Dutchmen rally past Clearfield for D9-AAAA title
DUBOIS – A fiverun bottom of the sixth propelled the St. Marys Area Flying Dutchmen past Clearfield for a 6-3 win in the District 9 Class AAAA baseball championship game at Showers Field in DuBois on Monday afternoon.
The big inning came after St. Marys loaded the bases in three straight innings but was only able to push through a single run.
“We were maybe a little frustrated, but we were pretty encouraged as well. If we get another opportunity, there’s no way that we’re not going to score runs,” said St. Marys Area head coach Jesse Beimel. “We just needed those big hits, and with Carter Price coming up, you just knew it was a matter of time. He had that big hit. He got it at the end there, and then Eli Rippey followed it up. It just all came together. It would have been great to stack some in there, but we’ll take it just like that.”
Lucas Bauer started on the mound for the Dutchmen and worked the first three innings, giving up two hits, walking five, and striking out two. In the fourth inning, St. Marys sent Charlie Coudriet to the mound, and he went the rest of the way, giving up three hits, walking one, and striking out three.
“Lucas, who has been our 1A for the most part, didn’t have his great stuff. Charlie Coudriet came in and pitched unbelievable for three quarters of the game,” Beimel said. “We were hoping to have him come in at the end of the game. He had to come in early, and he did a phenomenal job.”
“These guys have had each other’s backs all season, so for Charlie to step in there and do that, it was really awesome, but at the same time, I wasn’t surprised,” Beimel added. “It was pretty great. I was super happy with that.”
Bauer and Coudriet combined to limit the Bison to five hits in the game. Clearfield’s only extra-base hit was a double by Morgen Billotte.
“They (Clearfield) are a great hitting team, and we limited them to five hits – two by (Morgen) Billotte, who we knew was going to be trouble from the getgo,” Beimel said. “For us to do that with Lucas not on his best day and Charlie coming in and throwing earlier than we wanted him to, we can’t really ask for anything more than that.”
The Bison used a trio of pitchers in the matchup. Hunter Rumsky started the game and worked the first four innings, giving up three hits, walking six, and striking out six. Billotte took over for one and one third innings, giving up three hits, walking two, and striking out one. Craig Mays worked the final two thirds of an inning, giving up two hits.
Of St. Marys’ eight hits in the game, three were for extra bases as Price, Rippey, and Coudriet all doubled.
The Bison wasted little time taking an early lead in the game.
Billotte drew a leadoff walk to start off the first inning and then a single by Anthony Lopez moved him to third. Lopez also picked up an extra base on the throw. A groundout by Rumsky scored Billotte, giving Clearfield a 1-0 lead.
The Dutchmen tried to answer in the home half of the inning, with Coudriet hitting a oneout double, but a flyout and a strikeout left him stranded.
A pair of walks resulted in a pair of stranded Clearfield runners in the top of the second, while batters for St. Marys went down in order in the home half of the inning.
Hayvin Bumbarger hit a one-out single for the Bison in the top of the third, and Will
Domico walked with two outs to join him on base, but a flyout kept the Bison from adding to their lead.
St. Marys loaded the bases for the first time in the bottom of the inning as Tysen Beimel and Bauer drew backto-back one-out walks, and then Logan Mosier walked with two outs. A lineout ended the inning with the Dutchmen unable to get on the board with any runs.
Clearfield added another run to their lead with two outs in the top of the fourth.
Billotte singled to center and then scored on a single to center by Lopez, making the score 2-0 as a groundout brought St. Marys back up to bat.
Carter Price drew a walk to lead off the home half of the inning, with Dan Schutz taking over on base as a pinch runner. A single by Eli Rippey moved Schutz to second, and then a two-out single by Tysen Beimel loaded the bases. Bauer walked, scoring Schutz and keeping the bases loaded, but a fielder’s choice ended the inning with St. Marys trailing 2-1.
After sending batters for Clearfield down in order in the top of the fifth, the Dutchmen once again left the bases loaded in the home half of the inning.
Mosier drew a leadoff walk, and the Bison opted to make a pitching change, sending Billotte to the mound. A single by Vinnie Lenze moved Mosier to second. Aiden Beimel entered the game to run for Lenze. Price hit into a fielder’s choice that erased Beimel at second, and then a bunt single by Rippey loaded the bases with one out. Unfortunately for the Dutchmen, a popout and a strikeout prevented the team from putting any additional runs on the board.
Clearfield scored their final run in the top of the sixth to take a 3-1 lead.
Christian Welker walked to open the inning, with Elijah Quick entering the game as a pinch runner. A twoout double to right by Billotte scored Quick to give the Bison the tworun lead.
That set the stage for St. Marys Area’s rally in the home half of the inning.
Tysen Beimel led off the bottom of the inning with a single to the shortstop, and then Bauer walked to join him on base. Beimel scored as Coudriet reached on an error, trimming Clearfield’s lead to 3-2.
Mosier grounded into a fielder’s choice that saw Bauer erased at home for the first out, but then Lenze drew a walk to load the bases. Clearfield opted to make another pitching change with Mays taking over on the mound.
Price doubled down the left field line, scoring both Coudriet and Mosier to give St. Marys a 4-3 lead.
But the Dutchmen were not finished.
Rippey followed that up with a double of his own down the left field line, scoring both courtesy runner Jackson Vollmer and Price to make the score 6-3.
A pair of groundouts ended the inning and brought Clearfield up to bat for the final time.
A groundout and a strikeout put the Dutchmen one-out away from getting the win, but Cole Bloom gave the Bison a base runner after he was hit by a pitch. However, Domico flied out to Tysen Beimel in right field for the third and final out, and St. Marys’ players rushed to the pitcher’s mound to celebrate the 6-3 win.