HYDE – Anytime the Clearfield Area High School softball team defeats Punxsutawney, in the regular season or District 9 Class AAA Playoffs, it’s an important win.
The 2012 Lady Bisons not only ended a five-year hex by the Lady Chucks with a 4-1 victory at the sun-splashed Bison Sports Complex Thursday, they also leveled their record at 10-10 and gained some momentum for the postseason.
Another dandy performance by sophomore Rachel Hoffman in the circle and key hits by Tristan Lewis and B.J. Bowman in the early innings enabled the Lady Bisons to improve to .500 for the fourth time and end the regular season on a high note.
Though not quite as stingy as she was in back-to-back shutouts against Hollidaysburg and Brookville, Hoffman was able to make quality pitches when necessary to keep the Lady Chucks under control.
Punxsy (11-6) managed seven hits, never more than one in any inning until the sixth, and had two walks, but stranded eight runners, six of them in scoring position.
“Rachel located fairly well,” Lady Bison coach Bob Dixon said. “I think that was one of the big keys. She was hitting her marks a lot, and when she missed, she didn’t miss over the plate. She missed low, or away, or high enough that they weren’t gonna hit it.
“She was very effective.”
Hoffman kept the visitors off the board until the sixth inning, when Ashley Walls doubled into left center, moved up on a passed ball and scored on Lauren Ball’s infield single.
The run, which was unearned, was the first allowed by Hoffman in 25 innings.
She struck out eight in her fourth consecutive win and seventh of the season.
The Lady Bisons played good defense behind her, with only one error.
Shortstop Andrea Butler speared a liner by Ivy Phillips for an inning-ending double play in the first inning. Third baseman Megan Vanderburgh stabbed a wicked one-hopper by Chelsea Engeholm for an out in the third inning. Outfielders Bowman and Mikayla Ebeling made all of the routine and difficult plays in center and right, respectively.
“We tried to make to make sure we didn’t give them a big inning,” Dixon said. “They had to scratch for their only run.
“But that’s all we did. Our bats just aren’t hitting like they were earlier in the year.”
The Lady Bisons couldn’t light it up against Sara London, who was making her first start after pitching for the jayvees most of the season.
The Lady Chuck junior did not have a strikeout, but she issued just one walk and surrendered only six singles.
“We seem to have a harder time against girls who throw easier,” Dixon said. “My girls don’t have the talent to sit and wait for the pitch. They see the ball coming in there and they’re really trying to tee off on it.
“Really, anybody can hit a home run here. But when a ball’s thrown easy, you’re gonna have to have B.J. or Rachel power to drive it out. We just aren’t gonna pop it out. We’ve gotta worry about just hitting the ball and getting it between somebody.”
Clearfield used two of its hits to get Heather Picard back in the dugout after her fly ball was dropped for a two-base error in the second inning. Lucy Kovalick slashed a single to right and Lewis beat out a grounder to deep short for the RBI.
Small-ball got the Lady Bisons another run in the next inning as Andrea Butler singled up the middle and advanced one base at a time on Melinda Owens’ sacrifice bunt, Hoffman’s groundout and Bowman’s hit to deep short.
Hoffman’s single and a Punxsy miscue on Bowman’s grounder led to the final two Lady Bisons runs in the fifth frame. Following a wild pitch, Hoffman scored on Kovalick’s groundout and Bowman hustled to scored on a passed ball, upending London with a hard slide.
These Lady Bisons were in junior high school or middle school the last time Clearfield defeated Punxsy, which was 4-0 in the 2007 district championship game.
“Alan (Pifer) has a well-coached team,” Dixon said. “They’ve got a good program. You can’t take anything away from them.”
Punxsy is the No. 1 seed for the District 9-AAA Playoffs and gets a bye into the title game booked for the last week of the month.
As the third seed, Clearfield must travel to St. Marys Wednesday. The second-seeded Lady Dutch will take a 14-4 record into the 4:30 p.m. semifinal.
See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall051812.html
PUNXSUTAWNEY — 1
Chelsea Engeholm cf-ss 4010, Jane Depp-Hutchinson 1b 4010, Ivy Phillips 3b 4000, Ashley Walls dp 3120, Johnna Depp c 2000, Tori Martin lf 1000, Lauren Ball rf 3021, Mary Sloniger 2b 2010, Sydney Phillips ph-cf 1000, Alex Magill ss-2b 2010, Savanna Hallman ph 1000, Sarah London p (flex) oooo. TOTALS: 27 1 7 1.
CLEARFIELD — 4
Andrea Butler ss 4110, Melinda Owens 2b 2000, Rachel Hoffman 3110, B.J. Bowman cf 3111, Heather Picard dp 3100, Lucy Kovalick c 3011, Tristan Lewis lf 1011, Nellie Wallace lf 1000, Mikayla Ebeling rf 3010, Megan Vanderburgh 3b 3000, Becca Byerly 1b (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 26 4 6 3.
Score by Innings
Punxsutawney 000 001 0 – 1 7 1
Clearfield 011 020 x – 4 6 1
Errors – Martin, Magill; Butler. PB – Depp 1; Kovalick 1. DP – Clearfield 1 (Butler and Byerly). LOB – Punxsutawney 8; Clearfield 6. 2B – Walls.
Pitching
Punxsutawney – London 6 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
Clearfield – Hoffman 7 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K.
WP – London 2; Hoffman 1.
W – Hoffman (7-3). L – London (0-1).
Umpires – Jim Rupp (plate) and Jay Siegel (bases).
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/26 | @ Bellefonte | 1 – 11 | 0 – 1 |
| 3/28 | MIFFLIN COUNTY | 0 – 10 | 0 – 2 |
| 3/30 | @ Penns Valley | 0 – 1 | 0 – 3 |
| 4/04 | @ Huntingdon | 9 – 1 | 1 – 3 |
| 4/09 | @ Central | 3 – 9 | 1 – 4 |
| 4/11 | TYRONE | 7 – 1 | 2 – 4 |
| 4/13 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 1 – 11 | 2 – 5 |
| 4/16 | @ Central Mountain | 1 – 3 | 2 – 6 |
| 4/20 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 8 – 0 | 3 – 6 |
| 4/23 | @ Juniata | ppd. | 3 – 6 |
| 4/25 | HUNTINGDON | 8 – 7, 8 inn. | 4 – 6 |
| 4/26 | @ Juniata | 12 – 3 | 5 – 6 |
| 4/27 | CENTRAL | 3 – 10 | 5 – 7 |
| 5/01 | @ Bradford | 10 – 0 | 6 – 7 |
| 5/02 | @ Tyrone | 13 – 3 | 7 – 7 |
| 5/04 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 0 – 5 | 7 – 8 |
| 5/07 | CENTRAL MOUNTAIN | ppd. | 7 – 8 |
| 5/08 | @ Hollidaysburg | ppd. | 7 – 8 |
| 5/09 | @ Hollidaysburg | 4 – 0 | 8 – 8 |
| 5/10 | ALTOONA | 3 – 5 | 8 – 9 |
| 5/14 | BROOKVILLE | 3 – 0 | 9 – 9 |
| 5/15 | CENTRAL MOUNTAIN | 3 – 9 | 9 – 10 |
| 5/18 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 4 – 1 | 10 – 10 |
| 5/23 | District 9 AAA Semifinals | ||
| @ St. Marys |