Clarence shuts out Spring Mills to take 2-0 series lead

SPRING MILLS — Clarence head coach Rob Gavlock had some concerns about his team’s offense after the long layoff before the top-seeded Mounties began the Centre County League playoffs.

Turns out, it wasn’t much of a worry at all since the Clarence pitching staff so far has been stellar, to say the least. In fact, the pitchers are riding a 14-inning scoreless streak and have yet to give up a run in the playoffs.

The latest Mountie gem was turned in by Brandon Barnyak in the second game of the semifinal series against Spring Mills on July 24. Clarence scored just two runs in the game, but Barnyak turned in a complete-game, two-hit shutout against the Braves at Penns Valley High School to take a 2-0 victory.

The win gives the Mounties a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series, with a possible series-ending Game 3 set to be played in Clarence after press time.

Ryan Guenot and Justin Taylor hit consecutive RBI doubles in the top of the fourth inning that gave Clarence a two-run advantage, and Barnyak, along with a flawless defense, took care of the rest.

“I just came out here and did my best to keep runs off the board,” Barnyak said. “My curve ball was working really good and sometimes my two-seam was running off the plate, good for me. I tried to do the same thing I do every game. They (Spring Mills) are a good hitting team and I went out there and hit my spots.”

Through the first three innings, Braves’ pitcher Rich Auman was just as effective as Barnyak. Neither team was able to get anything going until Clarence’s John Schall hit a one-out single in the fourth.

Guenot followed with a line-drive double just inside the left field foul line that bounced all the way to the fence and allowed Schall to round the bases and score the first run of the day.

“Runner on first, I was looking to at least to get a base hit,” Guenot said. “When I hit it, I had no doubt that it was a fair ball and when I saw Johnny rounding third I was pretty happy about it.”

Taylor came to the plate next, and he lined a gapper to left-center field, easily scoring Guenot and giving Barnyak a two-run lead.
The two runs ‘made me feel a lot better,’ said Barnyak, and it showed. He gave up just one more hit and allowed only four base runners — three on walks — the rest of the way. The Braves best chance to score came in the bottom of the fourth when Kevin Conklin singled and reached third base after a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch.

Barnyak, however, stranded Conklin (and Colton Treaster, who walked) by getting a pop-out and a grounder to end the inning. Barnyak then finished strong by retiring six of the last seven batters he faced, four on strikeouts.

“Our hitting has been OK,” Gavlock said, “but it’s been our pitching that’s been getting us through all these games. That may have been our ninth or tenth shutout this year.

“Barnyak, this is his first year pitching for us, and that was his fifth or sixth win. He has done very well for us.”
Clarence will now go for a sweep at home tonight in Clarence, and the defending champion Mounties have all the momentum behind them.

For the Braves, it is simply a matter of trying to generate some offense, which by no means will be an easy task. They have yet to push across a run in the series.

“It just seems like these guys (the Mounties) are coming together as a team,” Gavlock said. “We’ve had a lot of success over the last two years — 41-3, I think — but I just think that right now, the kids want to come out and play ball. They are coming together right now, and it’s the best time to do it, in the playoffs.”