HYDE – Heather Picard of Clearfield and Rachel Ginther of St. Marys may be freshmen, but they pitched like a couple of high school varsity veterans Wednesday at the Bison Sports Complex.
A first-inning run decided the 1-0 duel won by Picard with a three-hit gem embellished by 14 strikeouts.
Ginther was equally tough, limiting the Lady Bisons to four singles while striking out 11.
Leadoff batter Melinda Owens drew a walk and circled the sacks on Janell Zalno’s bunt, a passed ball and a wild pitch for the only run in the District 9 Northern Allegany League Big School Division and Central Penn League win.
B.J. Bowman’s infield single, the first of her three hits, officially made it an earned run.
That was all Picard needed as she stranded six Lady Dutch runners in scoring position with five of her strikeouts.
Clearfield coach Bob Dixon couldn’t recall the last nail-biter like that.
“It’s hard on the coaches,” he said. “The first batter up scores and you get nothing else the rest of the game.
“You’re always trying to squeak through an inning, and we ran through the rain drops a couple of times.”
He rated Picard’s fifth win as her best effort so far, topping the 15-strikeout, five-hit shutout against Brockway in the Thunder on the Mountain Tournament Saturday and the six strong innings she pitched at Williamsport Monday.
“Heather did a nice job,” Dixon said. “She came back and hit the spots when she needed to. She showed a lot of character. They had runners on a lot of times, and they didn’t get anything.”
Picard struck out at least two batters in each of the first six innings.
She got some help from her fielders in the seventh after she stabbed Lucia Cadori’s sharp comebacker.
Makayla Ebeling made a nice running catch of pinch-hitter Angie Gradizzi’s fly ball to shallow right and Owens grabbed Erica Sorg’s sinking liner off her shoetops for the final out.
St. Marys had two serious threats, aided by the three walks Picard issued, but left the bases loaded in the fourth frame and runners at second and third in the sixth.
The only Lady Dutch hits were a looper to left by Sorg that fell just in front of the diving Zalno and two well-placed bunts by Mandy Gerarge.
Picard showed good command of all her pitches.
“She throws a fastball, a change, a drop, a curveball and a riser,” Dixon noted. “And we used everything tonight.
“The last game we threw everything but the riser, because the riser hurts her thumb that she had broken. She said she felt good enough to try it tonight.”
Although the Lady Bisons have won four games in a row to reach .500 for the first time this season at 5-5, Dixon is more than a little concerned about their high strikeout totals.
Ginther kept them off stride with what Dixon described as “a heck of a changeup and a decent riseball.”
He added, “She a nice pitcher and did a nice job, but we’ve been stressing the fact that every time you strike out, that’s just an out between the pitcher and catcher. You’re putting no stress on their defense.
“We’ve got to do a better job of making contact with the ball and making the other team work.”
Clearfield finished what probably will be its last season in the CPL at 3-4. The Lady Bisons are 1-2 in the D9NAL.
St. Marys is 0-3 in the CPL, 1-3 in the D9NAL and 2-3 overall.
The Lady Bisons are off until hosting Brookville in a D9NAL game Wednesday.
See photos of the Lady Bison win here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall042110.html
ST. MARYS — 0
Erica Sorg ss 4010, Kali Quagliani 2b 3000, Danielle Cesa 2b 0000, Rachel Ginther p 3000, Raelyn Cunningham dp 2000, Rachel Walker pr 0000, Mandy Gerarge lf 3020, Savannah Krivonyak 3b 2000, Chelsea Walker rf 3000, Lucia Cadori 1b 2000, Becky Aul c 1000, Angie Gradizzi ph 2000, Sam Kunes cf (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 25 0 3 0.
CLEARFIELD — 1
Melinda Owens ss 2100, Janell Zalno lf 2010, B.J. Bowman cf 3030, Suzie Colesar 1b 3000, Makenzie Moore c 3000, Mia Keener 3b 3000, Chantel Read 2b 2000, Makayla Ebeling rf 2000, Dakota Farmery dp 1000, Heather Picard p (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 21 1 4 0.
Score by Innings
St. Marys 000 000 0 – 0 3 0
Clearfield 100 000 0 – 1 4 1
Error – Read. PB – Aul 2. LOB – St. Marys 7; Clearfield 6. 2B – Sorg. Sac – Zalno. SB – R. Walker, Gerarge 2, Krivonyak.
Pitching
St. Marys – Ginther 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 K.
Clearfield – Picard 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 14 K.
HB – Ginther 1 (Farmery). WP – Ginther 2.
W – Picard (5-3). L – Ginther (2-3).
Umpires – Rob Murphy (plate); Al Fricke (bases).