HYDE – With a .500 finish in sight, the Clearfield Lady Bisons displayed the whole package of a good scholastic softball team in defeating Hollidaysburg 11-1 in six innings at the Bison Sports Complex Thursday afternoon.
Though missing two regulars, they got good pitching, hit with power, ran the bases very well and were flawless in the field for their third consecutive win.
As a result, the Lady Bisons will take a 9-10 record into their season finale against Bradford in another non-league home game Friday.
“We had a meeting before practice Tuesday and talked about our goal of not having a losing season,” Clearfield coach Bob Dixon said. “We did a nice job all around.”
Sophomore Heather Picard logged her fourth victory with a four-hitter. She struck out five and walked one.
“We tried to throw a lot of screwballs, and we used the change-up for a couple of strikeouts,” Dixon said. “All in all, she pitched a good, solid game.”
Supplying the long balls were freshman Rachel Hoffman with a triple and her seventh home run for three runs batted in and senior Suzie Colesar with a monster homer to go with a run-scoring single.
Junior Tristan Lewis added a pair of singles to the 10-hit attack.
Defensively, the Lady Bisons made the tough and routine plays, with third baseman Colesar fielding two bunts and gunning out the Lady Tigers, catcher McKenzie Moore cutting down another on a steal attempt and left fielder Lewis and center fielder B.J. Bowman running down almost everything the visitors hit in their direction.
The only scoring in the first three innings came after losing pitcher Brooke Ickes walked Lewis and Moore with one out in the second.
Soph Rebecca Byerly, playing first base with classmate Lucy Kovalick ailing, lined a single to left center and Picard, batting because soph right fielder Mikayla Ebeling has the chicken pox, grounded into a forceout for their first RBIs of the season.
Hollidaysburg (1-13) drew close and averted a shutout in the fourth when Ashley Creamer and Courtney Storm singled and got the double steal sign. Clearfield opted to trade a run for an out, and Moore threw out Storm at second.
Then, the Lady Bisons began to pull away.
Hoffman led off the fifth by skying her homer to left center. Lewis singled, stole second and was pushed around on groundouts by Moore and Byerly. A walk, two errors and Melinda Owens’ double off the bag at third made it 6-1.
In the fifth, Clearfield played long ball and small ball. Colesar hammered her homer high and far over the fence in left center. Lewis beat out a bunt just inches away from the plate when Lady Tiger catcher Taylor Herr hesitated before throwing to first. She stole second again and scored on two misplays.
Dixon labeled Colesar’s second homer of the season a “mammoth shot, definitely one of the longest home runs I’ve seen. She really connected with that.”
Clearfield’s fourth stolen base set up a run in the sixth. Andrea Butler, whose high fly fell behind second for a hit, advanced to third on a groundout and dashed to the plate as Bowman’s bouncer took a bad hop on third baseman Bizz Carter, who was a defensive standout for the Lady Tigers.
Colesar followed with a single through the left side before Hoffman ended it with a two-run triple up the right center alley that put her at the 20-RBI plateau for her rookie year.
“This what I expected all year long,” Dixon said. “The first 14 games or so, we didn’t seem to put the whole game together. Since we played Philipsburg-Osceola (a 2-1 loss), we’ve done that.
“It’s sad to see the season to come to end, but it’s a good indicator that next year they can believe in themselves.”
See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall051811.html
HOLLIDAYSBURG — 1
Hannah Mercer ss 3000, Ashley Creamer rf 3110, Courtney Storm 2b 2010, Bizz Carter 3b 3010, Julie Brustle 1b 2000, Taylor Herr c 2010, Jordan Stubbs lf 2000, Lauren Felix dp 2000, Payton Civils cf 2000, Brooke Ickes p (flex) 2000. TOTALS: 21 1 4 0.
CLEARFIELD — 11
Andrea Butler ss 4210, Melinda Owens 2b 3011, B.J. Bowman cf 4111, Suzie Colesar 3b 4221, Rachel Hoffman rf 4123, Tristan Lewis lf 2320, McKenzie Moore c 2100, Rebecca Byerly 1b 3012, Heather Picard p 2101. TOTALS: 28 11 10 9.
Score by Innings
Hollidaysburg 000 100 – 1 4 4
Clearfield 020 423 – 11 10 0
Errors – Storm 2, Herr, Civils. LOB – Hollidaysburg 3; Clearfield 4. 2B – Carter; Owens. 3B – Hoffman. HR – Colesar (2), Hoffman (7). SB – Butler, Owens, Lewis 2. CS – Carter (by Moore).
Pitching
Hollidaysburg – Ickes 5-1/3 IP, 10 H, 11 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Picard 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
WP – Ickes 1.
W – Picard (4-8). L – Ickes.
Umpires – Jeff Aveni (plate) and Gary Kost (bases).