Karns City falls short in opener
Karns City could overcome Clarion’s first wave.
It was the visitors’ second rally that the Gremlins fell victim to in a mutual season-opener at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park Thursday night, coming out on the wrong side of a 6-4 final.
“You can’t stop momentum,” Karns City coach Josh Smith said. “And we stop our own momentum with mistakes and not capitalizing. We get guys on base, we’ve got to make something happen ... It’s early, but it’s frustrating.”
Early on, Smith’s side was on top of things, however.
Catcher Braden Grossman got it going for the Gremlins with a double in the bottom half of the initial inning. On the next pitch, Mallick Metcalfe drove him in with an extra-base hit of his own.
A wild pitch moved Metcalfe to third, then he’d cross home plate when Mike Neff — who reached base on balls — took off to steal second. It appeared that Bobcat hurler Ryan Alston thought his catcher was simply returning the ball to him, reaching out and knocking it down before Metcalfe made it a 2-0 ballgame.
Metcalfe, who started and turned in four innings on the mound, followed the offensive effort by striking out two of the next three batters he faced.
It looked as if Karns City would increase its edge in the second frame when, with one out, second baseman Jacob Jones belted a triple that one-hopped off the left field wall. Soon after, Jones was picked off third.
Gary Matus, taking his cuts from the nine-hole, and Dawson Smail, Clarion’s leadoff hitter, started their half of the third with back-to-back hits. An ensuing error would score the pair and Chase Kriebel’s single would bring Devin Lauer in later.
With Karns City’s next turn, Grossman and Metcalfe would again belt consecutive doubles. Along with the latter, third baseman Braden Rodgers would notch an RBI. The Gremlins had reclaimed the lead, but wound up being kept off the scoreboard the rest of the way.
After giving up a walk on four straight balls, Clarion’s Alston was yanked in the fourth in favor of Tanner Miller, who had been stationed in left field up until that point.
“I was really happy with him working out of some jams,” Bobcat coach Rob Jewett said of Alston. “He settled down and worked out. We’re still working on his off-speed and locating it, but he gutted it out.”
The reliever shut the lights out on Karns City, using changeups and breaking balls
“That comes with time of learning how to adjust to that,” Smith said. “You see that a lot in the college game now. You see flamethrowers, then you see junk guys. We’ll adjust. We had a couple of younger guys out there, getting their feet wet with experience tonight.”
Miller didn’t concede another hit.
“We’ve got a lot of arms and a lot of guys are going to throw,” Jewett said. “We may not be very overpowering at times, but we mix it up, we hit our spots, and we trust our defense. That’s our formula, throw strikes, trust your defense.
“(Miller) did a great job mixing it up, (with) all three of his pitches working both sides of the plate. It was nice to see him take charge and limit the walks.”
In the top of the sixth, Neff replaced Metcalfe on the rubber for the Gremlins and gave up two walks in a row to begin his stint. Matus helped tie the contest, cranking out a single shortly after an off-target pitch allowed Tanner Miller and Noah Harrison proceed to second and third.
Smail’s following sacrifice fly gave the Bobcats a permanent advantage. They’d add another run for good measure in the final inning.
Clarion 003 002 1 — 6 8 0
Karns City 202 000 0 — 4 6 1
W: Tanner Miller 2.1IP (1K, 2BB). L: Mike Neff 2IP
Clarion (1-0): Bryce Brinkley 2-1B RBI, Gary Matus 3-1B, Dawson Smail 2B RBI, Chase Kriebel 1B RBI, Tanner Miller 1B, Devin Lauer RBI
Karns City (0-1): Braden Grossman 2-2B, Mallick Metcalfe 2-2B RBI, Mike Neff 1B, Zack Blair 1B
Friday: Moniteau vs. Karns City, Pullman Park, 5:30 p.m.
