HYDE – The Clearfield Lady Bisons have been practicing so much because of postponements, nine in the last two weeks to be exact, coach Bob Dixon gave them a night off Wednesday.
They responded with a performance that belied the fact they had not played a game since their opener on March 29.
Heather Picard fashioned a three-hitter with 11 strikeouts, Melinda Owens highlighted a 15-hit attack with a grand slam home run and the Lady Bisons were flawless on defense in a 9-1 win over Penns Valley at the Bison Sports Complex Thursday afternoon.
“I was proud of them,” Dixon said after the Mountain League crossover game victory. “We’ve been practicing and practicing, and in the gym on wet nights, so I thought, ‘Let’s get away from it for a day.’
“I was worried about them being a little rusty, but, hey, they came out ready to play.”
While Picard was silencing the Lady Rams, eight Lady Bisons joined the hit parade led by Mikayla Ebeling with a double and two singles.
Owens, Andrea Butler, B.J. Bowman, Suzie Colesar and Tristan Lewis chimed in with two safeties apiece off Emily Weaver.
“I think we’re capable of hitting well,” Dixon said. “She’s a decent pitcher. We hit some of her good pitches.”
The biggest blow was Owens’ first career homer that gave Clearfield (1-1) an 8-1 cushion in the third inning.
“I said at the beginning of the year she hits the ball as hard as any small girl I’ve ever seen,” Dixon noted. “On her third time at bat, the first swing, I saw she pulled her head really bad. I told her, ‘You’ve gotta watch the ball. Keep your head on the ball.’
“And that’s when she hit the grand slam.”
The Lady Bisons took advantage of a two-our error to put the game away in that frame.
Colesar, who led off with a single, scored on the miscue. Then, McKenzie Moore singled to left, Lucy Kovalick ripped a shot that just missed Penns Valley third baseman Courtney Ironside’s head for an RBI and Butler singled to right, setting the stage for Owens’ drive over the fence in left.
Clearfield had posted singletons in the first inning on Bowman’s double into the left field corner and Colesar’s liner to center and the second when Lewis legged out an infield hit, Ebeling doubled to right center and Butler blooped a single behind first baseman Tangie Lyons.
In the fifth, Owens doubled to the fence in left center and scored when Bowman’s line single to right was misplayed.
Picard was pretty much in command all the way.
The sophomore right-hander did log 128 pitches and issue five walks, but never more than one in any inning.
“That a lot of pitches to win a ball game and give up only one run,” Dixon said. “Heather went deep into the count with a lot of batters, but she battled.”
The lone Penns Valley (0-4) run made it a 2-1 game in the top of the third. Tess Deardorff drew a walk and advanced on a wild pitch and a stolen base ahead of Janelle Welch’s single to right.
Picard finished strong, retiring the last eight Lady Rams she faced after stranding two runners in scoring position in the fifth.
“She threw a good game,” Dixon said. “We used a lot of different pitches. We were trying to throw a screwball, and that was effective on a lot of batters. She kept them off balance pretty good.”
Picard was backed by a defense that made no mistakes.
Moore gunned down two Lady Rams at second base on steal attempts.
“She’s tough to steal on,” Dixon said. “She has such quick hands and she has a strong arm. She’s a good catcher.”
Right fielder Ebeling and center fielder Bowman made dandy, running grabs of fly balls in the alleys to rob two Lady Rams of extra base hits in the late innings.
“Believe me, we’ve worked hard on defense since the Bellefonte game,” Dixon said. “We really pounded into them that if you don’t give up a run, you don’t lose.
“I’m real pleased with them. They’re a really good group of girls, and they work hard.
“They’re experienced, and they’re showing it. I just told them to believe in themselves, and we’ll do real well.”
The Lady Bisons will play Bald Eagle Area at the Milesburg Little League Field Monday.
Down 7-1, the Clearfield junior varsity rallied for seven runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out a win over West Branch.
PENNS VALLEY — 1
Tess Deardorff lf 2110, Megan Houser 2b 3010, Janelle Welch cf 2011, Clarissa Keller c 3000, Ashley Struble ss 2000, Courtney Ironside 3b 2000, Emily Weaver p 3000, Tangie Lyons 1b 1000, Morgan Sharer ph-1b 1000, Miranda Kline dp 2000, Nicki Harbaugh ph 1000, Morgan Royer rf (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 22 1 3 1.
CLEARFIELD — 9
Andrea Butler ss 4121, Melinda Owens 2b 4224, B.J. Bowman cf 4120, Suzie Colesar 3b 4121, Rachel Hoffman lf 4000, Tristan Lewis dp 4120, Mikayla Ebeling rf 4130, McKenzie Moore c 4110, Lucy Kovalick 1b 2111, Heather Picard p (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 34 9 15 7.
Score by Innings
Penns Valley 001 000 0 – 1 3 3
Clearfield 116 010 x – 9 15 0
E – Welch, Lyons, Royer. LOB – Penns Valley 5; Clearfield 8. 2B – Owens, Bowman, Ebeling. HR – Owens (1). SB – Deardorff 2. CS – Welch (by Moore), Struble (by Moore).
Pitching
Penns Valley – Weaver 6 IP, 15 H, 9 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
Clearfield – Picard 7 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 11 K.
WP – Weaver 1, Picard 3.
W – Picard (1-1). L – Weaver (0-2).
Umpires – Garry Shirey (plate) and Norm Bender (bases).
