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WESTOVER -- With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, it looked like Claysburg-Kimmel might finally have put the top-seeded Harmony Owls away in their District 6 Class A quarterfinal game on Thursday.
But an untimely walk and a clutch double by the Owls' Cohlton Fry sent the Bulldogs to an 8-7 defeat.
"It was a hard fought game," said Claysburg-Kimmel head coach Ross Helsel. "It was a good game. It was just a hard pill to swallow losing it that way.
"The kids kept battling. They wanted to win."
The two teams duked it out for seven innings with Claysburg scoring the tying run in the top of the seventh on an RBI groundout by Zach Campagna to make it 6-6.
Claysburg looked to grab the momentum in the top of the ninth inning, as Landon Douglas drew a one-out walk.
Zach Campagna came through again, smacking a single into right field. Douglas' pinch runner Quinton Bush was held up at second, but the throw in from the outfield missed the cutoff and rolled into the infield, allowing Bush to sprint for home.
He slid in safely to give the Bulldogs a 7-6 advantage.
But Fry's heroics in the bottom of the frame, eliminated Claysburg from the playoffs.
"You have to make plays and you have to throw strikes," said Helsel. "You just have to play baseball. It was tough.
"I'm going to miss all four of our seniors. We have a young team. We just are going to come back next year and try again."
The Bulldogs' Brayden Haney took the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in two innings of relief.
Braden Furry started the game and went one-plus inning before making way for Douglas, who tossed six innings.
Harmony's Jack Bracken got the win in relief, allowing one unearned run in 2 2/3 innings of work.
"It's not pretty, but these kids do not quit," said Owls head coach Harvey Westover. "We were at the bottom of the order and those kids did great for us. They got us to the top of the order and Colt got the big hit to get them scored."
Harmony improved to 12-2 overall. The Owls play fourth-seeded Portage, a 2-1 winner over Bishop McCort on Friday. The time is TBA due to Harmony's graduation that night.
CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (7): Oakes 1b-lf 5011, M. Campagna c 4120, Furry p 0000, Douglas dh-p-1b 3111, Bush pr 0100, Bauman cf 4011, Z. Campagna ss 4111, Buell 2b 5110, Schneider lf-3b 3010, Haney 3b-p 4111, Ebersole rf 4111. Totals: 36-7-10-6.
HARMONY(8): Fry c 5234, Maseto p-ss 3110, Bracken ss-3b-p 5010, Tarnow cf 3012, Sward 3b-p-3b 4011, Hutton 1b 4020, Pearce lf 4210, Bailey 2b 4110, Perruso rf 2220. Totals: 34-8-13-7.
Score by Innings
C-K 100 400 101--7 10 0
Harmony 120 201 002--8 13 4
Errors--Hutton, Sward, Perruso 2. LOB--Claysburg-Kimmel 8, Harmony 11. DP--Claysburg-Kimmel 1. 2B--Douglas, Bauman. Fry, Tarnow. SB--M. Campagna. Fry, Maseto 2, Bracken. SAC--Perruso. HBP--Bauman, Schneider. Fry.
Pitching
Claysburg-Kimmel: Furry--1+ IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO. Douglas--6 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO. Haney--2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO.
Harmony: Maseto--6 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO. Sward--1/3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO. Bracken--2 2/3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO.
WP--Bracken (4-1). LP--Haney.