Lady Bison Pull Away From Lady Eagles, 11-6

TYRONE — The Clearfield Area High School softball team broke up a 5-5 game with three runs in the fourth inning and went on to down Tyrone 11-6 in Mountain League action Thursday afternoon.

Sierra Jones and Erica Hanes spurred the once-beaten Lady Bison to their third victory with two hits and three runs batted in apiece.

Leadoff batter Brooke Cline singled twice, stole two bases and scored four runs.

“Winning two out of three this week, all on the road, and being 3-1 is a very big step for our program,” Clearfield coach Bob Lewis said.

Raeleigh Redden pitched her third complete game victory with a season-high eight strikeouts.

The junior right-hander walked four and surrendered five hits, all in the first three innings when the Lady Eagles erased the Lady Bison’s 5-0 start.

Cline singled and circled the bases on passed balls for the first run. With the bases loaded, Karlie Lewis walked for an RBI before Jones doubled down the left field line for two RBIs and Macala Leigey singled over shortstop for the fifth run.

Finnley Christine, Maddie Grazier and Allie Hosko had run-scoring hits to key the Tyrone comeback.

Cline triggered Clearfield’s game-winning rally in the fourth with her second single. She stole second, advanced to third on a groundout and beat the throw to the plate on Victoria Ireland’s grounder to the left side for the go-ahead run. Lauren Butler, who was hit by a pitch, scored on a wild pitch before Jones added a sacrifice fly.

Hanes broke it open with a two-run single in a pinch-hitting role in the fifth frame and singled across the final run in the seventh.

Cline, Hanes and Myra Kavelak, who got her first start behind the plate because of an injury to classmate Nikki Brossard in the previous game, were three of six Lady Bison freshmen who saw action.

“The younger players that stepped in did a very nice job,” Lewis said.

The Lady Bison will continue their season-opening road swing Monday, traveling down I-80 to play league-leading Bald Eagle Area at Wingate in a game originally scheduled for Tuesday at the Bison Sports Complex. The change means Clearfield will host the Lady Eagles April 30.

Mountain League standings — Bald Eagle Area 2-0, Philipsburg-Osceola 1-0, Clearfield 3-1, Bellefonte 2-1, Central 2-2, Huntingdon 1-2, Penns Valley 0-2, Tyrone 0-3.

CLEARFIELD — 11

Brooke Cline ss 5420, Lauren Butler 2b 2200, Erica Hanes ph-2b 2023, Brittani Priester dp 4100, Victoria Ireland 1b 4201, Karlie Lewis cf 3101, Sierra Jones 3b 3023, Macala Leigey rf 3011, Aspen Bishop rf 1000, Raeleigh Redden p 3000, Lindsay Hand ph 1000, Molly Sartin lf 2000, Abby Fedder ph 1000, Myra Kavelak c (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 34 11 7 9.

TYRONE — 6

Anna Baran p-ss 3201, Shannia Gearhart cf-p 3000, Finnley Christine ss-3b 3111, Maddie Grazier 1b 4111, Emily Hamer c 4000, Haley Durbin 2b 3000, Allie Hosko rf 3121, Reagan Heidenthal rf 1000, Grace Gensimore 3b-cf 3110, Sam Aungst 3000. TOTALS: 30 6 5 4.

Score by Innings

Clearfield     500 320 1 –  11  7  4
Tyrone           221 100 0 –    6  5  4
E – Cline, Ireland 2, Redden; Gearhart, Christine 2, Durbin, . PB – Kavelak; Hamer 3. LOB – Clearfield 8; Tyrone 7. 2B – Jones; Grazier. SF – Jones. SB – Cline 2, Butler, Hanes; Gearhart, Christine, Hosko.

Pitching

Clearfield – Redden 7 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 8 K.
Tyrone – Baran 4 IP, 4 H, 8 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 2 K; Gearhart 3 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K.
HB – (Butler). WP – Redden 5; Baran 1, Gearhart 2.
W – Redden (3-1). L – Baran.

Lady Bison Scoreboard: