to tie the game. Price and Coudriet each had two hits, as did Bullers.
After Logan Mosier walked to load the bases, Kaden Snelick smacked a two-run single to center to put St. Marys on top again, this time 5-3 before Elensky got out of the inning.
That lead was short-lived though.
Barr beat out an infield singe to open the inning before Billotte blasted a two-run homer to right. Prestash stepped in and hammered a Coudriet pitch over the wall in right-center to give Clearfield the lead back at 6-5.
Clearfield then made the move to Prestash, who made quick work of St. Marys over the final two innings. The lone runner he allowed came with an out in the seventh when he hit Price.
In between those two quick frames, the Bison tacked on three huge insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.
The Bison loaded the bases with one out on a Rumsky walk and singles by Elensky and Barr. Billotte then ripped his second double of the game, this one to left-center, to plate a pair of runs before Prestash knocked in the third with a sac fly to center.
Next up for the Bison is the District 5/8/9 Class 4A subregional final Tuesday game against Somerset at Showers Field at 12 p.m. The winner of that contest moves on the PIAA playoffs. Somerset beat Obama Academy, 8-1, Thursday.
The Dutchmen finished the year with a 7-13 record.
R H E St. Marys 020 030 0 5 9 1 Clearfield 120 033 X 9 11 0
St. Marys:
Clearfield: Kyle Elensky (3 SO, 2 BB), Blake Prestash (2 SO, 0 BB) and Cole Bloom
