HYDE — The Clearfield Lady Bison found themselves down 4-0 after four batters to start the game, and also were down 16-6 heading to the bottom of the fifth inning when they mounted a comeback that saw them fall to the Tyrone Lady Golden Eagles 16-13 on a blustery Thursday afternoon at the Bison Sports Complex.
Lady Bison starter Megan Wisor gave up two singles to start the game, then intentionally walked opposing starting pitcher Sam Shaw after the visitors had runners on second and third. The strategy back fired as third baseman Amariah Sprankle then lined a grand slam home run to right centerfield to put Tyrone up 4-0 within a matter of minutes.
Wisor got out of the inning without further damage and then pitched a scoreless second inning to keep the Lady Bison in the game.
During the home half of the second, the Lady Bison erupted for six runs to take what turned out to be their lone lead of the day.
Left fielder Madi McBride got things started with an infield single, then moved up to third via a wild pitch and an infield out. Designated player Alexus Green got the home squad on the board with a line drive to right center. Cather Anna Twigg then singled to left field and Green scored when the ball was bobbled. After a fielder’s choice for the second out, center fielder Ruby Singleton got one up in the jet stream in left that carried over the fence to knot the score at four. The Lady Bison weren’t done as they plated two more runs with two outs. First baseman Haley Billotte reached second on an error by the shortstop and was then plated by Lady Bison shortstop Aevril Hayward’s single to left. Hayward moved up to second on the throw and scored on a single to left by right fielder Eve Siegel, giving the hots a 6-4 lead.
However the Lady Bison lead was short-lived as the visitors one-upped the 6-spot with a 7-spot during the very next at-bat to take a commanding 11-6 lead.
After the first four batters reached base to start the inning, Wisor was relieved by Joell Henry in the circle. However all seven runs scored before an out was recorded during the inning.
Tyrone added a single run in the fourth and four runs in the fifth to take a 16-6 lead into the home half of the fifth, with the Lady Bison needed to score to extend the game or lose by the 10-run Mercy Rule.
McBride got things started when she reached on an error and third baseman Sam Campolong singled to center and moved up on the throw to put two runners in scoring position. However McBride was gunned down at home on Green’s fielder’s choice to keep the 1–run margin intact. Green and Campolong then pulled off a double steal to plate the needed run to avoid the Mercy Rule. The Lady Bison weren’t done there as the scored six more runs in the inning to narrow the gap to 16-13.
Twigg doubled in Green to make it 16-8. Second baseman Paige Houser then singled down the left field line to score Twigg’s courtesy runner Mia Helsel, and advanced to second on the throw in. Singleton was intentionally walked despite the 7-run Tyrone lead, then Billotte worked a walk to load the bases. Houser then scored on a wild pitch to unload the bases and make it 16-10. Hayward then doubled to deep right field to score Singleton and Billotte to make it 16-12, but was thrown out at third for the second out of the inning trying to extend the double. The Lady Bison weren’t done yet as Siegel beat out an infield single to the left side, the scored on a McBride double to right center.
A pitching change to freshman Kaitlyn Rockwell was exactly what the Lady Golden Eagles needed at that point as she got out of the inning with no further scoring, then stymied the Lady Bison bats over the next two innings to earn the save and keep the final at 16-13.
The Lady Bison (0-3) are now off until Tuesday when they travel to Hollidaysburg to face the 2-1 Lady Tigers.
Tyrone 407 140 0 16 18 4
Clearfield 060 070 0 13 15 3
TYRONE — 16
2B Kaleigh Brodzina 6243, CF Allison Beeman 6232, P/3B Sam Shaw 4211, 3B/SS Amariah Sprankle 3135, 1B Layna Dibert 5110, SS/P Kaitlyn Rockwell 4220, C Lucy Fogelman 3212, PH Catie Sklenar1000 RF Grace Naylor 4220, LF Tiffanie Tuskovich 5212, Totals 41 16 18 15
2B – Beeman, Shaw, Naylor. HR – Sprankle. SB – Brodzina – 2, Sprankle – 2, Rockwell, Beeman. E – Rockwell – 2, Shaw, Tuskovich.
CLEARFIELD — 13
CF Rubty Singleton 4222, 1B Haley Billotte 3200, SS Aevril Hayward 5133, RF Eve Siegel 5121, LF Madi McBride 5121, 3B Sam Campolong 4110, DP Alexus Green 3211, P/flex Megan Wisor 0000, P/flex Joell Henry 0000, C Anna Twigg 4031, 2B Paige Houser 4211 Totals 37 13 15 10
2B – Green, Hayward, Twigg, McBride. HR – Singleton (2). HBP – Billotte. SB – Green 2, Hayward, Campolong. E – Billotte, Houser, Wisor.
Pitching:
Shaw 4.2 IP 15H, 13R, 9ER, 2BB, 4K
Rockwell (W) 2.1 IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 4K
Wisor (L) 2 IP, 4 H, 8R, 7ER, 4BB 2K
Henry 5 IP, 13H, 8R, 7ER, 1BB, 3K