ST. MARYS — The season ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Clearfield Area High School softball team Wednesday as pitcher Maura Fledderman won her own game with a ninth-inning single to give No. 2 seed St. Marys a 5-4 victory in their District 9 Class AAAA semifinal.
The Lady Bison had staved off defeat with three runs in the top of the seventh inning and had the potential winning run thrown out at the plate before the Lady Dutch pulled it out on a single by Maddie Bowes, an error on Bekka Bauer’s grounder and Fledderman’s fourth hit of the afternoon.
All came after two outs and spoiled a strong performance from right-hander Abby Fedder, who went the distance, striking out three with no walks.
She allowed 12 hits but kept the Lady Bison in the game in the longest outing of her career.
“I think she had only one 1-2-3 inning, so she had to work a little bit, but she got the job done,” first-year coach Derek Danver said. “A lot of things didn’t go our way.”
In the top of the ninth, it took a perfect throw from Micayla Bothun on Makayla Ross’ single to shallow center field to cut down Aspen Bishop on a bang-bang play at the plate.
“The throw was a strike to the catcher’s chest,” Danver said.
An inning earlier, Clearfield came close to grabbing a 6-4 lead when Mackenzie Lansberry’s liner with two runners in scoring position was speared by first baseman Sydney Eckert.
“Lansberry smoked that ball but it was right at her,” Danver said.
Even in the sixth, when the Lady Bison finally broke through against Fledderman, they caught a bad break.
After singles by Mackenzie Lansberry and Erica Hanes and walks to Bishop and Fedder had produced a run, Kate Lansberry drilled a hard shot off Fledderman’s leg that glanced right to third baseman Britney Shaw, who made the play for the inning-ending out.
Fledderman struggled with her control in the next inning, hitting Lindsay Hand, walking Mackenzie Lansberry and hitting Hanes before walking Brooke Cline to force in a run.
Bishop’s grounder to third resulted in a forceout at the plate, but an errant throw to first base on the double play attempt allowed Hanes to score.
Then, Ross singled up the middle to drive in Cline with the tying run.
“I can’t say enough about the girls staying in the game and battling back,” Danver said. “We had one hit going into the sixth inning and we send it to extras.”
Fledderman wound up with a six-hitter, striking out seven but while walking eight and hitting two.
“She’s one of the hardest throwing girls we’ve seen this season, and her stuff was moving,” Danver said.
St. Marys went in front 2-0 in the second inning on Allison Schlimm’s RBI single and Maddie LeGrys’ squeeze bunt.
Two-out singles by Sydney Shaw and Bothun doubled the lead in the fourth.
The Lady Dutch would have been in position to end it with two outs in the bottom of the seventh when courtesy runner Megan McMackin tried to advance from first to third on Schlimm’s hit to center field, but Rumsky’s throw to Hanes arrived in plenty of time for the tag.
Fledderman led the winners at the plate, too, with four hits. Schlimm and Bothun added three apiece.
St. Marys (13-7) will challenge three-time champion Punxsutawney (13-3) for the district crown Friday at 4 p.m. at Heindl Field in DuBois.
The Lady Bison wound up with a 9-12 record.
“We fell a little short of our goals,” Danver said. “We wanted a winning season. We wanted to compete for the District 9 championship. Really, we were a few runs away from those goals.”
Seniors Bishop, Cline, Fedder, Hanes and Ross, all four-year letterwinners, and Hand, Kate Lansberry and Mackenzie Lansberry played their final game for the Lady Bison. Kirstin Norman also is a senior.
“We’re losing some really talented players and a lot of experience,” Danver said.
CLEARFIELD — 4
Mackenzie Lansberry 2b 4110, Erica Hanes 3b 4110, Brooke Cline ss 4101, Aspen Bishop lf 4010, Makayla Ross 1b 5021, Abby Fedder p 4011, Kate Lansberry dp 1100, Karly Rumsky cf 2100, Casey English ph 1000, Lindsay Hand rf 3100, Kyra Mollura c (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 32 4 6 3.
ST. MARYS — 5
Maddie LeGrys dp 4001, Britney Shaw 3b 5011, Micayla Bothun cf 5031, Sydney Eckert 1b 5000, Maddie Bowes 2b 5110, Bekka Bauer ss 5110, Maura Fledderman p 5241, Allison Schlimm c 3031, Brianna Grotzinger rf 4110, Lauren Eckert lf (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 41 5 12 5.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 000 001 300 – 4 6 4
St. Marys 020 200 001 – 5 12 1
E – M. Lansberry, Hanes 2, Rumsky; Schlimm. LOB – Clearfield 11; St. Marys 13. 2B – Bishop. Sac – LeGrys, Schlimm. SB – Grotzinger.
Pitching
Clearfield – Fedder 8-2/3 IP, 12 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
St. Marys – Fledderman 9 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 8 BB, 7 K.
HB – Fledderman 2 (Hanes, Hand).
W – Fledderman. L – Fedder (6-12).
Lady Bison Final 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 ppd. 1 – 1
4/11 PUNXSUTAWNEY 7 – 13 1 – 2
4/12 PENNS VALLEY 9 – 7 2 – 2
4/16 GLENDALE ppd. 2 – 2
4/17 @ Philipsburg-Osceola ppd. 2 – 2
4/18 @ Philipsburg-Osceola 2 – 8 2 – 3
4/19 CENTRAL ppd. 2 – 3
4/20 @ Central 8 – 6 3 – 3
4/20 @ Central 5 – 11 3 – 4
4/23 HUNTINGDON 10 – 3 4 – 4
4/24 @ Bellefonte 11 – 16 4 – 5
4/26 BELLEFONTE 9 – 20 4 – 6
4/28 @ Bald Eagle Area 4 – 14 4 – 7
4/30 @ Bradford 23 – 0 5 – 7
5/01 @ Tyrone 1 – 4 5 – 8
5/02 GLENDALE cancelled 5 – 8
5/03 @ Huntingdon 4 – 3 6 – 8
5/04 BALD EAGLE AREA 1 – 7 6 – 9
5/07 @ Penns Valley 2 – 3 6 – 10
5/08 BROOKVILLE 4 – 1 7 – 10
5/09 @ Hollidaysburg 12 – 6 8 – 10
5/10 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 2 – 6 8 – 11
5/14 ALTOONA cancelled 8 – 11
5/15 WEST BRANCH 14 – 13 9 – 11
5/23 District 9 AAAA Playoffs
5/23 @ St. Marys 4 – 5, 9 inn. 9 – 12