HYDE — Hitting woes continued for the Clearfield Area High School softball team Thursday as Central invaded the Bison Sports Complex and atoned for an opening-game setback by posting a workmanlike 5-0 Mountain League victory.
The Lady Bison were held to a pair of singles over six innings by Lexi Ritchey, who struck out six and walked one before turning the ball over to Brooke Albright for a quick final frame.
Over the last four games, all losses with two of them shutouts, the Lady Bison have mustered only 13 hits.
“We’re in a funk right now with the hitting,” coach Bob Lewis said. “We’re making contact, but we’re just not getting the good part of the bat on the ball.
“We all know that and we’re gonna dedicate the next few days to working on it.
“We hit the ball very well in practice. I don’t know if it’s just nerves of the game situations, but they’re a young group and they’re gonna continue to grow.”
If the Lady Dragons were bent on revenge for the 8-6 loss to the Lady Bison on March 24, they didn’t waste any time establishing control.
They packed seven of their nine hits off Raeleigh Redden into their first three at-bats to give Ritchey a 3-0 lead.
Olivia Smith led off with a rope to left and came all the way around on a double down the left field line by Marissa Snyder, who moved up on the throw home and scored on Darby Boyles’ fly to deep left.
Maddie Kreider’s groundout drove in the third run after Ritchey and Jenna Berzansky pounded hits through the infield with one out in the third inning.
“I kind of figured they were gonna come out and be in an attack mode,” Lewis said. “I think they probably were thinking a little bit about the first game of the year. They played with a purpose.”
He believed his team was ready, too, but an infield hit by Brooke Cline in the third inning and a flare to short right center by Erica Hanes was all the offense the Lady Bison could show against Ritchey.
“She mixed her speeds very well and kept us off balance,” Lewis said. “But it’s really nothing we haven’t seen before.”
Central (5-5, 5-3 ML) added its last two runs in the fifth. Snyder flashed her speed with an infield hit and two stolen bases before crossing the plate on a passed ball. Jenna Berzansky later laced a single to center to drive in Albright, the courtesy runner for Ritchey.
Those were the only hits Redden allowed over the last four innings. She had four strikeouts and two walks.
Clearfield had only two baserunners in scoring position while falling to 3-5.
The Lady Bison will play three home games next week, Monday against Curwensville in non-league action and Tuesday against Huntingdon and Thursday against Bellefonte in league contests.
Mountain League standings — Philipsburg-Osceola 6-0, Bald Eagle Area 6-1, Central 5-3, Bellefonte 4-3, Clearfield 3-5, Penns Valley 1-4, Huntingdon 1-5, Tyrone 0-6.
CENTRAL — 5
Olivia Smith 3b 4120, Jenna Ritchey 2b 4000, Marissa Snyder ss 4221, Darby Boyles cf 3001, Lexi Ritchey p 3220, Brooke Albright cr-p 0000, Jenna Berzansky 1b 3021, Maddie Kreider dp-rf 2001, Rachel Reed lf 3010, Cassie Mock c 2000, Danielle Wagner ph 1000, Tierney Fernandez rf (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 29 5 9 4.
CLEARFIELD — 0
Brooke Cline ss 3010, Lauren Butler 2b 3000, Erica Hanes dp 3010, Aspen Bishop lf 3000, Karlie Lewis cf 2000, Sierra Jones 3b 3000, Victoria Ireland 1b 2000, Raeleigh Redden p 2000, Macala Leigey rf 1000, Myra Kavelak c (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 22 0 2 0.
Score by Innings
Central 201 020 0 0 – 5 9 2
Clearfield 000 000 0 0 – 0 2 0
E – J. Ritchey, Snyder. PB – Kavelak 1. DP – Central 2 (Smith, J. Ritchey and Berzansky; Berzansky and J. Ritchey). LOB – Central 6; Clearfield 3. 2B – Snyder. SF – Boyles. SB – Smith 2, Snyder 2, Albright 2, Berzansky).
Pitching
Central – L. Ritchey 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K; Albright 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Redden 7 IP 9 H. 5 R, 5 ER,2 BB, 4 K.
WP – L. Ritchey 1; Redden 1.
W – L. Ritchey. L – Redden (3-5).
Umpires – Bob Gross (plate) and Rob Murphy (bases).
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/24 | @ Central | 8 – 6 | 1 – 0 |
| 3/27 | HUNTINGDON | ppd. | 1 – 0 |
| 3/30 | @ Bellefonte | 2 – 11 | 1 – 1 |
| 4/01 | @ Huntingdon | 9 – 2 | 2 – 1 |
| 4/02 | @ Tyrone | 11 – 6 | 3 – 1 |
| 4/06 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 0 – 10 | 3 – 2 |
| 4/10 | @ Penns Valley | ppd. | 3 – 2 |
| 4/13 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 2 – 5 | 3 – 3 |
| 4/14 | @ Penns Valley | 2 – 7 | 3 – 4 |
| 4/16 | CENTRAL | 0 – 5 | 3 – 5 |
| 4/20 | CURWENSVILLE | ||
| 4/21 | HUNTINGDON | ||
| 4/23 | BELLEFONTE | ||
| 4/27 | TYRONE | ||
| 4/30 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ||
| 5/01 | @ Punxsutawney | ||
| 5/04 | @ Glendale | ||
| 5/05 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 5/08 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 5/11 | HOLLIDAYSBURG | ||
| 5/12 | @ Altoona | ||
| 5/14 | BRADFORD |
