BUTLER, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Chase Kriebel is quiet. The Clarion left-hander is soft-spoken and says very little.
But on the mound, everything about him is loud and boisterous.
The ball sizzles out of his hand, darting through the strike zone and smacking the catcher’s mitt with claps of thunder.
It’s been a long journey back to the hill for the senior on Bobcats’ baseball team after a stellar debut as a freshman when he was virtually un-hittable in posting a 4-0 record, 0.32 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings.
The COVID-19 shutdown claimed his sophomore year. Persistent arm woes cost him his junior campaign, as well as a chunk of this season.
But Thursday at Michelle Krill Memorial Field at Historic Pullman Park, Kriebel was back on the rubber for the first time since he was a freshman in a 4-0 Clarion win over Redbank Valley (7-3).
Following the game, Kriebel said only three words about finally returning to the mound.
“It was fun,” he grinned.
Not so much for Redbank Valley, whose hitters spent the afternoon flailing away against dominant pitching performances from a trio of Bobcat hurlers.
It started with Kriebel, who shook off wildness to strike out 11 in 3 2/3 innings.
Yes. Every out Kriebel recorded came via a punch out.
He also walked four and gave up just a lone hit in his much-awaited return.
“Chase came out and struggled a bit in the zone,” said Clarion coach Rob Jewett. “But he settled in. That was to be expected after two years of not pitching competitively and a lot of family and fans here. There was really nothing you could do about that.”
Sitting near the Clarion dugout was a group of Kriebel’s family members, decked out in bright orange and camo and holding a placard.
Kriebel’s return came with a no-decision.
Redbank Valley’s Bryson Bain got the loss, but pitched well over his three innings. He gave up one unearned run and no hits.
Clarion (7-3) broke open the 1-0 game in the bottom of the fifth, keyed by two-out RBI singles by Cam Lapinto and Dauntae Girvan.
The rest was up to the Bobcats’ bullpen.
Girvan got the win, giving up just one hit in 2 1/3 innings, and Derek Smail slammed the door by striking out the side on 13 pitches in the seventh.
After the final out, the first one on the field to greet Smail with a pat on the back and a hug was Kriebel.
This win meant something to Clarion. It may also be a warning shot off the bow of the rest of the teams in District 9 that the Bobcats mean business.
“If we keep playing all four phases of the game — pitching, defense, running bases hitting — like we did today, we could make quite a bit of a run,” Jewett said.
