Eight starters contributed to a 14-hit attack that enabled the Lady Bisons to atone for last week’s 3-1 loss to the Lady Bearcats.
Sarah Snare pitched a five-hitter to outduel Heather Picard in the first meeting between the Mountain League Allegheny Division teams, but the Lady Bisons had her number the second time around.
Eleven of their safeties came in the three innings they scored.
“That’s nice to bunch those hits together,” Clearfield coach Bob Dixon said. “We hit the ball real well.”
The Bisons didn’t take long to get on the scoreboard.
After Snare induced two quick groundouts, Bowman and Colesar bounced singles through the left side and Ebeling connected for her homer, a drive that got up in the brisk wind and carried over the center field fence to match her RBI total of the first 12 games.
“She’s pretty much a spray hitter, but she has power,” Dixon said. “I think she still would have had it out without the wind.”
For five innings, it appeared Ebeling’s three RBIs might be all Picard would need.
The Lady Bison hurler, who was a tough-luck loser at Huntingdon, cruised through five innings with her teammates making all the plays behind her, including a first-inning twinkilling that started with Ebeling making a shoe-top grab in short right field.
Huntingdon (7-8) did make it 3-1 on Emily Bilger’s single and Brionna Mort’s two-out double in the third inning.
Clearfield came up with three more runs in the lower fifth. Colesar lined a double off the left field fence to drive in Bowman, who was hit by a pitch and promptly stole second base. Colesar moved up on a passed ball and scored on Ebeling’s groundout. Then, Hoffman laced a double to left center and Tristan Lewis bounced a double over the fence in left to give Picard a five-run cushion.
The Lady Bearcats made it interesting in the sixth with four runs on half of their 12 hits. They executed a double steal for one run before Atalie Yingling, Snare and Toni Strait recording RBI singles.
However, the Lady Bisons answered with a five-run outburst ignited by Lucy Kovalick’s second hit and capped by Hoffman’s laser to left with Bowman and Colesar aboard again. In between, Melinda Owens singled to plate Kovalick and later scored on Ebeling’s sacrifice fly.
In the last four games, Hoffman has seven hits, all for extra bases, and nine RBIs. The freshman has belted six home runs on the year.
“She just has a really nice swing,” Dixon said. “And usually when she hits the ball, it’s right on the end of the bat.”
Mort tried to spark the Lady Bearcats by leading off the seventh with a home run to center for her fourth consecutive hit.
Then, Alexyss Spencer beat out a grounder to deep short and Casey Baird reached base on an error.
Lewis, in the lineup for the second game after missing two weeks because of gall bladder surgery, suffered a hand injury trying to corral Baird’s slicing liner to left and had to be pulled, causing a delay of several minutes while Dixon summoned Robyn McBride from the junior varsity game.
When play resumed, Hoffman relieved and preserved Picard’s third victory via a strikeout, a comebacker and a groundout.
“I’m satisfied,” Dixon said. “We got a win.”
It was No. 6 in 13 games for the Lady Bisons, who are 2-4 in the Allegheny Division.
Clearfield steps out of the Mountain League to take on District 9 Class AAA rival Punxsutawney Friday in a road game.
See photos of the win over Huntingdon here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall050511.html
HUNTINGDON — 6
Brionna Mort c 4242, Alexyss Spencer ss 4129, Casey Baird 1b 4000, Atalie Yingling lf 4121, Cheyanne Snyder dp 4010, Kiley Dubbs pr 0100, Sarah Snare p 4011, Morgan Glover p 0000, Emily Bilger 3b 3110, Toni Strait cf 2011, Katie Kurtz 2b 3000, Leah Wilson rf (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 32 6 12 5.
CLEARFIELD — 11
Andrea Butler ss 3000, Melinda Owens 2b 4111, B.J. Bowman dp-cf 3330, Suzie Colesar 3b 4331, Mikayla Ebeling rf 3115, Rachel Hoffman cf-p 4223, Tristan Lewis lf 4011, Robyn McBride lf 0000, McKenzie Moore c 3010, Lucy Kovalick 1b 3120, Heather Picard p (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 31 11 14 11.
Score by Innings
Huntingdon 001 004 1 – 6 12 2
Clearfield 300 035 x – 11 14 1
Errors – Spencer, Bilger; Lewis. PB – Mort 1. DP – Clearfield 1 (Ebeling and Kovalick). LOB – Huntingdon 6; Clearfield 5. 2B – Mort 2; Bowman, Colesar, Hoffman, Lewis. HR – Mort; Ebeling (1), Hoffman (6). SB – Mort, Spencer; Bowman. Sac – Strait; Butler. SF – Ebeling.
Pitching
Huntingdon – Snare 5-2/3 IP, 14 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 0 BB, 1 K; Glover 1/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Picard 6+ IP (faced 3 batters in 7th), 12 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 1 K; Hoffman 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
HB – Snare 1 (Bowman).
W – Picard (3-6). L – Snare (7-8).
Umpires – J.R. Rosselli (plate) and Garry Shirey (bases).
HYDE – Mikayla Ebeling socked her first career home run and drove in five runs, Rachel Hoffman drilled her fourth homer in three games this week and B.J. Bowman and Suzie Colesar collected three hits apiece to lead Clearfield past Huntingdon 11-6 in scholastic softball action at the Bison Sports Complex Thursday afternoon.