HYDE – Early-inning woes continued for the Clearfield Area High School softball team Thursday afternoon as Altoona scored six runs in the third frame en route to a 7-1 victory in Central Penn League make-up action at the Bison Sports Complex.
The winless Lady Bisons have been outscored 25-2 in the first three innings of their four setbacks, all in the CPL.
\”We had that one inning again,\” Clearfield coach Bob Dixon said. \”We get rid of our one bad inning and…
\”Listen, we have a young group. They\’re playing hard. They\’re coming together. I just don\’t want them to get down, because they are gonna be an excellent ball team.
\”Hopefully, we can accelerate the process, and by the end of the season, we\’re there.\”
Right now, the youthful Lady Bisons are paying their dues.
Runs have been hard to come by, though in all fairness, they\’ve faced some very good pitching.
Lady Mountain Lion Jess Seasholtz had the Red and Black shut out until B.J. Bowman blasted a leadoff home run over the center field fence leading off the bottom of the seventh inning, her second dinger in as many games.
The freshman center fielder also singled in the first inning and is sporting a .462 average.
Melinda Owens beat out a grounder to deep short in the sixth for the only other Lady Bison hit.
Seasholtz, coming off 17-strikeout wins over Mount Union and Hollidaysburg earlier in the week, was in complete command, facing one batter over the minimum through five innings.
The hard-throwing senior right-hander, who didn\’t play last season when the Lady Mountain Lions lost all 18 games, struck out 12 and walked two for her fourth win.
\”She makes a big difference for them,\” Dixon said. \”She was effective in the circle, You can\’t take it away from her.\”
Seasholtz, who has 78 strikeouts in 45 innings, was staked to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Paige Robertson singled, stole second and breezed home on the first of two doubles to deep left by freshman Didi Rizzo.
Her task became much easier in the third.
The Lady Mountain Lions (5-2, 2-1 CPL) parlayed three of their seven hits off Andrea Butler with a walk, a hit batsman, a wild pitch, a passed ball and a failed fielder\’s choice play into the six runs. Brooke Kudlaweic\’s infield single and Bailey Sinai\’s roller through the left side triggered the rally. Kim Bumbarger blooped a run-scoring double behind third base.
Butler, a freshman, blanked the visitors on two hits over the last four innings and earned Dixon\’s praise after registering a career-high 10 strikeouts.
\”She pitched a whale of a game,\” Dixon said. \”She threw with a blister on the index finger on her right hand in the last two innings. She toughed it out. She\’s a gamer. She doesn\’t quit.\”
Butler walked three Lady Mountain Lions and hit one.
She got two defensive gems from older sister Megan in the sixth inning. The senior third baseman corralled Sinai\’s wicked one-hopper for the first out and then made a lunging catch of Rizzo\’s foul pop-up.
Clearfield will host Hollidaysburg Friday in another CPL make-up game.
The Clearfield junior varsity notched its first win, 16-14.
ALTOONA — 7
Paige Robertson lf 4111, Brooke Kudlaweic c 4110, Bailey Sinai ss 3110, Didi Rizzo 1b 4021, Jess Seasholtz p 3100, Kristie Mulhollem 3b 4101, Kim Bumbarger cf 2111, Lindsey Miller cf 1000, Haley Rhodes rf 3101, Madeline Berry 2b 3010. TOTALS: 31 7 7 5.
CLEARFIELD — 1
Melinda Owens ss 3010, Megan Butler 3b 3000, B.J. Bowman cf 3121, Julie Colesar 1b 3000, Suzie Colesar rf 2000, Carrie Harbold dp 3000, Courtney Morgan 2b 2000, Chantel Read c 1000, Andrea Butler p 2000, Mia Keener lf (flex) 0000, Laura Jean Hill lf (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 22 1 3 1.
Score by Innings
Altoona 106 000 0 – 7 7 0
Clearfield 000 000 1 – 1 3 1
Errors – J. Colesar. PB – Read. DP – Altoona 1 (Seasholtz and Sinai). LOB – Altoona 7; Clearfield 2. 2B – Rizzo 2, Bumbarger. HR – B.J. Bowman (2). SB – Robertson, Bumbarger 2, Rhodes. CS – S. Colesar (by Kudlaweic).
Pitching
Altoona – Seasholtz 7 IP, 3H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 12 K.
Clearfield – A. Butler 7 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 10 K.
HB – Butler 1 (Bumbarger). WP – A. Butler 3.
W – Seasholtz (4-2). L – A. Butler (0-3).
Umpires – Jim McKee (plate); Norm Bender (bases).
