HYDE – With a .500 finish in sight, the Clearfield Lady Bisons displayed the whole package of a good scholastic softball team in defeating Hollidaysburg 11-1 in six innings at the Bison Sports Complex Thursday afternoon.
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Though missing two regulars, they got good pitching, hit with power, ran the bases very well and were flawless in the field for their third consecutive win.
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As a result, the Lady Bisons will take a 9-10 record into their season finale against Bradford in another non-league home game Friday.
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“We had a meeting before practice Tuesday and talked about our goal of not having a losing season,” Clearfield coach Bob Dixon said. “We did a nice job all around.”
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Sophomore Heather Picard logged her fourth victory with a four-hitter. She struck out five and walked one.
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“We tried to throw a lot of screwballs, and we used the change-up for a couple of strikeouts,” Dixon said. “All in all, she pitched a good, solid game.”
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Supplying the long balls were freshman Rachel Hoffman with a triple and her seventh home run for three runs batted in and senior Suzie Colesar with a monster homer to go with a run-scoring single.
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Junior Tristan Lewis added a pair of singles to the 10-hit attack.
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Defensively, the Lady Bisons made the tough and routine plays, with third baseman Colesar fielding two bunts and gunning out the Lady Tigers, catcher McKenzie Moore cutting down another on a steal attempt and left fielder Lewis and center fielder B.J. Bowman running down almost everything the visitors hit in their direction.
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The only scoring in the first three innings came after losing pitcher Brooke Ickes walked Lewis and Moore with one out in the second.
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Soph Rebecca Byerly, playing first base with classmate Lucy Kovalick ailing, lined a single to left center and Picard, batting because soph right fielder Mikayla Ebeling has the chicken pox, grounded into a forceout for their first RBIs of the season.
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Hollidaysburg (1-13) drew close and averted a shutout in the fourth when Ashley Creamer and Courtney Storm singled and got the double steal sign. Clearfield opted to trade a run for an out, and Moore threw out Storm at second.
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Then, the Lady Bisons began to pull away.
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Hoffman led off the fifth by skying her homer to left center. Lewis singled, stole second and was pushed around on groundouts by Moore and Byerly. A walk, two errors and Melinda Owens’ double off the bag at third made it 6-1.
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In the fifth, Clearfield played long ball and small ball. Colesar hammered her homer high and far over the fence in left center. Lewis beat out a bunt just inches away from the plate when Lady Tiger catcher Taylor Herr hesitated before throwing to first. She stole second again and scored on two misplays.
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Dixon labeled Colesar’s second homer of the season a “mammoth shot, definitely one of the longest home runs I’ve seen. She really connected with that.”
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Clearfield’s fourth stolen base set up a run in the sixth. Andrea Butler, whose high fly fell behind second for a hit, advanced to third on a groundout and dashed to the plate as Bowman’s bouncer took a bad hop on third baseman Bizz Carter, who was a defensive standout for the Lady Tigers.
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Colesar followed with a single through the left side before Hoffman ended it with a two-run triple up the right center alley that put her at the 20-RBI plateau for her rookie year.
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“This what I expected all year long,” Dixon said. “The first 14 games or so, we didn’t seem to put the whole game together. Since we played Philipsburg-Osceola (a 2-1 loss), we’ve done that.
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“It’s sad to see the season to come to end, but it’s a good indicator that next year they can believe in themselves.”
See photos of the game here: http://www.ladybisonsports.org/lbsSBall051811.html
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HOLLIDAYSBURG — 1
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Hannah Mercer ss 3000, Ashley Creamer rf 3110, Courtney Storm 2b 2010, Bizz Carter 3b 3010, Julie Brustle 1b 2000, Taylor Herr c 2010, Jordan Stubbs lf 2000, Lauren Felix dp 2000, Payton Civils cf 2000, Brooke Ickes p (flex) 2000. TOTALS: 21 1 4 0.
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CLEARFIELD — 11
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Andrea Butler ss 4210, Melinda Owens 2b 3011, B.J. Bowman cf 4111, Suzie Colesar 3b 4221, Rachel Hoffman rf 4123, Tristan Lewis lf 2320, McKenzie Moore c 2100, Rebecca Byerly 1b 3012, Heather Picard p 2101. TOTALS: 28 11 10 9.
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Score by Innings
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Hollidaysburg 000 100 – 1  4 4
Clearfield       020 423 – 11 10 0
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Errors – Storm 2, Herr, Civils. LOB – Hollidaysburg 3; Clearfield 4. 2B – Carter; Owens. 3B – Hoffman. HRÂ –Â Colesar (2), Hoffman (7). SB – Butler, Owens, Lewis 2. CS – Carter (by Moore).
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Pitching
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Hollidaysburg – Ickes 5-1/3 IP, 10 H, 11 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 1 K.
Clearfield – Picard 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
WP – Ickes 1.
W – Picard (4-8). L – Ickes.
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Umpires – Jeff Aveni (plate) and Gary Kost (bases).
