Baseball

C-K continues impressive run with mercy-rule win

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

Claysburg-Kimmel has been playing some of its best baseball lately after a rough stretch had left the Bulldogs on the outer fringe of the District 6 Class 1A playoff picture.

Winners of three out of four coming into Thursday morning's first round Curve Invitational game against Juniata Valley, C-K kept that going with an 11-1, five-inning romp at PNG Field.

"I am feeling really confident with the way this team is coming together," Claysburg-Kimmel coach Ross Helsel said. "We had too many down days. I kept saying once we start playing baseball, we'll get better, and it's happening. We're finally getting our games in, the weather is cooperating, and we're getting better."

After the teams both went scoreless in the first inning, the Bulldogs took advantage of two Green Hornet errors when Brayden Haney hit a two-run single that made it 3-0.

Juniata Valley got a run back in the top of the third inning on Levi Thompson RBI single, but the mistakes for the Hornets continued in the bottom of the fourth inning.

An error to begin the inning led to three more unearned runs capped by a two-run Mason Campagna triple.

"We made three steps back today," Juniata Valley coach Jeff Hensor said. "The last seven games, we have been playing pretty good. The defense has been spot on. The pitchers have been throwing strikes and scrapping out some hits, but this was three steps backward today."

The scoring outburst was more than enough for Claysburg-Kimmel starting pitcher Aidan Simpson, who allowed just two hits, struck out eight and allowed only an unearned run in the five-inning complete game.

"He's my ace," Helsel said. "He's my captain. I'm really happy with him. He's a player."

The Bulldogs improved to 6-7 and will play in today's semifinals.

"I started off strong," Simpson said. "I didn't pitch the best in the third or fourth inning, but I had my team behind me. We hit the ball well and didn't make a whole lot of mistakes. It feels awesome to pitch here in front of the whole school. It's tough to feel better than that."

Claysburg-Kimmel took advantage of three hit by pitches, two walks and another Juniata Valley error to pull ahead 10-1 with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Hensor came out to make a pitching change and removed most of his fielders as well for replacements just before Zach Campagna hit a walk-off single.

"We were playing awful, and if we would have gotten back off the field, those moves would have been made anyway," Hensor said. "They didn't show up to play today, and I'm going to put kids in who want to play."

Campagna's hit gave Claysburg a chance to rush the field and celebrate the win.

"Very cool moment," Helsel said. "I told them if they didn't love this weather and playing in this ballpark today, they don't like baseball."

Juniata Valley fell to 3-10.

"I want to see growth," Hensor said. "I thought we were on that track and moving up. We're still a young squad with only three seniors, but at some point in time they have to take some ownership and figure out how to minimize mistakes. We can talk about it all we want, but that's on them to figure it out."

JUNIATA VALLEY (1): Thompson ss 301, Hoover 2b 200, Spurlin 1b 301, L. Dick lf 000, Z. Dick dh-p 100, Scalia 3b 200, Harbst p 200, Robinson c 100, Prough cr 000, Smith rf 110, Sager cf 200. Totals -- 17-1-2.

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (11): Z. Campagna ss 311, M. Campagna c 301, Simpson p 200, Furry cr 010, Douglas 1b 211, Knisely rf 321, Slowik 2b 130, Ebersole cf 331, Weise lf 200, Haney 3b 201. Totals -- 21-11-6.

SCORE BY INNINGS

Juniata Valley 001 00X X--1 2 6

Claysburg-Kimmel 030 35X X--11 6 0

E--Hoover 3, Thompson 3. 3B--M. Campagna. RBI--Thompson; Haney 3, M. Campagna 2, Z. Campagna, Ebersole.

PITCHING

Juniata Valley: Harbst (L)–4 IP, 5H, 4BB, 3HBP, 3K, 11R, 4ER, 113 pitches; Z. Dick--0 IP, 1H, 0BB, 0K, 0R, 0ER, 3 pitches.

Claysburg-Kimmel: Simpson (W)–5 IP, 2H, 3BB, 1HBP, 8K, 1R, 0ER, 79 pitches.

Umpires: Dwayne Wyandt (HP); Jim Klausman (bases).

Records: Juniata Valley (3-10); Claysburg-Kimmel (6-7).