Penns Valley Downs Clearfield Softball Team 11-1

HYDE — Penns Valley senior Maggie Lynch maintained her hex over the Clearfield Area High School softball team and the Lady Rams provided her with plenty of offensive support in a six-inning, 11-1 Mountain League victory at the Bison Sports Complex Monday afternoon.

Lynch pitched a five-hitter with five strikeouts in beating the Lady Bison for the third time in two years.

Her previous two were shutouts, 1-0 with a two-hitter and nine strikeouts in a duel with Heather Picard in 2012 and 7-0 with a five-hitter and eight strikeouts on April 22.

“She throws hard, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen all year,” Clearfield coach Bob Lewis said. “She mixes her speeds pretty well. She keeps you off balance. And that’s what good pitching does.”

The Lady Bison couldn’t maintain the momentum of back-to-back wins over Punxsutawney and Tyrone and fell to 2-11 in the league and 5-11 overall.

They ended Lynch’s string of shutout innings against them at 17 in the fourth when Macala Leigey’s squeeze bunt scored Rachel Hoffman, who had drilled a single to left and advanced to third on a Lady Ram throwing error.

No other Lady Bison reached third base.

Tangie Lyons had three hits, one a double, and scored three runs while Madisyn Sharer belted a double and two-run homer and also scored three times for Penns Valley (8-9, 4-7 ML).

Five of the Lady Rams runs off Picard were unearned because of four of Clearfield’s five miscues.

“What’s getting us down right now, and I spoke to the kids after the game, it’s about defensive command and just wanting the ball when you’re out in the field,” Lewis said. “Our reaction time is somewhat delayed.

“I’m still looking for the right mixture to put out there on defense. I’m moving kids around constantly and trying to get ideas. To put the defense completely together, it’ll come with time.”

As for the overall performance, Lewis called it the Monday Blues.

“We’ve struggled on Monday for as long as I can remember so far this year,” he noted. “We had these guys in Penns Valley on a Monday, and we just struggled.

“It’s like we lose our focus from Friday to two days afterwards.  They’re young, and it’s pretty easy for them to lose their focus.

“It’s a matter of when we get down early, things tend to snowball.

“But I’m gonna be patient with them. The fact is, with being such a young group, they’re gonna make mistakes. And it’s something we have to learn to overcome.

“Unfortunately, growing pains aren’t always pleasurable.”

The Lady Bison will be at home again Thursday to take on Philipsburg-Osceola, which locked up the Mountain League championship with a 13-4 victory over Central Monday.

See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall050613.html

PENNS VALLEY — 11

Ashley Struble ss 4110, Megan Houser 2b 4110, Tangie Lyons rf 4331, Madisyn Sharer 1b 3322, Courtney Ironside 3b 3111, Cassidy Brown ph 1000, Morgan Royer dp 3211, Kylee Wasson lf 2012, Nicole Harbaugh c 3010, Mackenzie Ironside cf 2000, Maggie Lynch p 0000.  TOTALS: 29  11  11  7.

CLEARFIELD — 1

Megan Vanderburgh ss 3000, Lauren Butler 2b 3000, Rachel Hoffman 1b 3110, Devynn Ireland 3b 3010, Lucy Kovalick c 3000, Macala Leigey rf 2011, Heather Picard p 3000, Victoria Ireland lf 3010, Janelle Wallace dp 1010, Mikayla Ebeling cf 0000.  TOTALS: 24  1  5  1.

Score by Innings

Penns Valley   103 043 – 11  11  2
Clearfield        000 100 –  1   5  5
E – Houser, Lynch; D. Ireland, Leigey 2, V. Ireland 2. LOB – Penns Valley 4; Clearfield 7. 2B – Lyons, Sharer. HR – Sharer. Sac – M. Ironside. SB – Harbaugh.

Pitching

Penns Valley – Lynch 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
Clearfield – Picard 6 IP, 11 H, 11 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.
W – Lynch. L – Picard (2-5).
Umpires – Bill Bacharach (plate) and Joe Shick (bases).

Lady Bison Scoreboard: