ALTOONA – A two-run walk-off home run earlier in the week is hard to top, but the Lady Bison may have done so with two big wins on Saturday to take home gold in the Portage Spring Classic Tournament. A six inning, 11-0 win over reigning District 6 champion, Glendale, set up a matchup between the Lady Bison and Central Cambria, a game the Lady Bison would win 13-2 in just five innings.
24 runs in 11 innings shows just how hot the bats were on Saturday for Clearfield, and just two runs surrendered between the two games show just how dominant the pitching was as well. Emma Hipps and Olivia Bender each brought home wins for the Lady Bison, as Hipps improved to 9-0, with Bender picking up her first win of the season in the championship game.
Ruby Singleton led the offense in the opening round win over Glendale, recording a multi-hit game and scoring three runs. Hipps, Ressler, Olivia Bender, Alexis Benton, Kylee Hertlein, and Alexis Bumbarger also found their way into the hit column with one hit each.
For Ressler, she finished the game with five RBIs as she went deep for a grand slam in the top of the sixth. Olivia Bender would homer in the very next at-bat, making the sixth inning a seven run inning for the Lady Bison, as they saw their lead go from 4-0 to 11-0, quickly.
Hipps shut the door on any comeback attempt as she showed poise in the circle with 12 more punch-outs for her ninth win of the campaign.
There was little time to be satisfied with the win, as Central Cambria stood in their way from claiming win number 11 in a row and the bragging rights of being tournament champions.
The offense kept on producing, scoring two runs in the first, three in the second, and four each in the next two innings, which immensely pressured Central Cambria to keep up with their hot bats.
Home runs from Olivia Bender, Emma Hipps, Lauren Ressler, and Ruby Singleton in the championship game showed how locked in the team was at the dish in their second game of the day. Singelton recorded three more hits in the win, with teammates Hipps, Ressler, Bender, Fedder, and Alexis Benton each recording two hits. Alexis Cole also found her way into the hit column with a base-knock of her own.
Hipps led the way in terms of driving in runs with five RBIs. Ressler drove in three more, making it eight for her over two games. Singleton and Bender each drove in two, while Cole knocked in a run as well.
Despite some control issues and some rust, Olivia Bender had plenty of run support and fought hard in the circle to pick up the win and provide ace Hipps with some rest that she deserved from the way she has started her senior year.
In just four and a half innings, Clearfield had scored 13 runs to Central Cambria’s two, making it for a quick title game and leading to the Lady Bison being crowned tournament champions.
While it is a reason to celebrate, this ball club has bigger aspirations in mind this season, as they will look to strive to reach more goals during their promising season. The Lady Bison will look to make it 12 straight wins as they are back in action with a Mountain League road test against Tyrone. First-pitch is scheduled for Monday at 4:30 p.m.
Game One
CLEARFIELD – 11
Ruby Singleton (CF) 4320, Emma Hipps (P) 4110, Lauren Ressler (1B) 4215 Olivia Bender (C) 4111, Alaina Fedder (SS) 4000, Alexis Benton (RF) 1110, Kylee Hertlein (2B) 4110, Alexis Bumbarger (3B) 2210, Alexis Cole (DP) 2001, Anna Twigg (LF) 0000. TOTALS 29 11 8 7.
Batting
2B: Emma Hipps, Ruby Singleton
HR: Olivia Bender, Lauren Ressler
Grand slam: Lauren Ressler
TB: Olivia Bender 4, Alexis Benton, Alexis Bumbarger, Kylee Hertlein, Emma Hipps 2, Lauren Ressler 4, Ruby Singleton 3
RBI: Olivia Bender, Alexis Cole, Lauren Ressler 5
SF: Alexis Cole
ROE: Olivia Bender, Emma Hipps 2, Lauren Ressler, Ruby Singleton
HBP: Alexis Benton, Alexis Bumbarger
GLENDALE – 0
Riley Best (CF) 3010, Hannah Noel (P/SS) 3000, Madison Peterson (SS/P) 3010, Alyson Buterbaugh (3B0 2000, Kaprice Cavalet (2B) 2000, Jillian Taylor (RF) 2000, Kelly Kasaback (LF) 2000, Abigail Williams (1B) 2000, Caitlyn Rydbom (FLEX) 2010. TOTALS 21 0 3 0.
Batting
TB: Caitlyn Rydbom, Riley Best, Madison Peterson
Fielding
E: Alyson Buterbaugh 2, Riley Best, Kaprice Cavalet 2
Score by Inning
Clearfield 0 0 3 0 1 7 x.
Glendale 0 0 0 0 0 0 x.
Pitching
Emma Hipps (9-0). L – Hannah Noel.
Glendale Hanah Noel 5.1 IP, 7 H, 11 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 2 HR
Madison Peterson .2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB.
W – Emma Hipps (9-0). L – Hannah Noel.
Game Two
CENTRAL CAMBRIA – 2
Jordyn Burkett (SS) 2000, Aubrey Ruddick (LF) 3210, Olivia Janosik (1B) 2000, Kami Kamzik (1B) 0000, Kari Ruzsi (DP) 0001, Kera Link (2B) 1000, Jordan Krawloin (C) 3000, Mia Ruddick (PH) 1000, Alyssa Link (RF) 2000, Karlee Henney (CF) 1000, Soph Blasko (CF) 0000. TOTALS 15 2 1 1.
Batting
TB: Aubrey Ruddick
RBI: Kari Ruzsi
ROE: Aubrey Ruddick
GIDP: Jordan Krawloin
Fielding
E: Jordyn Burkett, Karlee Henney
CLEARFIELD – 13
Ruby Singleton (CF) 4232, Emma Hipps (1B) 3325, Lauren Ressler (C) 4223 Olivia Bender (P) 3122, Alaina Fedder (SS) 3120, Alexis Benton (RF) 2120, Kylee Hertlein (2B) 2100, Alexis Bumbarger (3B) 3100, Alexis Cole (LF) 2111, Anna Twigg (LF) 0000. TOTALS 26 13 14 13.
Batting
2B: Lauren Ressler
HR: Olivia Bender, Emma Hipps, Lauren Ressler, Ruby Singleton
TB: Olivia Bender 5, Alexis Benton 2, Alexis Cole, Alaina Fedder 2, Emma Hipps 5, Lauren Ressler 6, Ruby Singleton 6
RBI: Olivia Bender 2, Alexis Cole, Emma Hipps 5, Lauren Ressler 3, Ruby Singleton 2
SF: Alexis Cole
ROE: Ruby Singleton
FC: Alexis Bumbarger, Emma Hipps
HBP: Alexis Benton
SB: Emma Hipps
Fielding
E: Alaina Fedder
Score by Inning
Central Cambria 1 0 1 0 0 x x.
Clearfield 2 3 4 4 x x x.
Pitching
Central Cambria Mia Ruddick 4 IP, 14 H, 13 R, 10 ER, 2 BB, K, 4 HR.
Clearfield Olivia Bender 5 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 8 BB, K.
W – Olivia Bender (1-0). L – Mia Ruddick.
