HYDE – How much moving the pitching rubber back three feet will affect high school softball this season remains to be seen, and results were mixed in Clearfield’s opener against defending PIAA Class AAA champion Bellefonte Tuesday.
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The two hurlers, with pitches breaking and moving a little more, combined for 20 strikeouts.
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Batters, able to see the offerings a split-second longer, belted 22 hits around and out of the Bison Sports Complex.
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The two Mountain League teams took turns playing home run derby during the crossover game with the visiting Lady Raiders (Nittany Division) winning the longball battle 4-2 to hand the Lady Bisons (Allegheny Division) a 10-6 setback on a sunny but chilly afternoon.
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Bellefonte led 4-0 when Colesar connected on a shot to left after B.J. Bowman walked in the fourth inning.
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Hoffman, who rammed a single to right in her first varsity at-bat, displayed her power for the hometown fans when she smashed a grand slam homer to left center that knotted the score at 6-6 in the fifth. A single by Lucy Kovalick and two walks set the table for the rookie designated player who is scheduled to pitch Wednesday at Lewistown.
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Dixon was encouraged by the way the Lady Bisons fought back against Raychel DeArmitt, who saved Bellefonte’s 3-2 win over Jersey Shore in the 2010 gold medal game.
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“Other years, that game’s over at 6-2,” he said. “They didn’t quit. Even when we were down, I thought, ‘We can hit the ball and we can score runs. We just can’t give ’em outs.'”
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Bellefonte didn’t need much help, though, as all but three of its runs off Heather Picard were earned and six crossed the plate on balls that Lady Bison outfielders could only watch sail out of the yard.
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The Lady Raiders, coming off a 4-1 loss to Central Mountain on Friday, struck quickly as Jess Gmerek lined a two-run homer to left and Chrissy Tressler lofted a solo shot to dead center.
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Ashley Bowes’ bunt hit, Kissy Thal’s single to the fence in right center and Erica DeVinney’s single off first baseman Kovalick’s glove made it 4-0 in the second.
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“Heather, the first two innings, was nervous,” Dixon said. “She didn’t tell me until the end of the second inning. She didn’t locate well. And that’s what I preach to her, locate, locate, locate. You make mistakes and put the ball over the plate, and they’re gonna hit it.”
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Picard then settled down, working out of the two-on, no-out situation, and began to look more like the pitcher who made great strides after being thrust into the No. 1 starter’s role early last spring.
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The right-hander logged outs against 10 of 11 batters before two catchable fly balls fell, leading to two unearned runs that restored Bellefonte’s four-run lead in the top of the fifth.
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Taken off the hook by Hoffman’s homer, Picard got two quick outs in the sixth.
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However, DeArmitt drilled a homer to left for what proved to be the game-winning hit.
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A throwing error on a double steal after Gmerek and Hannah Cooper singled gave the Lady Raiders what appeared to be a big insurance run.
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DeArmitt didn’t need it as she set down the Lady Bisons 1-2-3 in the sixth and seventh, finishing with 13 strikeouts and four walks.
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Vanessa Cooper made her job a whole lot easier with a two-run laser to left center in the seventh.
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DeVinney had three of the 15 hits allowed by Picard, who fanned seven and walked two.
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“I think she might have tired a little bit late in the game, but she battled,” Dixon said of his young pitcher. “Like I told them out on the field, we can’t make mistakes and make her throw extra pitches. If you erase some of the mistakes we made, they don’t get as many-at bats and maybe they don’t get as many hits.
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“We don’t want her to throw and throw and throw. That’s hard on your pitcher.”
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The Lady Bisons solved DeArmitt for seven hits, but only Hoffman had more than one.
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“When we hit the ball, we hit it hard,” Dixon said. “Just not enough hits.
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“They’re better hitters. The whole time out there (after the game), they kept saying, ‘We need to hit more, we need to hit more.’ And I kept stressing to them, if they don’t score we can’t lose. I’ll play til dark 0-0.”
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He added, “We’ve got a really good group. I really think that, if we can get out of making these mistakes, we can do some damage in the league and win some ball games.”
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See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall032911.html
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BELLEFONTE — 10
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Erica DeVinney ss 5131, Raychel DeArmitt p 5111, Jess Gmerek 2b 5222, Hannah Cooper c 4110, Jillian Musser cr 0000, Chrissy Tressler 3b 4222, Devon Etters lf 3120, Vanessa Cooper dp 4113, Ashley Bowes cf 4110, Kissy Thal 1b 3020, Alicia Allen pr 0000, Jessica Walizer (flex) p 0000. TOTALS: 37 10 15 9.
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CLEARFIELD — 6
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Andrea Butler ss 3000, Melinda Owens 2b 3100, B.J. Bowman cf 3110, Suzie Colesar 3b 3212, Rachel Hoffman dp 3124, Tristan Lewis lf 3010, Mikayla Ebeling rf 3010, McKenzie Moore c 2000, Lucy Kovalick 1b 3110, Heather Picard (flex) p 0000. TOTALS: 26 6 7 6.
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Score by Innings
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Bellefonte   310 022 2 – 10 15 1
Clearfield    002 040 0 – 6  7 3
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E – DeVinney; Lewis, Ebeling, Moore. DP – Bellefonte 1 (Tressler, Gmerek and DeVinney). LOB – Bellefonte 8; Clearfield 4. 2B – Tressler, Etters. HR – DeArmitt, Gmerek, Tressler, V. Cooper; Colesar (1), Hoffman (1). SB – Gmerek, H. Cooper, Musser. Sac – Moore.
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Pitching
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Bellefonte – DeArmitt 7 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 13 K.
Clearfield – Picard 7 IP, 15 H, 10 R, 7 ER, 2 BB, 7 K.
WP – DeArmitt 1; Picard 1.
W – DeArmitt (1-1). L – Picard (0-0).
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Umpires – Joe Shick (plate) and Dennis Koppenhaver (bases).
“We score six runs, I expect to win,” Clearfield coach Bob Dixon said. “We made a lot of mistakes. Maybe we’ll attribute it to first game jitters. I know we’re capable of doing better.”
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Fence-clearing blasts by senior Suzie Colesar and freshman Rachel Hoffman in the middle innings accounted for all of the Clearfield runs.
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