CURWENSVILLE – Clearfield Lady Bison pitcher Mandy Rowles used her bat as well as her arm in stopping Curwensville 5-1 Wednesday. Rowles threw a four hitter and smacked two solo home runs to lead the Lady Bisons to their first victory. It was a performance that would have made Barry Manilow proud.
For the Lady Tide it was their first taste of defeat since May 2 of 2007 when they were shutout at Punxsutawney 2-0. The loss now evens their record at 1-1 while Clearfield moves to 1-2.
A few rain drops throughout the afternoon didn’t appear to bother either squad and after the first three innings neither team had yet to cross home plate. The pitching duel was soon to end though as the Bisons struck for three runs in the top half of the fourth.
Rowles, leading off, took the first pitch from Curwensville ace Holly Lansberry and promptly smacked it over the left field wall for the games first run. Julie Colesar, Alyssa Anderson and Suzie Colesar each smacked consecutive singles to add another run. Then with two out Alanna Luzier punched a single to right giving the Bisons one more to go up 3-0.
Clearfield coach Bob Dixon was full of praise for his pitcher, “Mandy (Rowles) just took the ball and threw a really great game against a good team.” Dixon spoke of how the first home run Rowles hit changed the game, “After Mandy hit that homer in the fourth we just gained a bunch of confidence. The other kids started to believe in themselves and it showed.”
The Lady Bisons would strike again for one run in the fifth and one more in the seventh. Ashley Lias doubled down the left field line to start the top of the fifth for Clearfield and would later score on a single by Julie Colesar. In the top of the seventh it was Rowles again. This time driving one over the right center field fence for another solo shot to give Clearfield a commanding 5-0 lead with three outs from victory.
The win for the Lady Bisons was a much needed one as Dixon stated, “This is certainly one to build on. Hopefully it will lead to bigger and better things.” The Clearfield skipper then added, “The first two games we were very tentative at the plate. Today we changed all that with some good at bats coupled with a solid defense.”
Speaking of defense. The defensive play of the game was made by Clearfield right fielder Amber Mahlon in the fourth inning. Lady Tide catcher Ashley Demchak hit a long foul ball that Mahlon chased down right near the out of play line making a spectacular catch.
The Lady Tide picked up their lone run in last of the seventh when Jenessa Stiles lead off with a single to right field and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Stacey Johnson.
Sara Clark had the only extra base hit for Curwensville as the sophomore pounded a triple to right center in the bottom of the seventh.
Tide head coach Allen Leigey talked about the loss , “ I knew Clearfield would play well after seeing them lose yesterday (Tuesday) to Punxsutawney. We did play well at times, but not enough. Clearfield controlled the tempo of the game and they certainly deserved to come away with the win. Now we need to focus on Elk County Catholic for tomorrow (Thursday).\”
Curwensville is back in action, as mentioned, Thursday at home against Elk County Catholic (2-0). Game time is set for 4:15 pm. The Lady Bisons will try to even their record row when they travel to St. Mary’s on Friday.
CLEARFIELD – Alanna Luzier 2b 4011, Megan Butler 3b 4000, Ashley Lias ss 4110, Many Rowles p 4222, Julie Colesar 1b 4120 , Alyssa Anderson cf 3121, Suzie Colesar dp 2011, Kenzie McGovern c 3000, Sarah Kovalick lf 3000, Amber Mahlon flex/rf 0000. TOTALS – 31 5 9 5
CURWENSVILLE – Holly Lansberry p 3000, Tess Bloom cf 3000, Shannon McDonald ss 3010, Ashley Demchak c 3000, Jenessa Stiles 3b 3110, Samantha Haney dp 3000, Stacey Johnson 1b 3011, Sara Clark lf 3010, Morgan Peterman 2b 2000, Lauren McKeown ph 1000, Erin Bressler flex/rf 0000. TOTALS 27 1 4 1
ERRORS – Butler, Anderson, Lias, Rowles. Lansberry, Stiles, McDonald, Demchak.
LOB – CLEARFIELD – 6 CURWENSVILLE – 5. HR – Rowles (2) 2B- Lias 3B-Clark. SB – Luzier, Butler, J. Colesar. Stiles SAC – S. Colesar. Johnson.
WP- Lansberry, Rowles. PB – McGovern
SCORE BY INNINGS R H E
CLEARFIELD 000 310 1 5 9 4
CURWENSVILLE 000 000 1 1 4 4
PITCHING IP H R ER BB K
CLEARFIELD
Rowles 7 4 1 1 0 7
CURWENSVILLE
Lansberry 7 9 5 3 0 8
WP – Rowles (1-2) LP – Lansberry (1-1)