HYDE – The return of seven letterwinners, all of them starters in 2009, guarantees the Clearfield Area High School softball team will show improvement this season.
How much better and how the win-loss record will be impacted remains to be seen.
Though a year older, the Lady Bisons still are a very young team going against a rugged schedule that features most of the top big-school teams in Districts 6 and 9.
Two-year letterwinner Suzie Colesar is the only junior.
Returnees Chantel Read and Janell Zalno are among five seniors.
The talented sophomore group is led by letterwinners Andrea Butler, Melinda Owens, Mia Keener and B.J. Bowman, who played in only six games before being sidelined due to a hand injury.
Last season didn’t exactly unravel the way coach Bob Dixon had envisioned.
Two-year pitching ace Mandy Rowles left the team for personal reasons after making one start.
Then, Bowman suffered her injury during her first start in the circle.
Those occurrences took the two most potent bats out of the lineup, and the Lady Bisons wound up hitting only .211 and scoring just 59 runs, an average of three a game.
Quality pitching by the opposition was a big factor, though, as Clearfield bumped into most of the premier hurlers in the two districts and was held to two runs or less 11 times.
Defensively, the Lady Bisons were guilty of more than four dozen errors that prolonged innings and cost the pitching staff 46 unearned runs.
All of which resulted in a 6-14 finish.
Dixon, 43-37 in his first four seasons as Lady Bison coach, is banking on the versatility as well as the experience of his squad.
Colesar (.327, team-high 17 hits) has been moved from left field to first base, replacing her sister Julie. Suzie Colesar hit .400 during the second half of the season, with two home runs, five of her team-best six doubles and all but one of her team-high eight runs batted in.
Keener (.286, 10 hits) will hold down third base after playing all three positions in the outfield last spring, mostly in right.
Owens (.241, 14 hits) is making the switch from shortstop to second base.
Plugging the hole at short will be senior Rachel Cordon (.222) and Butler (.184) when she’s not pitching. The latter was the shortstop on opening day last season before being thrown into the fire as the No. 1 hurler in the next game.
Two-thirds of the outfield is set with Bowman (.421, 8 hits, 3 home runs, 7 RBIs) in center and Zalno (.190, 11 hits) in left, but several hopefuls are contending for the starting job in right. Sophs Tristan Lewis, Lindsey Samsel and McKenzie Moore are the front-runners.
Dixon is confident going with Read (.176), the incumbent, or Moore behind the plate. Moore caught six games last spring, including the first two before going down to the junior varsity for more seasoning when Read, a transfer from Curwensville, took over.
Read also started two games at third base and Zalno saw action at second base, giving Dixon even more options if necessary.
Butler improved over the course of her rookie season in the circle, winning three of her last five decisions for a 6-10 record and lower her earned run average to 3.65 for 97-2/3 innings. She gave up 113 hits while striking out 65 batters and walking 40.
Lewis was pulled up from the jayvees in the second half of the season and logged 20-1/3 innings with a 6.19 ERA. She lost her only two decisions.
Because Clearfield is moving into the all-sports Mountain Athletic Conference next year, the Lady Bisons will be exiting both the District 9 Northern Allegany League and Central Penn League after only two seasons.
DuBois and Punxsutawney tied for first place in D9NAL with 9-1 records and were the District 9 champs in Class AAAA and Class AAA, respectively.
Also on Clearfield’s schedule are District 6 Class AAAA champ State College and runner-up Central Mountain and District 6 Class AAA champ Bellefonte.
Weather permitting, the Lady Bisons will open at DuBois Monday and host State College Wednesday.
Varsity assistant Rodger Porter is in his ninth year on the Lady Bison coaching staff, and Larry Conklin is a volunteer assistant
Andy Squires is the second-year junior varsity coach.
Seniors held down three infield positions last year, Julie Colesar at first base, Courtney Morgan at second and Megan Butler (.250, 6 RBIs) at third.
Reserves Sophie Reed (.200) and LauraJean Hill (.333) had several starts apiece in the outfield, while Carrie Harbold saw starting action in the outfield as well as the designated player.
The varsity roster, with letterwinners denoted by (*):
Seniors – Breanna Blaylock, if-of; Rachel Cordon, if; Baillie Davis, c-of; Chantel Read (*), c; Janell Zalno (*), of.
Juniors – Suzie Colesar (*), 1b.
Sophomores – B.J. Bowman (*), of; Andrea Butler (*), p-if; Mia Keener (*), if; Tristan Lewis, p-if; McKenzie Moore, c-of; Melinda Owens (*), if-of; Lindsey Samsel, of.
Freshmen – Heather Picard, p.
* * * * *
The junior varsity roster:
Juniors – Sarah Graham, if-of; Kaitlin Houdeshell, if-of; Destiney Kanouff, ss.
Sophomores – Robyn McBride, if; Amanda Peoples, p-of; Tori Wilsoncroft, of.
Freshmen – Alyssa Broad, of; Kayla Brooks, if; Mikayla Ebeling, of; Dakota Farmery, if; Lucy Kovalick, if; Brittany Renaud, if; Amber Scott, c-of.
The schedule, with home games in capitals, (D9L) for District 9 Northern Allegany League Big School Division and (CPL) for Central Penn League:
(All games at 4:15 p.m. unless noted)
March
29 – at DuBois (D9L and CPL); 31 STATE COLLEGE (CPL).
April
7 – at Hollidaysburg (CPL), 4 p.m.; 8 – BRADFORD (D9L); 9 – at Altoona (CPL); 12 – BELLEFONTE; 14 – at Punxsutawney (D9L and CPL); 17 – at Central Mountain Tournament, 9 a.m.; 19 – at Williamsport (CPL), 4 p.m.; 21 – ST. MARYS (D9L and CPL); 28 – BROOKVILLE (D9L).
May
3 – DUBOIS (D9L); 5 – at Bradford (D9L); 7 – HOLLIDAYSBURG; 10 – PUNXSUTAWNEY (D9L); 12 – at St. Marys (D9L); 19 – at Brookville (D9L); 21 – ALTOONA.