HYDE — Moving the Clearfield Area High School softball program forward has been a slower-than-anticipated project for fourth-year coach Bob Lewis and his staff, but the Lady Bison will have the opportunity to take a big step Wednesday.
A victory in the District 9 Class AAA semifinal at St. Marys would be Clearfield’s first postseason success since 2007.
Since then, Lady Bison teams have lost five times, including 3-2 and 3-0 in semifinal games at Punxsutawney the last two years.
“It’s nice to play somebody other than Punxsy in the first game,” Lewis said.
Clearfield enters the tourney as the No. 3 seed with an 8-12 record, the most wins under Lewis, and will have to back senior pitcher Raeleigh Redden with solid defense and come through with clutch hits to reach the championship game against Punxsy.
“If Raeleigh pitches well, which we expect her to, our defense plays as well as we have recently, we get the magic number of eight hits and score at least four runs, we’ll have a good chance of winning,” Lewis said. “I think we can score some runs if we run the bases well and execute fundamentals.”
He rates St. Marys, seeded No. 2 at 11-8, on par with the “middle of the pack” teams in the Mountain League, in which Clearfield had a 4-10 finish.
The Lady Dutch compete in the Central Penn League and were 2-6 against Class AAA foes Punxsy and Hollidaysburg and Class AAAA opponents DuBois, Altoona and Williamsport.
“They have a good pitcher and they’re an impressive hitting team,” Lewis said. “They hit the ball well and don’t strike out much,” Lewis said.
Sophomore Bekka Bauer logged the bulk of the work in the circle and averaged more than a strikeout per inning in most of the victories.
“She an above-average pitcher,” Lewis said. “She has a little bit of an awkward release point, very low, but she throws strikes.”
Redden will be confronted by a hard-hitting lineup as the Lady Dutch boast a .318 average with six starters well over .300.
Senior shortstop Sara Newell leads them in hits (27) and average (.422) and is second in runs batted in (17).
Sophomore centerfielder Mikayla Bothun is next at .370 with 20 hits, junior second baseman Olivia Catalone is hitting .354 with a team-high 18 RBIs, senior third baseman Allie Vollmer and junior first baseman Morgan Krug both are at .339 with 14 RBIs and Bauer checks in at .324.
Senior catcher Brittany Geitner has a .262 average with 11 RBIs, freshman infielder Lexi Cunningham is hitting .250 with eight RBIs and senior leftfielder Cheyanne Sarnoski has nine RBIs.
“They will be a good test for us, but I think our kids are ready,” Lewis said.
A trio of sophomores are the top hitters for the Lady Bison, who have encountered top-notch pitching in and out of the ML.
Shortstop Brooke Cline is the leader with 25 hits for a .385 average as well as runs with 12 and walks with eight.
Left fielder Aspen Bishop is next at .283 with 17 hits and team-highs in doubles (6) and RBIs (13), and catcher Nikki Brossard, who missed the first half of the season because of an injury, follows at .267.
Redden and senior third baseman Sierra Jones both are at .250.
Lewis has shuffled his lineup throughout the season, with the majority of starts going to soph Makayla Ross at first base, soph Alana Kochan at second base, senior Karlie Lewis in center field and soph Lindsay Hand in right field.
Junior Molly Sartin has alternated with Kochan in recent games, while soph Eric Hanes has double-digit starts at the corner outfield positions and soph Abby Fedder has been utilized as the designated player in addition to spot starts at third base.
Redden’s 7-9 pitching record is somewhat deceiving, for her earned run average is 2.41 for 90 innings in 17 appearances, including 16 starts with 10 complete games and three shutouts.
She has recorded 70 strikeouts and issued 31 walks.
Fedder (1-2) and Hanes (0-1) have pitched in seven games apiece, each making two starts.
The Lady Bison and Lady Dutch have faced four common foes.
Clearfield defeated Punxsutawney 3-0, Hollidaysburg 2-0 in eight innings and Bradford 11-0 while losing to Altoona 5-1.
St. Marys lost 18-7 and 10-0 to Punxsy, beat Hollidaysburg 3-1, swept Bradford 15-0 in four innings and 20-7 in six innings and split with Altoona, winning 9-8 in early May after losing 5-1 in the season opener.
The Lady Dutch lost twice to DuBois and Warren, a 15-3 District 10 team.
No. 1 seed Punxsy awaits the winner in the district championship game that will be played at a date and time to be announced.
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 |
| 5/16 | @ Hollidaysburg | 2 – 0 | 7 – 10 |
| 5/17 | BELLEFONTE | 1 – 12 | 7 – 11 |
| 5/18 | ALTOONA | 1 – 5 | 7 – 12 |
| 5/19 | @ Bradford | 11 – 0 | 8 – 12 |
| 5/24 | D9 AAA Semifinals | ||
| 5/24 | @ St. Marys |