HYDE — Senior pitcher Raeleigh Redden turned in the best performance of her Clearfield Area High School career to shut out defending District 9 Class AAA softball champion Punxsutawney 3-0 at the Bison Sports Complex Wednesday afternoon.
The right-hander hurled a four-hitter with five strikeouts and only one walk to get the Lady Bison into the win column after three Mountain League losses.
“She was pretty efficient, with 89 pitches, and she located and mixed speeds well,” coach Bob Lewis said after the Lady Bison’s first victory over their district rivals since Heather Picard no-hit the Lady Chucks 2-0 on May 1, 2013. “I don’t think her velocity was up, but she was working her changeup and dropping in the curve pretty well.
“And the defense played well behind her.”
Lewis credited Raeleigh’s father, pitching coach Fred Redden, for putting her in good position to succeed.
“Fred did a nice job of calling pitches,” Lewis said. “Sometimes she would start with a fastball. Sometimes she would start with the change or curve.”
Getting off to a good start against a team that had blanked Bradford 4-0 and Williamsport 1-0 was key in Lewis’ game plan, and the Lady Bison did just that.
With one out in the first inning, Sierra Jones doubled to left field and, one out later, scored when Aspen Bishop pounded a double into left center. An error on Abby Fedder’s grounder gave the Lady Bison another run.
“We wanted to try to score early and see how they would respond to an early deficit,” Lewis said. “It seemed like when we got them down, they had a tough time fighting back, which is a tribute to the kids coming right out of the gate and scoring a couple runs.
“I think that was really important to the momentum of the game.”
While Redden’s work in the circle kept the Lady Chuck bats quiet, the Lady Bison found Allie Ishman equally tough until the sixth inning.
Bishop singled into left field, Fedder sacrificed and Redden aided her own cause by bouncing a two-out single up the middle to make it 3-0.
That insurance room loomed large when Brayden Woodrow singled and Tessa Winebark doubled down the left field line with nobody out in the top of the seventh inning.
“We weren’t so much concerned with those two runs,” Lewis said. “We were just concerned with keeping the tying run off base.”
Redden made sure of that by setting down the next three batters on a pop-up and two comebackers.
“When you have clutch hitting, good pitching and good defense, you’re gonna win ball games, and that’s what we did today,” Lewis said. “A game like that builds a lot of confidence in the girls.
“It seemed like the kids were a little bit discouraged. Even we, as coaches, were getting a little bit discouraged.
“So, to get that first win is a pretty big deal to us. And to get a win against such a quality program like Punxsutawney, that’s big because now they realize they can compete with the teams in District 9.”
The Lady Bison managed six hits off Ishman, who struck out six with no walks.
No. 9 batter Malory Cameron singled twice for the Lady Chucks.
Clearfield returns to the BSC Thursday for a Mountain League game against Penns Valley.
PUNXSUTAWNEY — 0
Kylee Lingenfelter ss 3000, Sam Satterlee 2b 3000, Morgan Adamson cf 3000, Allie Ishman p 3000, Braydon Woodrow 3b 1010, Tessa Winebark c 3010, Kim Shoemaker 1b 3000, Morgan VanLeer dp 3000, Malory Cameron rf 3020, Beth Barnett (flex) lf 0000. TOTALS: 25 0 4 0.
CLEARFIELD — 3
Brooke Cline ss 3010, Sierra Jones 3b 2110, Erica Hanes rf 3000, Aspen Bishop lf 3221, Abby Fedder dp 2010, Raeleigh Redden p 3011, Karlie Lewis cf 2000, Makayla Ross 1b 2000, Alana Kochan 2b 2000, Myra Kavelak (flex) c 0000. TOTALS: 22 3 6 2.
Score by Innings
Punxsutawney 000 000 0 – 0 4 1
Clearfield 200 001 x – 3 6 1
E – Lingenfelter; Jones. PB – Kavelak. LOB – Punxsutawney 6; Clearfield 3. 2B – Winebark; Jones, Bishop. Sac – Woodrow; Jones, Fedder.
Pitching
Punxsutawney – Ishman 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K.
Clearfield – Redden 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
WP – Ishman 1; Redden 2.
W – Redden (1-3). L – Ishman (1-1).
Umpires – Scott Viehdorfer (plate) and Joe Shick (bases).
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/29 | CENTRAL | 0 – 11 | 0 – 1 |
| 3/31 | @ Huntingdon | 3 – 4 | 0 – 2 |
| 4/05 | @ Bellefonte | 0 – 8 | 0 – 3 |
| 4/08 | TYRONE | ppd. | 0 – 3 |
| 4/11 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ppd. | 0 – 3 |
| 4/13 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 3 – 0 | 1 – 3 |
| 4/14 | PENNS VALLEY | ||
| 4/18 | TYRONE | ||
| 4/19 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 4/20 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ||
| 4/22 | @ Central | ||
| 4/25 | HUNTINGDON | ||
| 4/28 | BELLEFONTE | ||
| 5/02 | GLENDALE | ||
| 5/03 | @ Tyrone | ||
| 5/05 | @ Curwensville | ||
| 5/06 | BALD EAGLE AREA | ||
| 5/09 | @ Penns Valley | ||
| 5/12 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ||
| 5/16 | @ Hollidaysburg | ||
| 5/18 | ALTOONA | ||
| 5/19 | @ Bradford |