Clarence downs Philipsburg in county league tilt

PHILIPSBURG — Even though Clarence first baseman Brian Kochik had the extra responsibility of being player-manager in the Mounties’ game at Philipsburg on June 20, it certainly didn’t affect his concentration.

Kochik led the Mountie offense with two hits, including a roped, three-run double that set Clarence off to a 6-0 Centre County Baseball League victory over the Spike Island Pirates.

Kochik’s game-changing blast came in the third inning with the bases loaded, two outs and on a 3-2 count against Pirate starter Parker Watson. It broke open what had been, to that point, a close, one-run contest.

It also gave the Mounties’ hard-throwing Justin Taylor more than enough support as he pitched the defending county league champs to their eighth win against just one loss in 2017.

“Just trying not to strike out,” Kochik said. “Just trying to put the ball in play. He hung it, and I put a good swing on it and it found a gap. It was a tight ball game there, and he made a mistake and I put good wood on it. Any way we can get runs, because Parker (Watson) is tough.”

With Watson and Taylor on the mound, runs figured to be hard to come by in this one. Yet when Clarence shortstop Bryce Greene promptly scored after he opened the game with a triple to deep right-center field, the Mounties took a surprisingly early lead.

Then in the third, Clarence got a break when leadoff hitter Brandon Barnyak reached on an error. Catcher Bryan Greene followed with a single, and then with one out, a strikeout, Ryan McNamara was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Watson here gave himself a chance to get out of the inning when he struck out Chuck Probst for the second out, but this brought up Kochik. The righthander ran the count to 3-and-2, and with the runners moving, slashed a liner to left center that rolled to the wall. Barnyak, Bryan Greene and McNamara all scored and Clarence had a four-run lead.

“That was huge,” Taylor said. “Had a bunch of clutch hits tonight, but we’ve relied mostly on our pitching this first half of the season. We’re not struggling, but we are not putting up six or eight runs a game so we have to keep grinding. And when we have to move runners up, we do.

“Kochik’s been hitting the ball well of late, and that was a big hit. Got three runs out of it, and we were able to stay ahead.”

Clarence was able to stay ahead mostly because of an error-free defense and Taylor’s pitching. He threw a complete-game shutout and gave up just four hits while striking out eight.

His six walks, however, did give the Pirates some chances. Philipsburg had at least one runner on base in every inning, and the Pirates had people in scoring position in the first, third and sixth.

Their best chance came in the bottom of the third. Watson and Drew Bryan led off with singles, and after a strikeout, Matt McCamley walked and loaded the bases. Taylor bore down, though, and escaped by getting Rob Marcinko and Nate Kerlin to both fly out.

“We left too many guys on base,” Philipsburg coach McCamley said, “and that’s been the moral of the story so far. Once we get some of the guys back and clicking, I think that will be contagious throughout the lineup. But right now, we just have to pick it up as a team.”

Clarence added its final two runs in the fifth on a double by Bryan Greene, an RBI single by Bryce Greene and an overthrow at third base that allowed Bryce Greene to cross with the game’s final run.

“It’s always great games between Clarence and Philipsburg,” Taylor said. “They (the Pirates) are tough, and we’ve all known each other for a long time. But when we get between the lines, it’s all business. It’s a lot of fun, especially when you come out on top.”