BROOKVILLE – Rachel Hoffman spun her first shutout and the Clearfield Lady Bisons erupted for 11 hits, one less than they had in the last three games combined, to defeat Brookville 6-0 in a non-league scholastic softball game at Northside Field Friday afternoon.
Hoffman limited the Lady Raiders to a pair of singles.
The freshman right-hander struck out 11 and walked two.
“Rachel threw a nice game,” Clearfield coach Bob Dixon said. “I think they were intimidated by her speed. They swung at a lot of high pitches, so we kept throwing them up there.”
Hoffman and Brookville’s Stefany Alexander were locked in a scoreless duel until the sixth inning when Suzie Colesar doubled to drive in B.J. Bowman, who had walked and moved into scoring position by stealing second base.
Clearfield (7-10) broke it open in the seventh, the key blow a two-run triple down the left field line by Melinda Owens that made it 4-0.
Freshman Megan Vanderburgh and sophomore Becca Byerly, making her varsity debut, fueled the rally with singles.
Vanderburgh scored on Andrea Butler’s grounder that was thrown away at second, setting up Owens’ big hit.
Bowman followed with a hard liner off Alexander’s pitching arm for an RBI single and, after Tonya Shaffer relieved the injured Lady Raider pitcher, tallied the final run on a passed ball.
Bowman led the Lady Bisons with three singles. Owens and Colesar added two hits apiece.
Clearfield was shorthanded because of prom weekend, and first baseman Lucy Kovalick volunteered to go behind the plate.
“I really appreciate what she did for the team; she did a good job,” Dixon said. “And our two jayvees (Vanderburgh and Byerly) really played a nice game.”
The Lady Bisons wrap up the regular season with home games against Central Mountain Monday, Hollidaysburg Wednesday and Bradford Friday.
See photos of the win here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall051311.html
CLEARFIELD — 6
Andrea Butler ss 4101, Melinda Owens 4122, B.J. Bowman cf 4231, Suzie Colesar 3b 4021, Mikayla Ebeling rf 4010, Rachel Hoffman p 4010, Lucy Kovalick c 3000, Megan Vanderburgh lf 3110, Becca Byerly 1b 3110. TOTALS: 33 6 11 5.
BROOKVILLE — 0
Chey Ross cf 3000, Kelsey Heinrich ss 2000, Brianna Geer 1b 3000, Abby Beatty 3b 3000, Stefany Alexander p 2010, No. 23 rf 1010, Rikki Stephens c 1000, Tonya Shaffer rf-p 2000, Kacey Osborne 2b 3000, Amanda Clark lf 2000. TOTALS: 22 0 2 0.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 000 001 5 – 6 11 1
Brookville 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
Errors – Hoffman; Geer, Osborne. PB – Stephen 1. DP – Brookville (Heinrich and Geer). LOB – Clearfield 8; Brookville 5. 2B – Owens, Colesar. 3B – Owens. Sac – Heinrich, Shaffer. SB – Bowman 2.
Pitching
Clearfield – Hoffman 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 K.
Brookville – Alexander 6+ IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 4 K; Shaffer 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
W – Hoffman (4-2). L – Alexander.