Thursday’s District 9 playoff recaps. Class A quarterfinals.
(5) COUDERSPORT 3, (4) CLARION 1
CLARION, Pa. – Coudersport’s Navada Waterman was practically unhittable Thursday in pitching Coudersport to a 3-1 win at Clarion in the District 9 Class A baseball quarterfinals.
Waterman gave up one hit and one run – both in the sixth inning – while striking out 10 in six innings of work. He walked four, just two after the first inning, and hit one while no-hitting the Bobcats through five.
“His fastball has really good velocity, but the movement on it was really exciting to see,” Coudersport manager Doug McClintic said. “He had a lot of ride on his ball, and he had all three pitches working.
“I can’t say I’m shocked that he threw this well. You can’t anticipate a one-hitter or anything like that, but the performance I’m not shocked by. He has done it all season.”
Coudersport scored all the runs it needed in the third inning thanks in part to a pair of Clarion errors and two walks and hit batter by Bobcats starter Adrian Weber, who didn’t make it out of the inning.
“We had one inning that got away from us,” Clarion manager Rob Jewett said. “We couldn’t limit the damage. They got a clutch hit.”
That clutch hit came freshman third baseman Kullen Crosby in the form of a bases-loaded two-run single up the middle off of reliever Reed Anthony that put the Falcons, who will play rival Oswayo Valley in the semifinals Tuesday at a site and time to be announced, 3-0.
Here is what Crosby and Waterman had to say about their performances.
Up 3-0, Waterman, who walked two of the first three batters he faced, settled in retiring nine of the next 11 batters he faced, including six by strikeout.
“I don’t think we were as aggressive as we should have been,” Jewett said. “You have to tip your hat to (Waterman). His curveball was spot on. That keeps you off balance. As much as I would like to blame it on our hitter, he threw a nice game also.”
Anthony, who allowed just two hits after the Crosby single, matched Waterman with zeros through the middle innings, and Clarion finally broke through against the Falcon righty who is headed to RIT next year, with a run in the sixth inning when Bo Miller doubled home Weber, who had led off the inning with a walk.
But Miller’s hit was the only hit of the game for Clarion, as Waterman stranded the Clarion senior at third in the sixth.
Austen Saulter took over in the seventh and issued a one-out walk to Luke Nellis.
Sterling Conner then drove a pitch to deep left field that was tracked down near the fence by leftfielder Josh Stevens for the second out before Leo Aiello was called out on strikes to end the game.
Sterling Conner then drove a pitch to deep left field that was tracked down near the fence by leftfielder Josh Stevens for the second out before Leo Aiello was called out on strikes to end the game.
Coudersport (17-3) advances to play rival Oswayo Valley Tuesday at a site and time to be announced. It will be the third meeting of the year between the northern schools with Oswayo, the defending champion, winning the first two.
Clarion ended the season 15-4
(2) ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 4, (7) PORT ALLEGANY 3
ST. MARYS, Pa. – Jared Braun’s two-out single to right drove home Gabe Kraus to break a three-all tie in the bottom of the fourth inning, and Elk County Catholic beat visiting Port Allegany, 4-3, in the District 9 Class A quarterfinals at Berwind Park in St. Marys.
Seventh-seeded Port left the bases loaded in the fifth and couldn’t push across a leadoff single in the sixth before going 1-2-3 in the seventh.
ECC, the second seed, grabbed a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first on a two-run Ryan Heary single and a Kraus single, both with two outs.
Port tied the game with a three-spot in the third with Garrett Talkington scoring on an error before singles by Mac Tanner and Tre Garzel tied the game at three.
In the fourth, Kraus reached second on an error by the shortstop Garrett Talkington with one out before Braun came through with the two-out single to break the tie.
The Gators threatened in the fifth loading the bases after two outs on a walk by Garzel, a Jordan Seefeldt single and a walk to Tyler Lashway. But Alex Dattoli got Cameron Fryer to ground out back to hm to end the threat.
Jesse Rush then started the sixth with a single to left for the Gators, and Garrett Talkington moved him to second with a sacrifice bunt. But Dattoli struck out David Talkington and then Kio, with the ball getting away from the catcher Dan Stauffer, who threw to first to complete the strikeout.
Dattoli, who picked up the win in relief of Ross Brennen, then put Port Allegany down in order in the seventh to close out the win.
The final line on Dattoli was 4 ⅔ innings pitched, no runs, three hits, three walks and four strikeouts.
Brennen was charged with three runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out three in 2 ⅓ innings.
Kraus was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored to pace the ECC offense.
David Talkington was 2-for-4 with a run scored for Port Allegany, while Seefeldt finished a wonderful three-sport career for the Gators by going 2-for-4.
Garzel suffered the loss going six innings allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits while striking out two.
ECC (19-2) will play rival DuBois Central Catholic for the third time this year in the semifinals Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. The Crusaders and Cardinals split their two previous meetings this season.
Port Allegany finished the year 13-6.
OSWAYO VALLEY 7, NORTH CLARION 3
SHINGLEHOUSE, Pa. – A pair of three-run innings helped defending champion Oswayo Valley starts its District 9 Class A baseball title defense off on the right foot with a 7-3 win over visiting North Clarion.
The unbeaten and top-seeded Green Wave (21-0) got a two-run single by Jacob Karr in the second inning to break the ice and led 3-0 by the end of the inning.
Oswayo Valley then added three more runs in the fourth on an RBI triple by Garret Babcock, a Dylan Buchholz groundout and a Grant West single.
Gage Babcock then added an RBI single in the sixth to make it 7-0 before North Clarion got three in the seventh to put a little fear into the Green Wave fanbase.
Tyler Wolbert had an RBI single in the inning, and North Clarion was helped by a pair of Oswayo errors.
Gage Babcock was 2-for-2, while West was 2-for-4 and Buchholz drove in two runs.
Brandon Brabham got the win going four innings allowing five hits while striking out seven.
Garren Black picked up the save going three innings allowing three runs, two earned, on two hits while striking out four.
Griffin Schmader took the loss. He went four innings allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out two. Zander Hargenrader pitched two innings giving up one run on two walks.
Logan Minich was 2-for-3 with a double to lead the North Clarion offense.
Oswayo Valley will get a third crack at rival Coudersport in the semifinals Tuesday at a site and time to be determined.
North Clarion, the ninth seed, ended the year 11-9.
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 15, REDBANK VALLEY 3, 5 INNINGS
DUBOIS, Pa. – Jake Miknis drove in four and was the winning pitcher, as third-seeded DuBois Central Catholic beat sixth-seeded Redbank Valley, 15-3, in five innings in the District 9 Class A quarterfinals.
Miknis was 2-for-2 with a home run. He hit a sacrifice fly and scored twice.
The senior also threw four innings allowing three runs on four hits and two walks while striking out five.
Brandon Walker added three hits for the Cardinals, while freshman Justin Miknis was 2-for-2 with an RBI and three runs scored. Austin Cogley was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, and Michael Misiewicz was 2-for-2 with three runs scored and an RBI.
The Cardinals are now 15-2 on the year and will play rival Elk County Catholic in the semifinals Tuesday at a site and time to be determined. It will be the third meeting between the teams this year with the teams splitting the two regular-season meetings.
