ST. MARYS — If you were looking for a summary of the Bradford baseball team’s 2017 season, the two games played by the Owls on Thursday provided just that, displaying all of the positives and negatives of an up-and-down season.

Competing in the Elk County Tournament in St. Marys, Bradford (4-8) lost in heartbreaking fashion to Johnsonburg (11-3) by the count of 7-6. But the Owls showed their mental toughness by coming right back and blanking St. Marys (7-7) 2-0.

Coach Andy Carlson acknowledged that despite some growing pains, his young squad is starting to show how good they can be if everything falls right.

“When you’re playing four freshmen and a couple sophomores and a junior, you feel pretty good that you’re starting to see the right strides,” he said.

Despite falling behind Johnsonburg 1-0 early, the Owls were making good contact. That paid off in the top of the second when Caleb Nuzzo ripped a two-run single down the first base line to give Bradford the lead. The freshman backstop would finish 3-for-4 with a run scored.

Bradford added two more runs in the third to take a 3-1 advantage.

Working with the lead, Owls starter Dan Manion settled into a nice groove after allowing the early run, going through the second, third and fourth innings without much trouble. Manion would work five innings, striking out five and walking two.

The Owls got another run in the fifth after Derek Sunafrank beat out a double play opportunity at first that allowed Adam Cary to come around from second to score. Cary had a great day on the basepaths, scoring three of Bradford’s six runs, two of which came via pinch-running opportunities.

But the Rams were not about to go down that easily, as Bradford should well have known. Just last Friday, Johnsonburg mounted a late rally to top the Owls 7-4.

“We’ve had Johnsonburg on the ropes three times now and they’ve gotten us all three times,” Carlson said. “We’re just as good as them, but they’ve won three times and I guess that’s what counts in the end.”

The Rams scored two in the bottom of the fifth thanks to an RBI single by Johnny Mitchell (3-for-4) and an RBI double by Ben Ames. Two more manufactured runs in the bottom of the sixth gave the Rams a 5-4 advantage.

Rather than hang their heads at another blown lead, Carlson’s squad got right back to it in the top of the seventh, starting the frame with runners at the corners and nobody out. It was in this spot when Peyton Manion — who had come into the game in relief of his older brother — helped his own cause by smacking a two-run double into left-centerfield to regain Bradford the lead at 6-5.

Unsurprisingly, however, Johnsonburg answered right back in the bottom of the seventh. A couple of errant Bradford throws moved runners into scoring position, which allowed Justin Kasmierski to tie the game with an RBI single.

Two batters later, Ben Freeburg had a chance to be the hero. It was a chance he didn’t waste, as his RBI single brought in pinch runner Zack Zameroski to end the game.

“The guys played hard,” Carlson said. “They just made a couple mistakes at inopportune times and we just didn’t have enough firepower at the end to make up for those.”

There wasn’t much firepower to be found in the second game, but this time it worked in Bradford’s favor.

The Owls got a fantastic performance on the mound from Kyle Kirk, who tossed a three-hit shutout while striking out four. He also had a nice game at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a double. The all-around performance was enough to earn Kirk a spot on the all-tournament team.

“He didn’t give up any runs; that’s pretty much what it came down to,” Carlson said. “If you watched the game, they didn’t hit too many balls hard. I think he did it in about 80, 85 pitches. It was a great game and a masterful performance.

“If you get pitching like that, you win. It’s an easy formula.”

Bradford got an early 1-0 lead when Dan Manion, despite being thrown out first, was able to drive in Tyler Gigliotti from third.

Kirk ran into a bit of early trouble on the mound, but was able to work out of a first-inning jam with no damage done. From that point on, it was smooth sailing for both him and the Owls.

“We’re doing the right things,” Carlson said. “You saw four freshmen play both games today. Each one did good things for us.”

Derek Sunafrank in particular had a great day in center field, making several nice running catches. The prettiest of the bunch came in the fifth inning, when the freshman made a sliding basket catch to keep a St. Marys baserunner who was at first base right where he stood.

“Derek Sunafrank made play after play after play and he made it look easy out there,” Carlson said.

The Owls’ coach also had high praise for his young backstop.

“Caleb Nuzzo caught two games in a row as a freshman,” Carlson said. “That’s not an easy task for a senior in college.”

While their overall record may not indicate it, these young Owls players have shown that they have what it takes to compete with anybody.

In the tournament championship game, Elk Catholic defeated Johnsonburg 10-4.

Game 1

At ST. MARYS

       R H E

Bradford        012 010 2     6 10 1

Johnsonburg 100 022 2      7 9 3

Dan Manion (5 SO, 2 BB), Peyton Manion (6) (2 SO, 1 BB), and Caleb Nuzzo

Justin Kasmierski (3 SO, 2 BB), Neil MacDonald (7), and Turner Amacher

Game 2

At ST. MARYS

 R H E

Bradford  100 001 0      2 5 0

St. Marys 000 000 0      0 3 2

Kyle Kirk (4 SO, 3 BB), and Caleb Nuzzo

Jared Groll (5 SO, 2 BB), Ryan Bressler (7) (1 BB), and Michael Beimel