HYDE – DuBois capitalized on three Clearfield errors to score two runs in the top of the seventh inning and pull out a 3-2 victory in scholastic girls softball action at the Bison Sports Complex Friday afternoon.
\”Three outs away, and it just falls apart,\” lamented coach Bob Dixon after the Lady Bisons slid back to .500 with their sixth loss, all by one run.
\”We played some good defense, but that last inning we had throwing errors and threw to the wrong base,\” he added. \”When you\’re in a tight ball game, you can\’t make mistakes like that. We work on that and work on that. Unfortunately, we made mistakes in key situations. It just was not our night.\”
Going into the seventh, it appeared to be Clearfield\’s night because sophomore pitcher Mandy Rowles had belted a two-run homer in the fourth inning and was keeping the Lady Beavers in check, though they had runners aboard in every inning except the fifth.
With one out, leadoff batter Alysha Lange walked and broke for second on a wild pitch. She continued to third when the throw skipped into center field and, moments later, trotted home with the tying run on Jendi Schwab\’s solid single to the right of second base.
After Rowles notched the seventh of her eight strikeouts, Lorianne Barbey cracked her fourth consecutive hit to left field. A high throw back to the infield enabled Schwab to reach third base, and she raced to the plate for the winning run when Leah Wallock\’s one-hop grounder dipped under shortstop Nikki Collins\’ glove.
Ashley Lias gave the Lady Bison faithful some hope with a two-out double, her second hit, to right field, but Wallock ended the game by racking up her 14th strikeout.
\”We\’re not making much contact with the ball,\” Dixon said counting the Ks in the scorebook. \”You can\’t make it happen if you strike out. You\’ve gotta put the ball in play and make the other team do something. They made us make the plays, and we didn\’t do that to them. DuBois is a good ball team.\”
The Lady Beavers are 9-4 with only two seniors in the lineup, outfielders Schwab and Julie Holben, and Wallock\’s pitching is vital to their success. The junior righthander struck out 141 batters in 102.1 innings while posting nine wins for last year\’s Districts 9-10 Class AAAA champions, who fell to eventual PIAA champion Shaler 1-0, and she has added to her resume this season.
Wallock, now 8-2, has hurled one no-hitter, worked six innings of a combined no-no and logged three other shutouts, so it was no surprise that hits and runs were at a premium for Clearfield.
The Lady Bisons solved Wallock for only four hits and had only three baserunners other than the fourth inning, when Collins whacked a double to left center before Rowles jerked a Wallock pitch over the left field fence.
A great play by Holben in left prevented the Lady Bisons from possibly adding to their 2-1 lead in the sixth. Centerfielder Lange ranged far into left center for Alanna Luzier\’s fly ball, but the ball popped out of her glove. Holden didn\’t give up on the play, though, and was in position to catch the ball before it hit the ground.
Luzier would have been at second base no outs and Brittany Pataky, Collins and Rowles having a crack at driving in the all-important insurance run.
Rowles pitched a seven-hitter and gave up only one earned run. A throwing error on Schwab\’s grounder enabled Barbey to come to the plate with two outs in the third, and the sophomore catcher singled over third base to drive in the first run.
\”Mandy threw a very nice game,\” Dixon said. \”She did a good job out there. And I thought Alyssa Anderson made some nice plays in right field.\”
The schedule doesn\’t get any easier for the Lady Bisons. They travel to Punxsutawney Tuesday to face a team seeking revenge for a 2-0 loss in early April, host a once-beaten Bald Eagle Area powerhouse that didn\’t give up a run in its first 10 games on Wednesday, entertain St. Marys Thursday and go on the road to play always-tough Bellefonte Friday.
DUBOIS – 3
Alysha Lange cf 4210, Jendi Schwab 2b 4111, Kristine Foltz 3b 4000, Lorianne Barbey c 4041, Leah Wallock p 4000, Linsey Straub dp 3010, Brit Sayers 1b 2000, Julie Holben lf 3000, Meg Brown ss 3000, Beth Knouse (flex) rf 0000. TOTALS 31 3 7 2.
CLEARFIELD – 2
Alanna Luzier 2b 3000, Brittany Pataky 1b 2000, Nikki Collins ss 3110, Mandy Rowles p 3112, Alyssa Anderson rf 3000, Ashley Lias cf 3020, Sarah Kovalick lf 2000, Julie Colesar ph 1000, Megan Butler 3b 2000, Kenzie McGovern c 2000. TOTALS: 24 2 4 2.
Score by Innings:
DuBois 001 000 2 – 3 7 0
Clearfield 000 200 0 – 2 4 4
Errors: Collins, Kovalick, Butler, McGovern. DP – Clearfield 1 (McGovern, Pataky and Collins). LOB – DuBois 9; Clearfield 2.
2B – Collins, Lias. HR – Rowles.
Pitching
DuBois – Wallock 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 14 K.
Clearfield – Rowles 7 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K.
HB – Rowles 1 (Sayers). WP – Wallock 2; Rowles 3.
W – Wallock (8-2). L – Rowles (4-5).