Bellefonte late heroics lead them to victory over Penns Valley

By Kenny Varner Jr.
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: April 6, 2021

By Kenny Varner

BELLEFONTE – It was a pitcher’s duel Tuesday afternoon when Mountain League foes Penns Valley and Bellefonte met on the Red Raiders’ baseball diamond at Governor’s Park.

Seth Shuey took the mound for Bellefonte while the Rams put Mason Lieb on the hill.

With the score at one going into the bottom of the fifth, Bellefonte’s Derek Fravel hit a shot into the right field corner scoring pinch runner David McAndrew and Nick Capparelle, giving the Red Raiders a 3-1 lead.

“Both pitchers were throwing well. We weren’t in our groove hitting wise. We needed to manufacture things and get some timely hits,” said Bellefonte coach Jon Clark. “I tell the kids there are three things that we need to do to give ourselves a chance. They are pitchers throwing strikes, defense making routine plays and hitters hit line drives. We were definitely struggling to hit the ball but thank goodness Seth was finding the strike zone and throwing a ton of strikes out there. So sometimes one area has to pick up the other areas. The defense stood up and did what was needed. Seth definitely stepped up.”

That would be all Shuey needed as he shut down the Rams’ offense the rest of the way, securing the 3-1 victory and upping the Red Raiders overall record to 3-0.

Shuey went the distance, scattering only four hits while striking out 14.

Lieb went five innings and gave up five hits while striking out seven.

Penns Valley struck first in the first.

With one out, Ty Houtz was hit by a pitch. He moved up to scoring position by a wild pitch.

Lieb would help his own cause as he blistered a double into right field, scoring Houtz on the play.

Shuey shut down things with a strike out for the final out of the inning.

“It definitely was a pitcher’s duel tonight. Again for us we had a pitcher’s duel last night as well against Tyrone. Mason did a great job on the hill,” said Penns Valley coach Terrance Green. “Like we talked about here, we got to get the guys in when we have them. We left seven runners on base today. That’s a lot of guys. That’s what we got to focus in as a group is just doing better with runners on base but other than that you can’t be mad at anything. They played great defense. We had a bloop shot that scored two, that’s baseball. We just have to do a better job with the sticks.”

Bellefonte rallied back in the bottom of the first.

Marsh, who finished two hits in the contest, smashed a single into right center.

Capparelle sacrificed Marsh over a base, setting the stage for Fravel. Fravel notched an RBI single to tie the game at one.

Both teams were sent down 1-2-3 in the second.

Penns Valley had its chance to do some damage as Houtz singled with one out. He moved up to second and third on wild pitches. He was then joined on the base paths by Aiden Brinker and Lieb to load the bases.

However, that would be as close as the Rams would get to scoring as Shuey struck out Dakota Bradzino to end the inning

Bellefonte also got a runner to third in the bottom of the inning.

Marsh was stranded at third after a double. Lieb shut things down from there, keeping things tied until the bottom of the fifth.

Catcher Josh Weikel walked to lead off the inning. He was replaced for a pinch runner, McAndrew.

Braedyn Kormanic put down a sacrifice bunt to move McAndrew to second.

Marsh followed with a walk but was forced out on a fielder’s choice by Capparelle.

Fravel stepped up and hit an awkward spinning fly out to right field that scooted away from the right fielder, allowing Capparelle and McAndrew on the play.

From there, Shuey remained in control the rest of the way en route to the 3-1 victory.

Bellefonte 3, Penns Valley 1

PV 100 000 0 – 1 4 0

BE 100 020 x – 3 5 0

WP: Seth Shuey (BE)

LP: Mason Lieb (PV)

Multiple hitters: Penns Valley – Ty Houtz (2-for-3). Bellefonte – Bobby Marsh (2-for-2), Derek Fravel (2-for-2).

Multiple RBIs: Penns Valley- None. Bellefonte – Fravel 2.

HR: None.

Triples: Bellefonte – Fravel. Penns Valley- None.

2B: Bellefonte – Bobby Marsh. Penns Valley – Lieb.