HYDE — The effects of a 10-day layoff due to the unusually harsh spring weather were apparent right away and proved costly for the Clearfield Area High School softball team on a chilly and very windy afternoon at the Bison Sports Complex Friday.
Shoddy defense and failure to get to Tyrone sophomore Cate Baran until very late resulted in an 18-8 loss for the Lady Bison in the Mountain League opener for both teams.
Five of the Lady Bison’s seven hits came in the last two innings, long after the outcome had been decided, with Erica Hanes and Aspen Bishop blasting multi-run homers.
Even though pulling off three double plays, Clearfield (1-1) gave away way too many outs because of errors of commission, seven, as well as omission while Tyrone was building a 10-1 lead after four innings.
“Like I said to them, you can’t win a game like that,” first-year coach Derek Danver said. “Mentally, we weren’t in the game from the get-go.
“I don’t know if all day in school we were thinking we were going to get rained out and we were caught by surprise, but we did not show up to play.”
The Lady Eagles struck quickly for three runs, all unearned because of a passed ball and two misplays. They also were very aggressive on the basepaths with four of their nine stolen bases, including a steal of home by Alley Jones.
The Lady Bison got one run back when Karly Rumsky reached second on a Lady Eagle error, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Brooke Cline’s line single into right center.
However, Tyrone began to stretch the lead with three runs on five of its 19 hits in the second frame, Emily Hamer and Callie Maceno delivering RBI singles.
Two more tainted runs in the third made it 8-1, and Maceno had the Lady Eagles on the brink of a Mercy Rule win with a high fly that rode the wind over the left field fence for a two-run homer in the fourth.
Baran, who struck out six and walked one, took a two-hitter into the sixth inning, when Aspen Bishop chased home Cline from first base with a double to left center and scored herself on an overthrow when she headed for third base on the throw to the plate.
Both teams got into a hitting groove in the seventh inning with the Lady Eagles outscoring the Lady Bison 8-5.
A three-run double by Emily Lehman was the big blow for Tyrone, which got RBI singles from Emily Baran, Jones, Hamer and Maceno and a sacrifice fly from Cate Baran.
“I think Abby did her job,” Danver said. “She started getting hit toward the end when she got tired, but she probably threw 50 more pitches than she had to in the first five innings because we weren’t making the plays behind her.
“We need to tighten up our defense for sure.”
Though it was too little too late, the Lady Bison did whack three extra base hits in the lower seventh before Cate Baran could close out her seven-hitter.
Following a pair of two-out miscues by the Lady Eagles, Hanes hammered a three-run homer that cleared the left field fence in a hurry. After Cline scorched a double to deep center, Bishop belted her second home run in as many games to left center.
Those three Lady Bison seniors had two hits apiece.
“Finally, our bats did come around,” Danver said. “Our biggest strength is our hitting. We just couldn’t get it going early.”
Maceno, a sophomore letterwinner, fronted Tyrone’s attack with five hits, while Jones and Hamer had three apiece and Ella Pearson and Emily Baran each had two.
The Lady Bison will take on Bald Eagle Area at Milesburg Monday.
TYRONE — 18
Ella Pearson 2b 4221, Cate Baran p 4211, Alley Jones c 5332, Emily Hamer ss 5233, Callie Maceno cf 5253, Lindsey Fleck cf 0100, Emily Lehman 1b 5113, Grace Gensimore 3b 5111, Emily Baran rf 5121, Arian Hicks lf 2211, Winnie Grot ph-lf 3110. TOTALS: 43 18 19 16.
CLEARFIELD — 8
Karly Rumsky cf 4200, Erica Hanes c 4123, Brooke Cline ss 4221, Aspen Bishop lf 4223, Makayla Ross 1b 4010, Abby Fedder p 2000, Makeeli Redden 2b 2000, Mackenzie Lansberry 2b 1000, Kirstin Norman dp 2000, Kate Lansberry ph 1000, Lindsay Hand rf 3100, Kyra Mollura 3b (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 31 8 7 7.
Score by Innings
Tyrone 332 200 8 – 18 19 6
Clearfield 100 002 5 – 8 7 7
E – Pearson 2, Jones 1, Hamer 3; Rumsky 1, Ross 2, Mollura 4. PB – Hanes 2. DP – Tyrone 2 (Pearson and Lehman; Hamer and Lehman); Clearfield 3 (Mollura unassisted; Mollura, Ross and Hanes; Cline, Ross and Mollura). LOB – Tyrone 6; Clearfield 3. 2B – Hamer, Lehman; Cline. HR – Maceno; Hanes (1), Bishop (2). SF – C. Baran. SB – Pearson 3, Coleman 1, Hamer 1, Gensimore 1, Hicks 11, Grot 2; Cline.
Pitching
Tyrone – C. Baran 7 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K.
Clearfield – Fedder 7 IP, 19 H, 18 R, 11 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
WP – C. Baran 1; Fedder 2.
W – C. Baran. L – Fedder (1-1).
Umpires – Frank Pehrenic (plate) and Jay Siegel (bases).
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
3/23 CENTRAL ppd. 0 – 0
3/26 @ Curwensville 14 – 2 1 – 0
3/27 CENTRAL ppd. 1 – 0
3/29 @ Huntingdon ppd. 1 – 0
4/02 CENTRAL ppd. 1 – 0
4/03 @ Bellefonte ppd. 1 – 0
4/05 @ Huntingdon ppd. 1 – 0
4/06 TYRONE 8 – 18 1 – 1
4/09 @ Bald Eagle Area
4/11 PUNXSUTAWNEY
4/12 PENNS VALLEY
4/16 GLENDALE
4/17 @ Philipsburg-Osceola
4/19 CENTRAL
4/20 @ Central
4/23 HUNTINGDON
4/24 @ Bellefonte
4/26 BELLEFONTE
4/30 @ Bradford
5/01 @ Tyrone
5/03 @ Huntingdon
5/04 BALD EAGLE AREA
5/07 @ Penns Valley
5/09 @ Hollidaysburg
5/10 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA
5/14 ALTOONA