DUBOIS — A classic high school softball pitching duel between Clearfield’s Raeleigh Redden and Punxsutawney’s Kylee Lingenfelter ended in heartbreak for the Lady Bison at the Highland Street Elementary School Field Tuesday afternoon.
With two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, Morgan Van Leer ripped a hit to right field that chased home pinch-runner Kate Horner from second base to give the Lady Chucks a 1-0 win and the District 9 Class AAA championship.
“That’s a tough one to take,” coach Bob Lewis said after Clearfield’s first appearance in the finals since 2009. “We knew coming in that runs were going to be tough to come by.
“The pitching was phenomenal. The defense was phenomenal. It’s just that they had a timely hit. When you get to this point in the season, that’s what it usually comes down to.
“I couldn’t ask any more out of my kids. They just absolutely battled.”
Especially Redden, in what was as good a performance as she’s had as a Lady Bison, considering the stage and thanks to excellent playmaking behind her since she did not record a strikeout.
While Lingenfelter was living up to her hype with 13 strikeouts, padding her season total to 157 in 76 innings, and no walks in her seventh shutout in 11 complete games, Redden was within one-out of matching her two-hitter and forcing extra innings.
Then, Kim Shoemaker slashed a single into right field, Horner was inserted as a pinch-runner and promptly stole second and Van Leer, given life when her second foul pop-up was misplayed, came through with the game-winning hit.
“It was a curve ball that just got up a bit, and she just pulled it down the line,” Lewis said. “One pitch isn’t gonna define the game.
“Raeleigh was awesome. The defense was awesome.
“It’s a tough loss, but in the same respect, you try to put a positive spin on it. We would not have been in that position two or three years ago. That’s a tribute to where our program’s come.
“We took a big step forward by beating St. Marys and getting to this game and playing just what very well could have been our best game of the year. It just didn’t work out the way we hoped it would have.”
Brooke Cline had both of the Lady Bison’s hits and was their only baserunner.
Lingenfelter, who one-hit Clearfield 3-0 as freshman in the semifinals last year, had fanned six through three innings before Cline broke up her perfect game with a leadoff a single to center field.
The sophomore shortstop advanced to third base via Sierra Jones’ sacrifice bunt and a one-out steal but was stranded there when Lingenfelter registered one of her six inning-ending strikeouts.
Cline also sparkled in the field by handling eight chances flawlessly.
“Brooke’s been doing it all year long,” Lewis said. “She’s ultra-aggressive at the plate. She’s a heck of an athlete. She played a great game.
“The whole team had to make plays to keep us in the game, which they did.”
Early on, outstanding defense by Cline, third baseman Jones and center fielder Karlie Lewis prevented the Lady Chucks from gaining any momentum.
Cline closed out the first inning by going deep into the hole for Grace Aikens’ hard-hit two-hopper and making a strong throw to first.
In the second inning, Jones smothered Alli Ishman’s smash down the third base line and threw from an awkward half-kneeling, half-sitting position for the first out and Karlie Lewis ranged toward left center to take an extra base hit away from Morgan Adamson with a backhanded grab of her deep fly ball.
“I’ve been preaching all year about you’ve gotta play defense,” Lewis said. “And Raeleigh threw strikes. She had one walk.
“We did what we could. It’s just the hitting. Lingenfelter is an extremely quality pitcher, and we went toe-to-toe with them for six and two-thirds.
“It was a great ball game.
“The kids played their hearts out. They played to the best of their abilities. As a coach, that’s all I can ask. I’m very, very proud of them.”
“We’ve had a heck of a season. I think it’s a tribute to the really, really tough schedule that we’ve played throughout the year that our record isn’t indicative just how good we are, because I think our program’s on the rise.”
The Lady Bison finished 9-13 and will lose Redden, Jones and Lewis to graduation.
“Those three are the seniors remaining from a class of about six or seven when I took over four years ago, and they worked their tails off. They’re gonna be greatly missed, because we‘re losing an experienced pitcher, an experienced infielder and an experienced outfielder. Karlie and Sierra had to make positional changes to make the varsity lineup.
“And it’s even more that coach (Fred) Redden’s daughter, my daughter, you’re with them all the time. And Sierra, who’s just been like a daughter to both of us. They’ve been absolutely the most coachable kids you could want.”
Punxsutawney will take a 13-6 record into the first round of the PIAA Class AAA Tournament Monday against the loser of Thursday’s District 7 (WPIAL) championship game between No. 3 seed West Allegheny (19-1) and No. 12 Mount Pleasant (12-5).
CLEARFIELD — 3
Brooke Cline ss 3020, Sierra Jones 3b 2000, Aspen Bishop lf 3000, Abby Fedder dp 3000, Raeleigh Redden p 3000, Karlie Lewis cf 2000, Molly Sartin 2b 2000, Alana Kochan 2b 0000, Makayla Ross 1b 2000, Lindsay Hand rf 1000, Erica Hanes ph 1000, Myra Kavelak (flex) c 0000. TOTALS: 22 0 2 0.
PUNXSUTAWNEY — 0
Kylee Lingenfelter p 3000, Sam Satterlee ss 3000, Grace Aikens dp 2000, Toya Jones (flex) c-pr 0000, Alli Ishman 1b 3000, Morgan Adamson cf 3000, Kim Shoemaker lf 3010, Kate Horner pr 0100, Morgan Van Leer 2b 3011, Brayden Woodrow 3b 2010, Mallory Cameron rf 2010. TOTALS: 24 1 4 1.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
Punxsutawney 000 000 1 – 1 4 0
E – Kavelak 2. LOB – Clearfield 2; Punxsutawney 4. 2B – Cameron. SB – Cline; Jones, Horner.
Pitching
Clearfield – Redden 6-2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
Punxsutawney – Lingenfelter 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 13 K.
W – Lingenfelter (8-3). L – Redden (8-10).
Umpires – Ron Walter (plate), Colleen Shannon (first), Byron Quinton (second) and John Martino (third).
Final 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 | 6 – 5 | 9 – 12 |
| 5/31 | D9 AAA Finals | ||
| 5/31 | vs. Punxsy (@ DuBois) | 0 – 1 | 9 – 13 |
