HYDE – Four games under .500, the Clearfield Area High School softball team started to turn its season around by winning the first Thunder on the Mountain Tournament at Lock Haven in mid-April.
Coach Bob Dixon’s Lady Bisons went on to triumph in six of their last nine games for a 9-8 record that earned them a crack at the District 9 Class AAA championship.
Defending champion and No. 1 seed Punxsutawney (15-3), which was responsible for two of Clearfield’s losses, will be waiting at the Highland Elementary School Field near DuBois Wednesday. The first pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.
The Lady Chucks and Lady Bisons became perennial 9-AAA finalists after the breakup of the Districts 6-9 big school tournament in 2005.
Clearfield, which won the District 9 Class AA title in 2004, and Punxsy alternated as champs for four years before the Lady Chucks were unopposed in 2009 when a 6-14 finish kept the underclassmen-laden Lady Bisons on the sidelines.
The Lady Bisons, still young with five sophomores and three freshman in the probable starting lineup, have shown some improvement that Dixon sought going into the season, but they’ll have to take a huge step forward if they want to overtake the Lady Chucks.
Punxsy, which lost only to unbeaten champion DuBois in District 9 Northern Allegany League Big School Division and Central Penn League action, swept Clearfield by near-identical scores.
Amber Lellock (6-1) hurled a two-hitter with 15 strikeouts in a 9-2 home win on April 14.
Kelsey Cook (8-2) fired a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts in a 9-1 victory at the Bison Sports Complex on May 10.
B.J. Bowman tripled and scored a run in the first meeting and homered for the lone hit in the rematch.
For the season, Cook has whiffed 104 batters and walked only 14, giving up 45 hits and 16 runs in 65 innings.
Lellock’s strikeout-walk ratio is a brilliant 80-5 for 53 innings. She has given up 33 hits and 15 runs.
“Both were tough on us,” Dixon said. “We try to tell the girls to be ready for that pitch and go after it. They like to throw that first one by you, and if they get ahead, they’re that much tougher.
“When Cook gets ahead, she starts throwing that changeup, and she has a decent riser and a pretty good drop.
“Lellock is not quite as hard, but she can shut us out, too, if she’s on.”
The Punxsy pitchers have three shutouts apiece, one of Lellock’s a no-hitter against Bradford.
Clearfield will counter with Heather Picard (9-5), a freshman who has seen her earned run average drop from 5.83 to 3.10 while winning seven of her last nine starts. She has struck out 78 and walked 21 during that stretch.
Picard has worked 90-1/3 innings with 91 strikeouts and 28 walks in her 14 complete games. She’s allowed 118 hits and 61 runs, 40 earned.
She’ll have to contend with a lineup that is solid, top to bottom, and collected 21 hits the first two times she faced the Lady Chucks.
Second baseman Ashley Barenchik had a double and two singles, right fielder-designated player Shawnna Crago a home run and single and catcher Hannah Neal and third baseman Jenna Reitz two singles apiece in the first game.
Neal and Reitz duplicated their two-hit efforts and were joined by shortstop Angela Laska and center fielder Megan Kauffman in the second game.
Picard has silenced first baseman Taylor Powell in both games, but she’s not penciled into the No. 3 slot for no reason.
Lellock, who plays in the outfield when not pitching, and left fielder Kristen Fedder also are tough outs.
Bowman has wielded the big bat for Clearfield all season. The sophomore center fielder owns a .440 average and has blasted six home runs among her 22 hits. She’s also driven in 19 runs.
The only other Lady Bison with double-digit RBIs is soph catcher McKenzie Moore (.277) with 12.
Tristan Lewis, another sophomore, is hitting .417 since taking over at second base early this month.
Other probable starters will be freshman Lucy Kovalick at first base, soph Melinda Owens (.244) at shortstop, junior Suzie Colesar (.286) at third base, senior Janell Zalno in left, freshman Mikayla Ebeling (.276) in right and soph Mia Keener the designated player.
The Lady Bisons are hitting .243 as a team with eight homers, one triple by Bowman and 17 doubles, Colesar and Owens the co-leaders with four each.
“We gave (Punxsy) a lot of extra outs in both games, so we have to shore up our defense,” Dixon said. “We hope Heather can locate well and we get our bats alive. We hit pretty well against Altoona (Friday). Hopefully, we can carry that over.”
The winner will move on to meet the District 6 champion in a PIAA play-in game next week.
