PUNXSUTAWNEY — A brilliant pitching duel between a pair of underclassmen ended when Abby Gigliotti’s infield single sent Maddie Shiock home from third base with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Punxsutawney a 1-0 squeaker over Clearfield in a high school girls softball nail-biter Friday afternoon.
Lady Bison freshman Emma Hipps and Lady Chuck sophomore Kendal Johnston had matched one-hitters through seven innings.
In the extra frame, Lady Bison Morgan Cheek was safe on an error but still was at first base with two outs. Her steal attempt was thwarted on a strong throw by Lady Chuck catcher Madison Stonebraker.
Grace Aikens, Punxsy’s leading hitter at .439, came through with a pinch-hit double to start the lower half. Shiock re-entered to run and advanced to third when Lady Bison catcher Olivia Bender threw out Allie Meko at first.
Then, Gigliotti’s hit gave the Lady Chucks the walk-off win, their 12th in 19 games.
Clearfield posed its only threat in the fifth inning after Johnston had retired the first 13 batters.
With one out, Kyra Mollura singled and Cheek was hit by a pitch. A forceout at third on Casey English’s grounder and a strikeout kept the Johnston shutout intact.
She wound up with seven strikeouts and no walks.
Hipps’ performance was equally remarkable as she logged 13 strikeouts with no free passes.
The tough-luck loser recorded five 1-2-3 innings, Punxsy’s only baserunners in regulation being Johnston on a single in the first and Riley Presloid via an error in the fifth.
The Lady Bison finished the regular season 10-9.
They are the No. 2 seed for the District 9 Class AAA Playoffs and will host Brookville in the lone semifinal game Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Bison Sports Complex.
CLEARFIELD — 0
Karly Rumsky cf 3000, Emma Hipps p 3000, Olivia Bender c 3000, Lauren Ressler 1b 3000, Kyra Mollura ss 3010, Morgan Cheek lf 2000, Casey English 3b 3000, Alexis Benton rf 3000, Kylee Hertlein 2b 2000. TOTALS: 25 0 1 0.
PINXSUTAWNEY — 1
Madison Stonebraker c 3000, Sarah Weaver cf 3000, Kendal Johnston p 3010, Elliott Ferrent 3b 3000, Holly Hartman 2b 3000, Maddie Shiock 1b 2100, Grace Aikens ph 1010, Riley Presloid ss 3000, Allie Meko rf 3000, Abby Gigliotti lf 3011. TOTALS: 27 1 3 1.
Runs by Innings
Clearfield 000 000 00 – 0 1 1
Punxsutawney 000 000 01 – 1 3 1
E – Hertlein; Hartman. LOB – Clearfield 2; Punxsutawney 3. 2B – Aikens. CS – Cheek (by Stonebraker).
Pitching
Clearfield – Hipps 7-2/3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 13 K.
Punxsutawney – Johnston 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K.
HB – Johnston 1 (Cheek).
W – Johnston (6-3). L – Hipps (9-8).
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 cancelled 9 – 8
5/13 @ Punxsutawney ppd. 9 – 8
5/14 @ Punxsutawney ppd. 9 – 8
5/15 @ Altoona 9 – 4 10 – 8
5/17 @ Punxsutawney 0 – 1, 8 inn. 10 – 9
5/22 District 9 AAA Playoffs
5/22 BROOKVILLE