Lady Bison Defeated 9-1 by Lady Chucks

HYDE — Perfect through three-plus innings, Punxsutawney pitcher Nicole DiPietro wound up with a six-hitter Thursday in dousing the Clearfield Area High School softball team’s hopes of building some momentum for the stretch run of the season.

The junior right-hander struck out five and didn’t allow a walk in the 9-1 non-league win on the Bison Sports Complex’s junior varsity field.

Clearfield (3-8) was coming off a 15-1 Mercy Rule triumph at Tyrone Monday, but DiPietro retired the first 11 batters she faced before Megan Vanderburgh ripped a grounder inside third base for the first of her two hits.

Rachel Hoffman then smashed a liner that DiPietro almost speared, the single giving the Lady Bison senior a 14-game hitting streak dating back to the end of the 2013 season, but a sparkling shoe-top grab of Karlie Lewis’ sinking drive to center by Anna Horner kept DiPietro’s shutout intact.

The Lady Bison did avert being blanked when pinch-hitter Macala Leigey drilled a one-out double to left center and Vanderburgh singled over shortstop in the sixth inning.

District 9 Class AAA rival Punxsy (4-6) already had done all of its damage at the plate by then.

The Lady Chucks took command with four runs in the second inning, aided by two walks and an error. Shania DeFoor’s two-run single was the key hit. Jensen Constantino and Dipietro had RBI hits.

Another Lady Bison misplay proved costly in the third frame. Shaina Painter sprinted all the way to an uncovered third base as Sydney Phillips beat out a bunt she dropped down right in front of the plate. Constantino’s groundout and Emily Horner’s sacrifice fly made it 6-0.

Hoffman gave up two more hits before being relieved by Raeleigh Redden, who surrendered three earned runs on three hits in 4-1/3 innings.

“They’re as equal as we are,” Lady Bison coach Bob Lewis said. “The difference is they came out hitting and we didn’t. The defense was there. The bats came, but it was a little bit late when we started to attack the ball.

“That’s part of having a group of young kids. They’re tentative to start the game. Once they got settled in, we did all right. But it was just a little too late.

“They’re keeping a positive mindset about things, and that’s what we have to do.

“I told them, ‘We have 24 hours to bounce back,’ and that’s what we will do.”

Tyrone will visit the BSC Friday.

PUNXSUTAWNEY — 9

Nicole DiPietro p 4022, Ivy Phillips 3b-ss 3100, Shaina Painter ss 3111, Morgan Adamson ph 1000, Samantha Saterlee 2b 0000, Sydney Phillips rf 2210, Tessa Winebark ph 1000, Jensen Constantino 1b-3b 3112, Alli Ishman ph 1010, Emily Horner c 1201, Sarah Johnston ph 1000, Alyssa Reitz 2b-1b 2120, Kim Shoemaker ph 1000, Shania DeFoor lf 2022, Stephanie Smith ph-lf 1000, Amber Ward dp 2000, Anna Horner cf (flex) 2101.  TOTALS: 30  9  10  9.

CLEARFIELD — 1

Raeleigh Redden rf-p 3000, Lauren Butler 2b 2000, Macala Leigey ph 1110, Megan Vanderburgh ss 3021, Rachel Hoffman p-cf 3010, Karlie Lewis cf-rf 3000, Devynn Ireland c 3010, Sierra Jones 3b 2010, Taylor Luzier ph 1000, Brittani Priester dp 3000, Victoria Ireland 1b 3000, Molly Sartin lf (flex) 0000.  TOTALS: 27 1 6 1.

Score by Innings

Punxsutawney    042 120 0 – 9  10  0
Clearfield           000 001 0 – 1    6  2
E – Vanderburgh, Hoffman. PB – D. Ireland 1. DP – Punxsutawney 1 (Dipietro, Painter and Constantino); Clearfield 1 (Jones unassisted). LOB – Punxsutawney 6; Clearfield 5. 2B – Leigey. 3B – DiPietro. Sac – DeFoor. SF – E. Horner. SB- DiPietro, I. Phillips.

Pitching

Punxsutawney – DiPietro 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 5 K.
Clearfield – Hoffman 2-2/3 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K; Redden 4-1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
WP – Hoffman 1.
W – DiPietro (3-3). L – Hoffman (3-7).

Umpires – Mark Gormont (plate) and Scott Viehdorfer (bases).

Lady Bison Scoreboard: