CLEARFIELD, Pa. – The Lady Bison of Clearfield took care of business in their first game of the 2021 season in a 4-0 victory over Mountain League rival Philipsburg- Osceola held at the Bison Varsity Softball field.
Junior Emma Hipps got the nod in the circle for Clearfield and delivered in a big way, recording 13 punch-outs on her way to a complete game, one hit shutout.
“She is a stud on the mound,” said Clearfield Head Softball Coach Derek Danver. “She was dominant in her first high school season and we are expecting great things from her this season as well.”
Clearfield was able to score all four of their runs for the game in the first two innings. In total, it only took four hits for the Lady Bison to score those four runs as they were able to manufacture runs early in the game to set the tone. Hipps reached on a walk to begin the game and was able to eventually come around and score on a sacrifice fly from Lauren Ressler to make it a 1-0 ball game in the bottom of the first. After a scoreless top half of the second, Clearfield was able to add three runs in the bottom of the second to add some insurance.
After a one out single from senior Morgan Cheek, freshman Ruby Singleton was able to reach on an error by the leftfielder. Both Cheek and Singleton managed to score later in the inning, as did Hipps who scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Alaina Fedder. Patient hitting and smart base running played a large role in helping the Lady Bison plate the four runs without collecting a plethora of hits.
Danver added this about the type of win this is for the program. “We have not beaten them since 2006 and were about 0-20 against them since. This win today was a big one for us to begin our season.”
Clearfield will be in action Wednesday afternoon, March 31, as they travel to Central High School in Martinsburg, Pennsylvania. The game is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.
Philipsburg-Osceola – 0
Jarret 3000, McDonald 3010, Minarchick 3000, Taylor 3000, Cuttler 3000, Bryon 2000, Simpson 1000, Vaux 2000, Herr 2000. Totals 20 0 1`0
Clearfield – 4
Emma Hipps P 2210, Alaina Fedder SS 3001, Lauren Ressler 1B 1001, Olivia Bender C 1011, Alexis Benton CF 2000, Alexis Bumbarger 3B 3000, Kylee Hertlein 2B 3010, Morgan Cheek LF 2110, Ruby Singleton RF 3100, Totals 20 4 4 3
Score by Innings
PO 0000000
Clearfield 130000X
Pitching
PO Taylor 6 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K.
Clearfield Hipps 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, O BB, 13 K.
W – Hipps (1-0). L – Taylor (0-1).