HYDE — Lack of offense continued to plague the Clearfield Area High School softball team Thursday afternoon as Philipsburg-Osceola rolled to an 11-0 win at the Bison Sports Complex to clinch at least a tie for the Mountain League championship.
Freshman Kam Harris spun a three-hitter with six strikeouts and no walks to give the Lady Mounties a final record of 12-2 in the league.
Bald Eagle Area, a 5-2 victor over Bellefonte Thursday, can gain a share of the title by beating Central in Friday’s make-up game.
The shutout was the second in as many days for the Lady Bison, who tumbled to 4-9 in the ML and 6-10 overall.
“It’s the same old song-and-dance,” coach Bob Lewis said. “We’re just not hitting. We’ve played 15 innings and not scored any runs. We just can’t put that much pressure on our pitchers to throw strikes.
“We’ve gotta continue to work on the hitting. It’s been kind of a season-long slump, and it’s very sporadic right now.
“Until we solve that, we’re gonna struggle.”
The Lady Bison left Erica Hanes at second base after she doubled in the third inning and couldn’t get Nikki Brossard home after she tripled to deep right field with one out in the fourth.
Harris then retired 11 of the last batters she faced in her 12th win against only one loss.
The Lady Mounties made her job easy by scoring early and often.
Maggie Peck led off with the first home run over the new fence at the BSC, and the Lady Mounties tacked on three unearned runs in the second inning, two on a double down the left field line by Kendra Carns, who later scored on Kylie Thal’s single.
Lewis then pulled starter Raeleigh Redden and summoned Hanes, who worked five innings and allowed five hits, five walks and seven runs, four earned.
“We decided to make the change there because (Redden) had thrown 15 innings, so that’s 17 for the week,” Lewis explained. “We have four games next week, so we just decided to shut her down and give Erica some time.
“And Erica did well. She came in and threw strikes, but the defense was a little shoddy at times.”
Philipsburg-Osceola (17-2) expanded its lead in every inning except the fourth.
Chelsey Henry greeted Hanes with a sharp single through the hole on the left side and Harris walked. After they advanced on Hannah Thompson’s bunt, Henry scored on Jayde Burge’s grounder.
Kaleigh Taylor, courtesy running for Harris, was an easy out on trying to steal home, but an errant throw to third base allowed Burge to dash to the plate with P-O’s sixth marker.
In the fifth frame, Burge drove in two more runs with her second double.
An error and Haylee Hayward’s liner to center made it 9-0 in the sixth, and Annie Kost added a two-run single in the seventh.
Hayward joined Burge in the two-hit column for the Lady Mounties.
While the Lady Bison weren’t as solid defensively as they have been in recent games, they did turn two double plays, giving them seven in the last four games.
“The coaches and I agree that the defense has improved,” Lewis said. “We really have made some big steps there.”
Clearfield travels to Hollidaysburg for a non-league game Monday before hosting Bellefonte in the ML finale for both teams Tuesday.
Mountain League Standings — Philipsburg-Osceola 12-2, Bald Eagle Area 11-2, Central 9-4, Bellefonte 8-4, Huntingdon 5-8, Clearfield 4-9, Penns Valley 3-10, Tyrone 0-13.
PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA — 11
Maggie Peck 1b 2111, Kylie Thal c 3011, Rachel Simpson ph 1000, Haylee Hayward 3b 4021, Chelsey Henry lf 3210, Kam Harris p 1100, Kaleigh Taylor ph 1000, Hannah Thompson ss 2200, Jayde Burge dp 4223, Sadie Granville (flex) 2b 0100, Madison Lucas rf 2000, Annie Kost rf 2012, Kendra Carns cf 3112, Allyson Fenton ph 1100. TOTALS: 29 11 9 9.
CLEARFIELD — 0
Brooke Cline ss 3000, Sierra Jones 3b 3000, Aspen Bishop lf 3010, Nikki Brossard c 3010, Abby Fedder 2000, Kate Lansberry ph 1000, Makayla Ross 1b 3000, Karlie Lewis cf 3000, Raeleigh Redden p 0000, Erica Hanes p 2010, Lindsay Hand rf 2000, Alana Kochan (flex) 2b 0000, Molly Sartin (flex) 2b 0000. TOTALS: 25 0 3 0.
Score by Innings
Philipsburg-Osceola 132 021 2 – 11 9 1
Clearfield 000 000 0 – 0 3 5
E – Harris; Cline 3, Brossard, Lewis. DP – Clearfield 2 (). LOB – Philipsburg-Osceola 4; Clearfield 4. 2B – Burge 2, Carns; Hanes. 3B – Brossard. HR – Peck. Sac – Thompson. SB – Peck, Henry, Taylor, Burge. CS – Taylor (by Brossard).
Pitching
Philipsburg-Osceola – Harris 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K.
Clearfield – Redden 2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Hanes 5 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 1 K.
WP – Harris 1.
W – Harris (12-1). L – Redden (5-8).
Umpires – Kenny Knepp (plate) and Bud Brennen (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 | 7 – 5 | 2 – 3 |
| 4/18 | TYRONE | 10 – 0 | 3 – 3 |
| 4/19 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 0 – 9 | 3 – 4 |
| 4/20 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 1 – 11 | 3 – 5 |
| 4/22 | @ Central | 0 – 11 | 3 – 6 |
| 4/25 | HUNTINGDON | 5 – 11 | 3 – 7 |
| 4/28 | BELLEFONTE | ppd. | 3 – 7 |
| 4/29 | BELLEFONTE | ppd. | 3 – 7 |
| 5/02 | GLENDALE | ppd. | 3 – 7 |
| 5/03 | @ Tyrone | 7 – 2 | 4 – 7 |
| 5/05 | @ Curwensville | 3 – 1 | 5 – 7 |
| 5/06 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 3 – 9 | 5 – 8 |
| 5/09 | @ Penns Valley | 3 – 1 | 6 – 8 |
| 5/11 | GLENDALE | 0 – 2 | 6 – 9 |
| 5/12 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 0 – 11 | 6 – 10 |
| 5/17 | BELLEFONTE | ||
| 5/16 | @ Hollidaysburg | ||
| 5/18 | ALTOONA | ||
| 5/19 | @ Bradford |