HOLLIDAYSBURG – After being held in check for six innings by Clearfield Area High School freshman Heather Picard in her first start, Hollidaysburg rallied for three runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 5-4 Central Penn Softball League win Thursday afternoon.
Singles by Hannah Mercer and Ashley Grassmyer and a wild pitch put the tying runs in scoring position, and Brooke Frederick’s flare to short right center erased the Lady Bisons’ 4-2 lead.
Following a one-out single by Kelsey Salyards, two Lady Bison errors on Meredith Smith’s grounder allowed Frederick to score the winning run and deny Clearfield its first victory.
The tough-luck loss was the third for the Lady Bisons, who turned in their best overall effort of the still-young season after being held to six hits and three runs in their first two outings against CPL foes State College and DuBois.
Melinda Owens paced a seven-hit attack with a double and two singles while B.J. Bowman chipped in with two singles and a pair of runs batted in.
“I saw big improvement,” Clearfield coach Bob Dixon said. “They played hard and hit the ball fairly well.
“They’re young and don’t have a lot of faith in themselves, but it’s coming. They’re getting better, and that’s the positive thing.”
Picard, who hadn’t thrown much since suffering a thumb injury in a pre-season scrimmage, gave the Lady Bisons a chance at breaking into the win column despite surrendering eight hits and one walk through the first six frames.
Mercer proved to be the right-hander’s nemesis, driving in runs with a double in the first inning and a triple in the third.
Those were offset by bases-loaded walks to Bowman and Owens that gave Clearfield its first lead of the season in the top of the third.
The Lady Bisons went in front again, 3-2, in the fourth on Bowman’s hard single through the left side after McKenzie Moore and Janell Zalno drew free passes from Salyards around a single by Andrea Butler.
In the top of the seventh, Clearfield picked up what appeared to be a big insurance run when Owens singled, stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on Hollidaysburg’s lone misplay.
However, Dixon had to stick with Picard because Butler was bothered by a sore shoulder after totaling more than 250 pitches in the back-to-back games last week, and the Lady Tigers came from behind for their second win in five games, improving to 2-1 in the CPL.
“Picard threw decent,” Dixon said, noting the Lady Tigers didn’t hit her very hard in the last inning. “She’s only going to get better.”
Mercer and Frederick each had three of Hollidaysburg’s 12 safeties.
The Lady Bisons had their opportunities against Salyards, who walked six, but they left 10 runners on base. Salyards struck out seven.
Clearfield will host Bradford Thursday in a District 9 Northern Allegany League Big School Division game and then return to Blair County Friday for a CPL game against Altoona.
Pictures of the game can be found here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall040710.html
CLEARFIELD — 4
Andrea Butler ss 4010, Janell Zalno lf 1100, B.J. Bowman cf 3022, Suzie Colesar 1b 4000, Melinda Owens 2b 3131, Rachel Cordon dp 4000, Mia Keener 3b 4001, Makenzie Moore c 3210, Lindsey Samsel rf 3000, Heather Picard p (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 29 4 7 4.
HOLLIDAYSBURG — 5
Amber Lemus cf 4110, Jenna Fleck 3b 2100, Hannah Mercer ss 4132, Ashley Grassmyer 1b 4110, Brooke Frederick c 4132, Jordan Stubbs lf 4010, Kelsey Salyards p 4020, Meredith Smith rf 4010, Mackenzie Walter 2b 3000. TOTALS: 33 5 12 4.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 002 100 1 – 4 7 4
Hollidaysburg 101 000 3 – 5 12 1
Errors – Bowman, Owens, Keener, Moore; Grassmyer. LOB – Clearfield 10; Hollidaysburg 10. 2B – Owens; Mercer. T – Mercer. Sac – Fleck. SB – Owens, Keener, Moore.
Pitching
Clearfield – Picard 6-1/3 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
Hollidaysburg – Salyards 7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 6 BB, 7 K.
HB – Salyards 1 (Zalno). WP – Picard 1; Salyards 1.
W – Salyards (2-3). L – Picard (0-1).
