DUBOIS – Veteran right-hander Leah Wallock, the first of several outstanding pitchers the Clearfield Area High School softball team will be facing this season, proved too tough for the Lady Bisons Wednesday, hurling a three-hitter as DuBois won 8-0 in the season opener for both squads.
\”She threw a good game, but we were real tentative,\” Clearfield coach Bob Dixon said. \”We had three girls called out on third strikes. We just weren\’t aggressive. It was kind of disappointing we didn\’t go out and attack the ball like we thought we were going to, because we\’ve worked hard on hitting.
\”That\’s the first time we\’ve been on a field, but we\’ve faced a lot of live pitching in the batting cage in the gym. And they\’ve seen as much power (as Wallock has) with Bob Gearhart and Todd Schickling. And a lot of the girls have played with her and against her in the summer, so she\’s not unfamiliar. That\’s the seventh time we\’ve faced her.\”
Wallock racked up 30 wins and 417 strikeouts in her first three seasons for the Lady Beavers, including a pair of victories in one-run games last season.
The three-time Tri-County Sunday/Courier-Express All-Star, twice a first-team selection, had only four strikeouts but was backed by an errorless defense. Unaffected by the cold and wind, Wallock did not give up a walk.
Loser Mandy Rowles pitched better than the score indicates, allowing only six hits and striking out eight. She issued two free passes and hit one batter, with all three of those runners scoring.
DuBois got the only run it needed without benefit of a hit in the first inning. Alysha Lange walked, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on a throwing error as she stole third.
The Lady Beavers made it a lot easier for Wallock with six runs in the fourth.
Singles by Kirsten Wilcox and Kristine Foltz and a walk loaded the bases. Dixon pulled the infield up, and Rowles got Wallock to hit the grounder the Lady Bisons needed, but another throwing error resulted in two runs.
After Megan Brown was hit by a pitch to fill the sacks again, Brittany Sayers ripped a bases-clearing triple to center.
Freshman Carly Wallock plated Sayers with a single and tacked on the final run with a sacrifice fly after classmate Lindsay Oberemski cracked a pinch-hit triple in the sixth inning.
\”Mandy was throwing fine until the fourth inning,\” Dixon said. \”She was pitching under pressure, but she was strong. She\’ll be fine. And we\’ll be fine.
\”It was the first game of the year, and we haven\’t been on our field at all. We\’ve been practicing on the football parking lot and in the gym.
\”We have things we can work on, but we have a lot of time to correct our problems. The girls do work hard, and we want to be playing our best ball at the end of the season. And I\’m certain we\’ll get a lot better. Hopefully, we\’ll be better by Friday night. It doesn\’t get any easier.\”
Defending District 6 Class AAA champion Bellefonte will bring a 2-1 record to the Bison Sports Complex for the Lady Bisons\’ home opener, and the Lady Red Raiders also have a quality pitcher in Deandra Sidisky. She worked three innings in relief to beat Indian Valley 1-0, lost a two-hitter to Central Mountain 1-0 and then came back to pitch a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts in a nine-inning 3-1 victory over Lewistown.
\”Any more, you don\’t find too many weak pitchers,\” Dixon said. \”There are really good pitchers all over Central Pennsylvania.\”
CLEARFIELD — 0
Alanna Luzier 2b 3010, Kenzie McGovern 3000, Ashley Lias ss 3000, Mandy Rowles p 3010, Julie Colesar 1b 3000, Alyssa Anderson cf 3010, Sarah Kovalick lf 2000, Courtney Morgan 3b 2000, Amber Mahlon rf 1000, Suzie Colesar rf 1000. TOTALS: 24 0 3 0.
DUBOIS — 8
Alysha Lange cf 3110, Kirsten Wilcox 2b 3110, Vanessa Jacobson ph 1000, Kristine Foltz 3b 2111, Lorianne Barbey c 2100, Leah Wallock p 3100, Meg Brown ss 2100, Brittany Sayers 1b 3013, Morgan Hanna dp 2010, Lindsay Obremski ph 1110, Carly Wallock lf 2012, Krista Tangren rf 0000. TOTALS: 24 7 6 5.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 000 000 0 – 0 3 3
DuBois 100 601 x – 8 6 0
Errors – Luzier, Lias, McGovern. PB – McGovern. LOB – Clearfield 3; DuBois 3. 3B – Obremski. SF – C. Wallock. SB – Lange.
Pitching
Clearfield – Rowles 6 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 8 K.
DuBois – L. Wallock 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K.
HB – Rowles 1 (Brown).
W – L. Wallock (1-0). L – Rowles (0-1).
HB – Rowles 1 (Brown).
W – L. Wallock (1-0). L – Rowles (0-1).