UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.(EYT/D9) — During the first day of practice, Clarion baseball coach Rob Jewett gathered his team for a talk.
“This is the first step to the state championship,” he said.
Jewett wasn’t sure if his team believed him. Probably didn’t. After all, it had been five years since the Bobcats reached the state title game, a disheartening loss. This group was 10-7 last year and had made two first-round playoff exits.
Nothing to indicated what was about to come. Nothing to make them believe — really, truly believe.
But Jewett did.
Now, four months, 25 games and one epic postseason run later, the Bobcats are indeed, state champs.
Clarion Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
Devon Lauer threw four shutout innings, the defense turned two double plays and the offense took advantage of it opportunities in a 4-1 win over familiar foe DuBois Central Catholic in an all-District 9 title game to win the PIAA Class A crown at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park on the campus of Penn State University on Thursday morning.
“This is crazy,” said junior shortstop Dawson Smail. “During my freshman and sophomore years, we had first-round exits and now we’re here. We made it the whole way and gave up just one run the whole way in the state playoffs. I mean, if that doesn’t show you who the best team is, what does?”
Clarion (21-4) did it the way Clarion has done it through an unreal state playoff run.
The Bobcats won games 15-0, 10-0 and 3-0 on the way to the title game and carried a 22 consecutive scoreless inning streak into the top of the fifth inning with a 2-0 lead.
Brayden Fox laced a triple that scored Aiden Snowberger, who had reached with a bunt single, to finally dent the scoreboard for DCC against Clarion.
But that was it.
Derek Smail, who came on in relief of Lauer to start the frame, shut down the Cardinals after that with clutch pitches. And the Clarion offense delivered a big answer with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to put the lead to three.
Again, it was the bottom of the order that came through for the Bobcats.
Dauntae Girvan, who delivered a sacrifice fly earlier in the game to bring home a run, drew a leadoff walk, moved up to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by No. 9 hitter Hayden Weber to make it 3-1.
Dawson Smail then delivered a RBI single to make it 4-1.
But when these two teams play, no lead is safe.
DCC (20-6) scored four in the seventh to win, 5-2, on May 11. Clarion returned the favor with five in the seventh on Memorial Day for a 6-3 victory to claim the D9 title.
“I told them, ‘You know, 2-1 game, that’s not enough against that team,’” Jewett said. “I said, ‘We need to respond and that’s what the boys did. We came up with clutch hits. We had good base running. We manufactured runs.”
Clarion scored one in the bottom of the first by doing just that.
Dawson Smail led off with a single and Bryce Brinkley followed with a walk.
No. 3 hitter Noah Harrison, who leads the team in RBIs, laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt and Derek Smail brought a run home with a fielder’s choice RBI groundout.
Girvan’s sac fly made it 2-0 in the bottom of the first against DCC starter Fox.
Lauer and Derek Smail did the rest, hitting the corners in what was a wide strike zone and keeping the Cardinals off balance.
“Devin isn’t dominant, but he knows how to pitch and mix it up and hit his corners,” Jewett said. “It’s the combination of pitching and defense — we trust each other and the process. It was a legit run.”
Lauer threw 16 scoreless innings in the state playoffs.
The junior right-hander wiggled out of a big jam in the fourth, getting a pair of strikeouts with runners at second and third.
Lauer exited after that.
“I was feeling a little sore,” Lauer said. “I had confidence Derek would come in and shut down the game and he did.”
Jewett said there was definitely a close watch on Lauer, who has thrown a lot of innings down the stretch, including four on Monday in the semifinal win over Southern Fulton.
“We have that kind of relationship where I say, ‘Hey, just be completely honest with me. You got people behind you that can pick you up. No need to go out there and hurt yourself and the team,’” Jewett said of Lauer. “He told me after that fourth inning, ‘Yeah. I’m done.’”
Derek Smail made the one mistake to Fox, but he was able to bear down after a one-out walk to Carter Hickman, who then stole second without a throw.
He got Kaden Brezenski to pop out in foul territory along the first base line and then got red-hot Blake Pisarcik to strike out looking to end the inning.
After a leadoff single for DuBois Central Catholic by Carter Himes in the sixth, Cartar Kosko hit a low looper to Dawson Smail at shortstop.
Smail made a sliding snag off the top of the dirt and threw to first for the double play.
In the seventh, Derek Smail got two quick outs before giving up a single to Fox. He then got Hickman to ground out to Matt Alston at third to end the game and send the Clarion players into celebration.
“Getting out of that jam in the fifth, that was a big adrenaline booster,” Derek Smail said. “It’s what I needed to get the momentum and keep it going.
“In the last inning, I was just trying to throw strikes,” he added. “I have a great defense behind me and they showed it. This just means everything to us.”
This game also meant a lot to District 9.
“This probably was one of the best high school games played at this tournament in a long time,” said DCC coach Adam Fox. “I mean, these two teams are so well coached and do the little things right. This was going to come down to which team was going to make the most of their opportunities. The story for us was we didn’t make the most of our opportunities.”
Brayden Fox went five innings, giving up four runs on just five hits and striking out one.
Himes worked a scoreless sixth.
For DCC, the defending state champions, it was a wild ride back to defend.
The Cardinals started 0-3, withstood some major injuries and scrapped their way through the east side of the Class A bracket to get back here.
“Last year was a blur. We just zipped right through it,” Fox said. “We had a lot more stress this year. We got closer as team. It’s cliche, but it’s all about the journey and this was one heck of a journey.”
But the trip was especially memorable for Clarion.
The Bobcats had one of the most dominant state playoff runs in PIAA history.
“We’re been bonding all these years, as the years have gone on,” Dawson Smail said. “Our hard work has finally showed up.”
Clarion Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
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