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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
REVLOC -- Though his team entered the District 6 Class 1A baseball playoffs as the ninth seed in the tournament with a 5-14 record, Claysburg-Kimmel coach Ross Helsel is not mincing any words about the high aspirations that he has for his squad.
"We want to win the District 6 championship,'' Helsel said. "That's our goal, and it has been our goal all season. We have a young team, but we have a very good team. We're battlers and we're scappers.''
Claysburg lived up to that billing Thursday afternoon, overcoming 4-0 and 5-4 deficits and rallying for three runs in the top of the seventh inning to top host Bishop Carroll, 7-5, in a first-round playoff game that was contested on the Cambria Township Recreation Park baseball field.
Freshman Brayden Haney's two-run, two-out single capped off the three-run game-winning rally for the Bulldogs, who will advance to the quarterfinals and a road game with top-seeded Harmony on Monday.
"I'm very proud of our team, they keep fighting, and they play with a lot of heart,'' Helsel said. "I told them to have fun and to hit strikes, and they stuck together as a team and did that today.''
Haney's sharp single to left field off Carroll reliever Max Oravec scored Braydale Bauman from third base and Zach Campagna from second base with the go-ahead runs after Parker Buell had drawn a bases-loaded, one-out walk earlier in the inning to force in Mason Campagna -- who had led off with a single.
"I got up there ready to hit the ball,'' Haney said of his game-winning approach at the plate. "I was looking for a fast ball, and he threw me a fast ball. I just tried to drive it where nobody was standing.''
Haney also got credit for the pitching victory after coming on in relief and tossing four innings, allowing just one unearned run, and only two hits.
"I was just trying to throw strikes,'' Haney said. "I know that our fielders behind me are going to make the plays.''
Eighth-seeded Carroll, which wrapped up a 4-15 season, bolted to a 4-0 lead entering the fifth inning, courtesy of two unearned runs in the second inning and two more unearned runs in the fourth inning, when Preston Gillin's RBI single and Johnny Golden's sacrifice fly accounted for Carroll tallies.
Claysburg tied the game with four runs in the fifth inning against Carroll starter Luke Repko, with an RBI double by Caleb Oakes and a run-scoring single by Zach Campagna highlighting the rally.
A Claysburg throwing error -- one of five miscues committed by the Bulldogs in the game -- allowed Carroll to regain the lead, 5-4, in the top of the fifth inning, before Claysburg put together the big seventh-inning rally that decided the game.
"Early on, we had a 4-0 lead, and we loaded the bases with one out but did not score,'' Carroll coach Bill Schenk said of an opportunity that was stifled in the fourth inning. "If we get a base hit there, we go ahead, 6-0.
"Instead, we left them back in the game, and they got the big inning to tie the game and another big inning to win it,'' Schenk said. "They were able to cash in on their opportunities, which is something that we failed to do.''
CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (7): Oakes 1b-cf 411, M. Campagna c 321, Douglas dh-1b 100, Bauman cf-lf 411, Z. Campagna ss 312, Buell 2b 300, Schneider lf-3b 300, Haney 3b-p 412, Ebersole rf 411. Totals -- 29-7-8.
BISHOP CARROLL (5): Repko p-3b 401, Sekerak 2b 300, Oravec 3b-p 410, Casses ss 130, Mentor f 310, Gillin 1b 202, Golden lf 100, Lucko cf 301, Becquet c 200, Urbain ph 100. Totals -- 24-5-4.
SCORE BY INNINGS
Claysburg-Kimmel 000 040 3--7 8 5
Bishop Carroll 020 210 0--5 4 1
E--Haney 2, Z. Campagna 2, M. Campagna, Casses. 2B--Oakes. RBI--Z. Campagna 2, Haney 2, M. Campagna, Douglas, Bauman, Gillin 2, Golden. SAC--Douglas, Sekerak, Mento. SF--Gillin. SB--Ebersole, Casses 3, Repko, Mento, Oravec. HBP--Douglas (by Repko); Casses 2 (by Furry); Casses (by Haney). LOB--Claysburg-Kimmel 8, Bishop Carroll 6.
PITCHING
Claysburg-Kimmel: Furry 3+IP, 2H, 4R, 0ER, 0BB, 2SO; Haney (W) 4IP, 2H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 0SO.
Bishop Carroll: Repko 5.1IP, 4H, 4R, 2ER, 2BB, 3SO; Oravec (L) 1.2IP, 4H, 3R, 3ER, 2BB, 0SO.
Records: Claysburg-Kimmel (6-14); Bishop Carroll (4-15).
Umpires: Alex Fedor (plate); Carl Bopp (first base); Randy Malfer (third base).
Time of game: 1:59.