ALTOONA — Emma Hipps excelled in the circle and at the plate to lead the Clearfield Area High School softball team past Altoona 9-4 in a non-league game at the Logan Elementary School Field Wednesday.
The freshman right-hander fired a three-hitter with 12 strikeouts and paced a 12-hit offense with a home run and three singles, driving in two runs and scoring three.
Lauren Ressler had a pair of singles and two RBIs, Alexis Benton belted a homer, Casey English had a double and Kyra Mollura drove in two runs as the Lady Bison clinched a winning record for the regular season at 10-8.
Hipps’ homer, her sixth, was the game-winning hit, breaking a 4-4 tie in the fifth inning.
Mollura made it 6-4 with an RBI single after Ressler walked and stole second.
The Bison pulled away with two more runs in the sixth with English’s double and Kylee Hertlein’s single and steal setting the table for Karly Rumsky and Hipps, who registered the RBIs with a groundout and single, respectively.
Benton added the final run with her first roundtripper in the seventh.
Clearfield led 4-0 in the middle of the third inning when hits by Rumsky, Hipps and Olivia Bender filled the sacks, Ressler logged an RBI with a groundout and two runs scored when Mollura’s grounder was misplayed.
Altoona (1-17) got one run back in the lower half and then knotted the score in the fourth frame with a hit, the lone walk allowed by Hipps, a Lady Bison error and a squeeze bunt. Only one of the Lady Lions’s runs was earned.
The Lady Bison will play their regular season finale at Punxsutawney Friday before turning their attention to the District 9 Class AAA Playoffs that begin next week.
Their Mountain League game with Bellefonte that was rained out last Friday has been cancelled.
CLEARFIELD — 9
Karly Rumsky cf 5111, Emma Hipps p 4342, Olivia Bender c 4110, Lauren Ressler 1b 3122, Kyra Mollura ss 4012, Alexis Bumbarger rf 2000, Alexis Benton rf 2111, Morgan Cheek lf 4000, Casey English 3110, Kylee Hertlein 2b 4110. TOTALS: 35 9 12 8.
ALTOONA — 4
Kierra Moist cf 3000, Jackie Beck ss 3110, Isabella Zavalanski 3b 3000, Abby Smearman 1b 2100, Hannah Strawmire dp-p-dp-p 3101, Riley Steinbugl 2b 2001, Madison Pincin rf 3010, J Douglass c 2000, Emilee Sawtelle c 1000, Delaney Crider lf 3110, Lea Lohsl p (flex) 0000, Madison Zimmerer p (flex) 0000. TOTALS: 24 4 3 2.
Score by Innings
Clearfield 103 022 1 – 9 12 1
Altoona 001 300 0 – 4 3 1
E – Bender; Steinbugl. PB – Bender; Douglass. LOB – Clearfield 6; Altoona 1. 2B – English, Pincin. 3B – Crider. HR – Hipps (6), Benton (1). Sac – Steinbugl. SB – Ressler 2, Mollura, Hertlein; Smearman, Pincin.
Pitching
Clearfield – Hipps 7 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 K.
Altoona – Strawmire 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K; Zimmerer 3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
W – Hipps (9-7). L – Zimmerer.
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
3/26 BALD EAGLE AREA 2 – 17 0 – 1
3/29 HUNTINGDON ppd. 0 – 1
4/01 @ Philipsburg-Osceola ppd. 0 – 1
4/02 CURWENSVILLE 9 – 1 1 – 1
4/04 TYRONE 7 – 5 2 – 1
4/06 @ Philipsburg-Osceola 1 – 3 2 – 2
4/09 @ Penns Valley 3 – 4 2 – 3
4/10 HUNTINGDON 11 – 1 3 – 3
4/11 BRADFORD 15 – 3 4 – 3
4/12 CENTRAL ppd. 4 – 3
4/15 @ Bellefonte ppd. 4 – 3
4/16 CENTRAL 4 – 1 5 – 3
4/18 @ Bald Eagle Area 0 – 9 5 – 4
4/22 @ Glendale 2 – 6, 9 inn. 5 – 5
4/23 @ Huntingdon 9 – 4 6 – 5
4/26 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA ppd. 6 – 5
4/29 @ Tyrone 0 – 1 6 – 6
4/30 PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA 1 – 4 6 – 7
5/02 PENNS VALLEY 4 – 1 7 – 7
5/06 @ Bellefonte 7 – 1 8 – 7
5/07 @ Central 2 – 6 8 – 8
5/08 HOLLIDAYSBURG 10 – 1 9 – 8
5/10 BELLEFONTE ppd. 9 – 8
5/13 @ Punxsutawney ppd. 9 – 8
5/14 @ Punxsutawney ppd. 9 – 8
5/15 @ Altoona 9 – 4 10 – 8
5/17 @ Punxsutawney