Former Section V star Ernie Clement returns to Rochester to play against Red Wings

It’s funny sometimes how certain memories just stick with you, and for Ernie Clement, his last game at the ballpark formerly known as Frontier Field nearly a decade ago remains vivid in his mind.

“Yeah, my last memory of playing at Frontier Field wasn’t great,” Clement, who played high school baseball for Brighton, said the other day. “We lost to Pittsford Sutherland in the sectional finals (2014) and I made an out in the last inning. So hopefully I can bring back a couple really good memories and play well.”

It was a loud out, a fly ball that was caught on the warning track in left field, after which his teammates cobbled together a rally that nearly pulled out the game, ultimately falling short 5-4.

Clement has not played downtown since, but that will change this week because the 27-year-old is now a member of the Buffalo Bisons and they’re in town for a six-game series against the Rochester Red Wings.

“I think it’s gonna be really cool playing in Rochester,” Clement said. “I’ve got a bunch of family in town and a bunch of buddies who are gonna come out so it’s gonna be awesome.”

Clement is one of the best players to ever come out of Section V. The three-time All-Greater Rochester selection and the Democrat and Chronicle’s player of the decade for 2010-19 still owns Brighton career records for plate appearances (329), batting average (.464), singles (87), doubles (34) and stolen bases (38), all of which helped him get a partial scholarship to Virginia.

In his freshman season, his two-run walk-off single beat Maryland 5-4 in the super regional and sent the Cavaliers to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Virginia then went on to upset perennial powerhouse Vanderbilt 4-2 to win the national championship as Clement was named to the all-tournament team.

He finished his three-year, 179-game college career with a .306 average and .345 on-base percentage and struck out just 31 times in 836 plate appearances, mixed in a summer in the prestigious Cape Cod League when he was named league MVP, and then became a fourth-round pick of the Cleveland Guardians in the 2017 draft.

Clement worked his way through the minor-league system — losing all of 2020 due to the pandemic shutdown — and ultimately made his major league debut on June 13, 2021, striking out as a pinch hitter against Seattle. Two nights later he stroked his first big league hit, a single against Baltimore’s Matt Harvey.

He got into 40 games that year and batted .231, then played 63 games in 2022, but because of his struggles at the plate (he hit .214) the Guardians waived him in late September and thus he wasn’t around when they clinched the AL Central and pushed the New York Yankees to the limit before losing in the AL divisional round.

“I was there pretty much the whole season grinding with those guys and going to battle with them so it hurt a little bit,” Clement said of his release. “But at the same time, a lot of those guys I came up with in the minor leagues so to see them have success was just so cool. I watched every game and cheered those boys on.”

Though it didn’t end well, Clement has nothing but good memories of his time with Cleveland.

“I was really fortunate to get a great opportunity there,” he said. “I tried to keep it simple but when you’re not playing every day it’s really tough to go in and produce offensively. I played good defense, I ran the bases well when I got on and whenever I pinch ran, so I still found ways to help that team win. I have only positive things to say about my time in Cleveland and with the organization. That was a really cool experience.”

The A’s signed him off waivers and he played six games at the end of 2022, went to spring training and was released two weeks before camp broke. That’s when the Blue Jays came calling and he quickly agreed to sign.

“(The A’s) signed a bunch of guys and I was kind of the odd man out and in spring training, I never really got a decent shot to prove myself,” he said. “Right away Toronto reached out and it seems to be a great fit so far. The organization’s incredible, they treat their players really well and it honestly reminds me a lot of how Cleveland does things. So, so far so good.”

Although he played 57 games in Triple-A with Columbus between 2019 and 2022, none were in Rochester, so if you think signing with the Blue Jays — knowing he’d start the season in Buffalo and would get to play in his hometown — played a role in his decision, you would be correct.

“Absolutely that factored into it,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been away from home and I haven’t really gotten to see my parents a whole lot during my baseball seasons. They’ll come out for a couple series here and there but now that I’m close to home I’m gonna get to see them a lot more. That played a huge, huge factor into it.”

Sal Maiorana can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana.To subscribe to Sal's newsletter, Bills Blast, which will come out every Friday during the offseason, please follow this link: https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Ernie Clement to play for Buffalo Bisons against Rochester Red Wings