Bucktail baseball outlasts Sugar Valley 9-5 in 8 innings
By Bees O’Brien
LOCK HAVEN, PA – It was a game that didn’t seem to have a chance to happen around midday Friday. Rain showers dampened Taggart Park and looked to possibly spoil the Bucktail vs. Sugar Valley game before it even happened. A strong effort from both the Sugar Valley and Bucktail staff would result in the field being in better than expected conditions. Once this Mid Penn clash between rival Clinton County schools got underway neither team wanted to let it end.
The visiting Bucks would score 3 innings in the top of the seventh to force extra innings and cross 4 more runs in the top of the eighth inning to end their 15-game losing streak with the 9-5 win.
Sugar Valley was hosting their Senior Night honoring Gavin Vonada, Isiah Nearhoof and Corbin Homan.
Corbin Homan was the big story for the Phoenix through the first 5 innings. Homan iced the Bucktail bats and allowed just one hit and struck out 10 hitters before being replaced due to pitch count issues in the sixth inning. Corbin will continue his baseball career and academics at Lehigh University this fall.
Bucktail’s Kayden Friese would be the only Buck hitter to connect off Homan with a first inning bloop single to right field.
The Bucks would strike first when Ethan Charcalla would be forced in to score when leadoff hitter Brett Mason would be hit by Homan, one of his few mistakes.
Sugar Valley was threatening in the second inning with Coehen Homan and Lincolm Breon reaching base on singles. Homan would attempt to score on a passed ball, but catcher Brett Mason would flip the ball to a charging Zach Pick to make the play at the plate. The next batter up would ground out to Kayden Friese to end the inning.
Sugar Valley would score three runs in the third inning behind hits from Gage Young and Breon. Eventually the Bucks’ enemy would show its ugly face again. Bucktail committed three errors on a single routine ground ball that would allow 2 runs to score. Cayden Weaver would eventually score on the Bucks fourth error of the inning and give the Phoenix the 3-1 lead.
In the fifth inning Sugar Valley would tack on another run when Coehen Homan would knock in his older brother Corbin with a single and grab the 4-1 lead.
In the sixth inning Bucktail’s Ethan Charcalla would deliver an RBI single that scored Ashton Intallura to cut the Sugar Valley lead to 4-2.
The Bucks would overtake the lead in the top of the seventh inning behind a big 3-run rally. Pick began the rally with a single, Friese would walk and Tristan Probst would tie things up with a 2 RBI double to score Pick and Friese.
Freshman Ethan Kalafut came through with the big hit of the night by driving in Probst on a shot to right center to give the Bucks the 5-4 lead.
Corbin Homan would not let his scholastic baseball career come to an end just yet. The Sugar Valley senior would rock relief pitcher Tristan Probst for a single and would eventually steal his way around the base paths. He would tie things up on a passed ball and send the game into inning number 8.
The Bucktail rally began with Jeremy Gallagher getting hit by a pitch. Mason would then reach base on an error, which advanced Gallagher to third base. A pickoff attempt from pitcher Coehen Homan would go wild and Gallagher would score the go ahead run. Eventually Pick, Friese and Probst would advance to home on wild pitches to give the Bucks the 9-5 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.
Probst, who was relieving Pick would shut down Sugar Valley’s last attempt to set the final.
Probst led the way for Bucktail with a pair of hits, Mason, Pick, Friese, Charcalla and Evan Ransdorf each had singles for Bucktail.
Corben Homan, Coehen Homan, Cayden Weaver, Gavin Vonada and Gage Young all had hits for Sugar Valley, but it was Lincoln Breon that led the charge for the Phoenix by going 3 for 4 on the day.
Bucktail finishes the season 2-15 while Sugar Valley ends the year at 1-16
