Lady Bison Edged 3-2 by Lady Tigers in Season Finale

HYDE — A long season ended with a tough loss for the Clearfield Area High School softball team Thursday as Hollidaysburg spoiled Senior Day at the Bison Sports Complex by eking out a 3-2 win in the non-league game.

Heather Picard, one of three seniors in the Lady Bison lineup, pitched a five-hitter with 10 strikeouts in her final appearance at the BSC, walking two and hitting one while surrendering two earned runs.

“She just did a fantastic job,” coach Bob Lewis said. “She was locating tremendously well. She was keeping the ball down. She was mixing up her pitches.

“When she puts her mind to it, she’s as good as anybody in the area.”

Lady Tiger Alyssa Pheasant was even stingier against a lineup that has backed Picard with more than two runs in only two of her eight starts.

Pheasant limited the Lady Bison to four singles and kept them off the scoreboard except for the third inning when she was betrayed by her defense.

Megan Vanderburgh reached on a throwing error, stole second base and scored on Rachel Hoffman’s hard single to right field. Hoffman never stopped running and also scored when the ball was misplayed in the outfield and at the plate.

After Hollidaysburg (9-9) tied the game at 2-2 on Taylor Herr’s RBI single in the top of the fourth inning, a defensive gem by Pheasant prevented the Lady Bison from grabbing the lead again and perhaps taking command.

Clearfield filled the sacks on senior Lucy Kovalick’s line single to left, Janelle Wallace’s bad-hop single over second baseman Marissa Rosensteel and the lone walk issued by Pheasant.

With two outs, Vanderburgh ripped a liner that was headed up the middle, but Pheasant reacted quickly and speared the wicked shot.

“There’s no doubt that if it’s a foot to the right or left we score two runs, and that’s probably the difference in the game,” Lewis said. “I told the kids after the game bounces just didn’t go our way. And it was the line drive that didn’t go our way.

“Megan hit it right on the button, but their pitcher made a good play on it.”

Pheasant, who struck out nine and hit one batter, then retired nine of the 10 Lady Bison she faced over the last three frames.

And she scored the deciding run after her fly ball fell between two Lady Bison outfielders for a double to lead off the fifth. Elizabeth Carter dropped down the Lady Tigers’ third sacrifice bunt and Krista Shea followed with the game-winning hit on a sharp grounder past Picard.

“That’s a tremendously tough loss,” Lewis said. “The kids played their hearts out, and I’m very, very proud of them.

“They came focused and ready to go, and with it being Senior Night, your aspirations are that you want to go out on top. The fight was there. The pitching was solid. The defense was solid. Our bunt defense was tremendous.”

However, that wasn’t enough to avert the Lady Bison’s 13th loss in 18 games after Picard, batterymate Kovalick and outfielder Mikayla Ebeling received their Senior Day recognition.

The record was almost the reverse of what Lewis anticipated for his rookie season as head coach.

“I remember being pretty optimistic we could get double-digit wins, but we got halfway through the season and began to realize this wasn’t a reloading year, it was a more of a rebuilding year,” he said. “And that’s the mindset we kind of had when we realized we’re very, very young and we’re very, very inexperienced. Even the girls who are juniors and sophomores were either in a new position or playing for the first time.

“We’re losing only three seniors, and we’re gonna miss them.

“You obviously start thinking about the future right away, and there’s a solid group of kids returning. And there’s a solid group that will be coming up from the jayvee team that will contribute. We’ll be fine.

“This was our transition year, and I think we realize transition and change are very tough. We had aspirations we could change the world in one year, and certainly our vision still is we want to change the overall look of the program.

“It’s just gonna take more than one season of doing that. We’ve gotta work through the summer. We’ve gotta work in the off-season and start early in the winter to prepare for next year.”

See photos of the season finale here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall051613.html

HOLLIDAYSBURG — 3

Alyssa Pheasant p 3110, Elizabeth Carter 3b 3011, Krista Shea dp-2b 4011, Hannah Mercer ss 2110, Kaylee Beaudoin rf-lf 2000, Taylor Herr c 3011, Jordan Stubbs cf 2100, Payton Civils lf 1000, Lauren Dengler ph-lf-rf 1000, Kathleen Sheehan 1b 3000, Marissa Rosensteel 2b (flex) 0000.  TOTALS: 24  3  5  3.

CLEARFIELD — 2

Megan Vanderburgh 2b 4100, Mikayla Ebeling lf 3000, Rachel Hoffman cf 3121, Devynn Ireland 3b 3000, Lucy Kovalick c 3010, Janelle Wallace 1b 3010, Macala Leigey rf 3000, Heather Picard p 2000, Lauren Butler 2b 3000.  TOTALS: 27  2  4  1.

Score by Innings

Hollidaysburg     001 110 0 – 3  5  4
Clearfield           002 000 0 – 2  4  1
E – Carter, Beaudoin, Herr, Rosensteel; Picard. LOB – Hollidaysburg 6; Clearfield 6. 2B – Pheasant. Sac – Carter, Beaudoin, Stubbs. SB – Vanderburgh.

Pitching

Hollidaysburg – Pheasant 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K.
Clearfield – Picard 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K.
HB – Pheasant 1 (Ebeling); Picard 1 (Pheasant).
W – Pheasant. L – Picard (2-6).
Umpires – J.R. Rosselli (plate) and Jay Siegel (bases).

Final Lady Bison Scoreboard: