The Bellwood-Antis pitching staff should seriously begin to think about suing their teammates for lack of support.
Earnie Kelley and Tyler McClellan combined to hold the Claysburg-Kimmel Bulldogs to just two base hits and one earned run at Claysburg on Friday afternoon. Yet, Claysburg-Kimmel scored three other unearned runs and two Bulldog hurlers stranded 11 Blue Devils runners as Claysburg edged Bellwood-Antis 4-3 to improve their overall record to 8-6.
Kelley started the game for the Blue Devils and pitched the first two innings, before being injured warming up to begin the third inning. The sophomore left-hander, who leads the Blue Devils pitching staff in lowest opponents batting average and earned run average, allowed two runs, one earned with two strikeouts and two walks in two innings on the mound.
McClellan came in from right field to take over the pitching chores, throwing four innings, giving up two unearned runs on no hits, with four Ks and two strikeouts. The senior lefty, gave up no hits, yet got the loss when Claysburg scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the third.
On the offensive end, the Blue Devils scored three times in the top of the second inning, all after the first two B-A hitters made outs.
With two gone, Kelley walked to set things in motion. Sophomore first baseman Chad Coho slammed a double to left to put runners on second and third. Freshman third baseman Justin Manning clouted a one-ball-no strike pitch for a triple to straight-away center field that scored both runners easily and came home himself when the relay throw was wild. The big hit pushed the Blue Devils from a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead on one pitch. McClellan, who had two hits himself singled to start things over again, but was stranded at first.
In both the third and fourth innings, Bellwood-Antis threatened to blow the game open, loading the bases on walks to Josh Kleinfelter, Kelley and Adam DeArmitt in the third, then loading them again in the fourth on a McClellan single, Andy Brisbin was hit by a pitch, for the second time in the game, and Kleinfelter drew another base on balls. In both situations, the rallies went for nothing for the lack of a clutch hit.
Bellwood-Antis head coach Steve Conlon tried to dwell on the positive, following the game. “We got great pitching performances from both Earnie and Tyler. At the beginning of the year, we were hitting like crazy, but weren’t getting any pitching. Now, we have been getting great pitching, but can’t hit, especially the big clutch base hit with runners in scoring position. The positive thing for next year is, that five of our seven hits today came from underclassmen. It’s the seniors, who we need to step up that have been coming up short.”
McClellan is one senior who has been delivering, batting .600 (six-for-10) in the last three games at bat, while pitching nine and 2/3 innings in his last two outings on the mound with 10 strikeouts, four walks and only two earned runs.
Adam Whetstone and Bruce Helsley had the Bulldogs’ only hits, including back-to-back singles in the second inning, which with the help of a wild pitch scored Claysburg-Kimmel’s only earned run of the ballgame.
Bellwood-Antis (4-13) will travel to Tyrone on Monday and then complete their season at Penns Valley on Wednesday. The first pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Tyrone and 4:30 p.m. at Penns Valley.
Claysburg-Kimmel 4 Bellwood-Antis 3
Bellwood-Antis – McClellan, rf-p, 4-0-2; Brisbin, 2b, 2-0-0; Kleinfelter, lf, 2-0-1; Dorman, c, 4-0-0; Alley, ss, 4-0-0; Kelley, p, 1-0-0; Brunner, rf, 2-0-1; DeArmitt, cf, 1-1-0; Drost, ph, 1-0-0; Coho, 1b, 4-1-2; Ju. Manning, 3b, 3-1-1. TOTALS 28-3-7.
Claysburg-Kimmel – Whetstone, ss, 1-1-1; T. Weyant, cf, 3-0-0; Leslie, c, 1-1-0; T. Claar, 2b, 3-0-0; Nale, lf, 3-1-0; Doroba, p-rf, 2-0-0; J. Weyandt, cr-pr, 0-0-0; Claycomb, 3b, 0-0-0; Iachini, dh, 3-0-0; R. Weyant, 1b, 2-0-0, J. Claar, ph, 1-0-0; Helsley, 3-1-1. Totals 22-4-2.
Bellwood-Antis 030 000 0 3-7-3.
Claysburg-Kimmel 112 000 X 4-2-1.
2B: Coho.
3B: Manning.
RBI: Manning 2, Whetstone, Doroba.
SO: Kelley 2, McClellan 4, Doroba 3, Helsley 2.
BB: Kelley 2, McClellan 2, Doroba 4, Helsley 1.
WP: Doroba LP: McClellan Save: Helsley
