The first portion of Bradford High’s baseball team’s (3-4) season has been a tale of ups and downs.

Games like Monday’s 5-3 win against Punxsutawney show both how much work needs to be done, but also just how quickly this young team is coming along.

Down to their final out, the Chucks (3-6) were able to load the bases, but Bradford’s Peyton Manion got the only batter he faced to fly out to left field and end the game.

“We need to keep playing the game hard,” Owls coach Andy Carlson said. “A lot of our guys are young, so we’re still learning how to play the game of baseball.

“When we make mistakes, we’ve just got to keep moving on and I think today was the first sign of moving on. Before when we made mistakes, things got out of hand in a hurry, but we’re growing.”

The Owls scored three runs in the sixth to build enough of a cushion to get starter Dan Manion his second win of the season. The junior went six and two thirds innings, striking out four, walking three, and allowing just five hits.

The elder Manion also went 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored. He likely could have had even more if not for a line out to right field in the second inning with the bases loaded.

That at-bat was one of several in the early going when Bradford simply wasn’t able to bring runners home.

“They took the first lead, but we had bases loaded and [runners on] first and second,” Carlson said about the opportunities his squad was failing to capitalize on.

Punxsy got that first lead of the game in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Joey Dipietro.

But Bradford would answer immediately.

The Owls once again were able to load the bases in the bottom of the fourth. With the goal simply to put the ball in play, Hunter Gray did just that, sending a hard grounder to short. The Chucks got one man out, but an errant throw to first allowed two Bradford runs to score.

Bradford also got it done with the gloves when it mattered. In the top of the fifth, the Owls caught a Punxsy base runner — who represented the tying run at the time — wandering off of third to end the inning.

The Chucks would get two runs in the sixth on the strength of a passed ball and an RBI-single by Logan Johnston.

But the Owls continued to hang tough, and their half of the sixth inning would prove to be the pivotal frame of the contest. Dan Manion tied the game with a rocket of an RBI-double. Then, Derek Sunafrank worked out a bases-loaded walk for the go-ahead run. Kyle Kirk then added some insurance, taking one for the team on a hit-by-pitch that plated another runner. Kirk also notched two singles.

“One of the things I tell them every day is that I’m not quitting on them, I just ask them not to quit on themselves and to just keep playing,” Carlson said.

After Dan Manion was forced to leave the game in the seventh due to exceeding his pitch limit, Kirk and Peyton Manion came in to close the game out. Peyton Manion was credited with his second save of the season.

One of the aspects of the victory that Carlson was most pleased with was where the production was coming from. In addition to upperclassmen like Kirk and Dan Manion, Carlson pointed to his youngest players as instrumental not only in Monday’s win, but with regards to the future of the program.

“We had four freshmen in the starting lineup today and they all contributed in some way,” Carlson said, referring to the quartet of Sunafrank, Tyler Gigliotti, Caleb Nuzzo, and Peyton Manion.

You can see the coach’s point. Sunafrank’s walk brought in the go-ahead run, while Gigliotti made several nice plays at shortstop.

Carlson called Nuzzo “one of the better defensive catchers I’ve seen all year as a ninth-grader.”

“Peyton Manion came in and did a great job closing,” Carlson added. “That’s twice this year that we’ve brought him in with bases loaded with a two run lead and he’s done it for us both times.”

This mix of upper- and underclassmen has provided some interesting challenges for Carlson, especially when it comes to determining the starting lineup. But one thing’s for sure: the Bradford coach sees in this team the potential for success not just in the future, but this year.

“The future’s bright,” he said. “I’m also thinking the future is now. We’ve got to win games now. We can’t say, ‘Oh, we’ll be good in a few years.’ That’s not the way it works.”

Bradford fans will be hoping this team can prove him right.

AT BRADFORD

                  R H E

Punxsutawney 000 102 0  3 5 3

Bradford           000 203 x  5 6 1

Isaac Stouffer (5 SO, 3 BB), Joey Dipietro (5) (1 SO, 3 BB), Tyler Richardson (6), and Dipietro/Richardson

Dan Manion (4 SO, 3 BB), Kyle Kirk (7) (2 BB), Peyton Manion (7), and Caleb Nuzzo