If the inexperienced Bellwood-Antis baseball team continues winning games like they have been doing this week, B-A coach Steve Conlon will probably either have no hair or what is left will be gray. For the second straight ballgame, the Blue Devils pulled the game out in their last at bat. On Thursday, B-A scored the winning run when the Juniata Valley pitched balked the winning run home. On Friday, Bellwood-Antis scored twice in the seventh to tie the game and send it into extra innings and finally won the game in the ninth with a two-out shot past the Claysburg-Kimmel third baseman by Chris Alley to score Matt Albright with the winning run.
After Claysburg scored twice in the second and once in the top of the third at Bellwood’s Stadium Drive Field, Shawn Weiand crashed a home run to cut the Bulldogs lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the third stanza.
Bellwood-Antis closed to 3-2 with another single tally in the fifth on back-to-back doubles by Nick Treese and Weiand.
Claysburg opened the lead to 4-2 with an insurance run in the top of the seventh, when Bulldog catcher Ian Leslie, who had three hits, singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Weyant.
Down to their last at bat, the Blue devils scored a pair to send the contest to extra innings.
Andy Brisbin opened the frame with a base on balls and Weiand, beat out an infield hit for his third base hit of the ballgame. Claysburg changed pitchers at this point, going with Josh Lingenfelter. Albright walked to load the bases with one out. Brunner was safe on an error that allowed Brisbin to score ad Alley delivered a sac fly to get Weiand home with the tying run.
Neither team was able to score in the eighth and Claysburg went down in the ninth as well, although the Bulldogs threatened. Leslie led off the ninth with his third single and was sacrificed to second by Adam Whetstone. A bunt attempt that dropped just fair down the first base line put runners at the corners with one out. Brunner picked Chad Iancini, courtesy running for Leslie off third base, when he strayed a little too far for the second out of the inning and the got a fly out to center fielder Adam DeArmitt to silence the threat.
In the B-A half of the ninth Albright’s one-out single started the Blue Devils. A wild pitch advanced the B-A senior to second and Alley’s line shot rifled past Claysburg-Kimmel third baseman Jonathan Furry for the game-winning RBI.
Brunner picked up the victory tossing the final seven and 2/3 innings in relief of freshman Ernie Kelley, who started for the Blue Devils. Brunner allowed two runs, both earned, scattering 10 hits, striking out two and not walking a batter.
Lingenfelter was saddled with the loss, allowing one run in two and 1/3 innings one hit, walking four and striking out four.
“W e are finding ways to win,” explained coach Conlon, “but we need to put a whole game together from the first inning, rather than keep waiting until the fifth or later, because against a really good team, we are not going to be able to expect to come back in the seventh and win. We hit better today than we have been doing, but we still don’t have guys coming up with the timely hit. We are putting the ball in play and getting runners on, just not getting the timely hit that we need to score runs.
“Troy Brunner came in when Ernie Kelley didn’t have his good stuff today and kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win. That’s all you can ask for.”
Bellwood-Antis 5 Claysburg-Kimmel 4
CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL – C. Nale, lf-cf, 4-0-2; Weyant, cf-p, 3-0-1; Lingenfelter, 3b, p, 4-1-1; Weyandt, ss, 4-1-2; Furry, p-3b, 3-0-1; Knott, cr, 0-0-0; McIntyre, cr-lf, 0-1-0; K. Nale, 3b, 0-0-0; Swindell, 1b, 3-1-1; Helsley, rf, 0-0-0; Doroba, dh, 4-0-1; Leslie, c, 4-0-3; Iachini, cr, 0-0-0; Whetstone, 2b, 2-0-0. TOTALS 31-4-12.
BELLWOOD-ANTIS – Brisbin, 2b, 4-1-0; Treese, 3b, 4-1-1; Weiand, c, 5-2-3; DeArmitt, cf, 0-0-0; Albright, dh, 4-1-3; Brunner, lf-p, 5-0-0; Alley, ss, 4-0-2; McClellan, 1b, 2-0-1; Seidel, rf, 2-0-0; Luke, rf, 1-0-0; Kelley, p-lf, 2-0-0. TOTALS 33-5-10.
Claysburg-Kimmel 021 000 100 4-12-1.
Bellwood-Antis 001 010 201 5-10-0.
2B: CK- Lingenfelter 1, Weyandt 1, BA- Treese 1, Weiand 1.
HR: BA- Weiand 1.
RBI: CK- Weyant 1, Weyandt 1, Furry 1, Leslie 1, BA- Weiand 2, Alley 2, Brunner 1.
SO: CK- Furry 3, Lingenfelter 4, BA- Brunner 2.
BB: CK- Furry 3, Weyant 2, Lingenfelter 4, BA- Kelley 2.
WP: Brunner LP: Lingenfelter
