STRATTANVILLE, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Jacob Jones provided most of the offense while Mallick Metcalfe nearly went the distance on the mound as the Karns City baseball team came away with an 8-2 victory over Clarion-Limestone on Monday afternoon.
(Pictured above, Karns City’s Jacob Jones waits for a pitch during the Gremlins’ win over Clarion-Limestone/photo by Diane Lutz)
Jones hit the first pitch of the contest over the left field fence for a home run while also adding another hit with a run and three RBIs in the contest.
Wyatt Fleming also added a pair of hits with two runs scored. Braden Grossman, Troy Nagel, and Mason Sherwin each added one hit. Nagel hit an RBI double while Sherwin added an RBI and scored two runs. Grossman drove in a pair of runs. Metcalfe drove in a run.
Clarion-Limestone Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
It was a good bounce-back win for Karns City after a tough loss to Redbank Valley on Thursday night last week.
“We had eight errors and gave up one earned run (in the 7-0 loss to the Bulldogs),” said Karns City coach Josh “Sluggo” Smith. “It was definitely not characteristic of how we normally play, but, you know, it happens. It just shows you what kind of coaches we have and the leadership with have on the roster to just forget about it, bounce back and move on.”
Karns City (4-1) also wanted to be more aggressive at the plate against C-L.
Jones set the tone for that.
“I told the guys, ‘Let’s be aggressive early, get a good fastball early and take a swing at it,'” Smith said. “(Jones) ran with that advice because he got that first fastball and he got it up in the wind and it just kept carrying.”
It’s a busy week for both teams with games stacking up nearly every day.
“We have two more games this week so we wanted to try and space our pitching out a bit,” said C-L head coach Bill Smith. “Today was a non-conference game so it really didn’t matter a lot plus it was only our second game of the season.”
Jordan Hesdon collected three of the Lions eight hits with a 3-for-3 effort at the plate with a run scored. Logan Lutz, Tommy Smith, Kohen Kemmer, Jake Smith, and Jack Craig each added one hit with Craig driving in a run.
“Jordy had a pretty good day at the plate with three hits,” said Bill Smith. “We had a few chances but weren’t able to get the big hit a couple times.”
Metcalfe pitched 6 2/3 innings for Karns City to pick up the victory. He allowed two runs, one earned on eight hits. He walked three and struck out five. Jones struck out the only batter he faced in the seventh.
“He’s a senior and he’s been there before,” Sluggo Smith said. “He understands that you gotta pound the zone to beat good teams like they are and he was around the plate.”
Lutz suffered the loss allowing three runs, two earned on four hits. He walked three, struck out four, and hit two batters for Clarion-Limestone (1-1).
“The plan was for Logan to throw 75 pitches today and I felt he did a decent job today,” said Bill Smith. “Today was his first varsity start as a sophomore. We had other guys out there today on the mound who gained some valuable experience in Jack Craig, Kohen Kemmer, and Jesse Siwiecki.”
Jones led off the game with his home run to give the Gremlins a 1-0 lead in the first.
The Gremlins would add two runs in the second with Jones driving in a run with a single and Metcalfe hitting a sacrifice fly for a 3-0 lead.
C-L (1-1) got a run back in the bottom of the second as Kemmer drew a walk to lead off the inning. Jake Smith singled to move Kemmer to third. Craig then hit into a fielders choice grounder that scored Kemmer to cut the lead to 3-1 after two.
In the bottom of the third Hesdon singled, stole second, and moved to third on an errant pickoff throw. He then scored on another error to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Karns City would add three runs in the fifth with Sherwin and Jones each drawing bases loaded walks.
In the seventh, Nagel hit an RBI double while Grossman drove in a run with a single for the 8-2 lead.
“I started some different guys today — we’re trying to find the right pieces to the puzzle,” Sluggo Smith said. “We’re missing a couple of big players. Tyler Hutchison is still out dealing with a shoulders injury and Hobie Bartoe, who is one of the best centerfielders in the league, in my opinion, is out with a shoulder issue. We’re trying to find two or three guys who can step up.”
Mike Kilroy contributed to this report
Clarion-Limestone Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
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