HYDE — The Clearfield Area High School softball team couldn’t have drawn a tougher assignment for the program’s first District 9 Class AAA championship game appearance in six years.
The Lady Bison will have to solve one of the region’s premier pitchers in Kylee Lingenfelter and probably play flawless defense against a .288-hitting lineup to stay with reigning champion Punxsutawney Tuesday afternoon.
Lingenfelter will unleash the first pitch at 4 p.m. at the Highland Street Elementary School Field in DuBois.
The hard-throwing sophomore right-hander is no stranger to the Lady Bison, having shut them out 3-0 on a one-hitter with 14 strikeouts and one walk in last year’s semifinals.
Her 2016 statistics border on the incredible despite a 7-3 record.
She has authored four no-hitters, including three in successive late-April starts against Altoona (1-0 win), DuBois (3-0 loss) and Bald Eagle Area (1-0 win).
Equally or maybe even more impressive are her strikeout numbers, 144 in 69 innings with double figures in all of her 10 starts.
Already the Lady Chucks’ all-time record-holder, Lingenfelter racked up a season-high 17 in six innings against Brookville, 16 against BEA and 15 against St. Marys and Elk County Catholic in a five-inning no-no May 13.
She reached 14 against Central Penn League rivals Altoona, Hollidaysburg and Altoona.
Lingenfelter, who has issued only 17 walks, sports a 0.51 earned run average, with errors figuring into eight of the 13 runs she’s surrendered.
Clearfield will counter with senior Raeleigh Redden, who shut out the Lady Chucks 3-0 on four hits with five strikeouts and one walk on April 13. Allie Ishman (5-2 with a 3.24 ERA) pitched a six-hitter for the Lady Chucks.
Redden, who also kept the Lady Bison in last year’s showdown against the senior-oriented Lady Chucks after giving up two runs in the first inning, checks in with an 8-9 record but an ERA of 2.53.
She has worked 97 innings in 18 appearances with 11 complete games in 17 starts, allowing 99 hits and 32 walks while striking out 74.
“I think it will end up being a low-scoring game,” Lady Bison coach Bob Lewis predicted. “Runs will be at a premium, and we’ll just have to find a way to manufacture some.
“We need to have that same formula of good pitching and defense with timely hitting.”
One change in the Clearfield lineup that clicked in a 6-5 semifinal win at St. Marys Wednesday will find sophomore Myra Kavelak doing the catching with Nikki Brossard and her .303 batting average unavailable. Kavelak started eight games behind the plate before Brossard came off the injury list.
The defense behind Redden will have Makayla Ross at first base, Alana Kochan at second, Brooke Cline at short, Sierra Jones at third and Aspen Bishop, Karlie Lewis and Lindsay Hand in the outfield, left to right.
Cline leads the Lady Bison in hits (26), average (.377) and runs (12).
Bishop is tops in runs batted in (13) and second in hits (19), doubles (6) and runs (10).
Other top hitters are Jones at .255 and Redden at .250.
Pacing the Lady Chucks are Lingenfelter at .404 with 21 hits, including five doubles and two triples, and 14 RBIs.
Centerfielder Morgan Adamson and Infielder/designated player Braydon Woodrow are next at .333 with 17 and 14 hits, respectively.
First baseman Ishman owns a .327 average with 18 hits, including three home runs, and 13 RBIs, while infielder Samantha Satterlee is at .296 with 16 hits and outfielder Mallory Cameron at .267.
Freshman Grace Aikens has a .423 average with 11 hits in seven games.
The Lady Chucks have a deceiving 12-6 record with other losses to Class AAA foes DuBois 3-0 and 5-0, Williamsport 7-2 and Altoona 4-1 and District 6 Class AA finalist Philipsburg-Osceola 3-0.
They swept St. Marys 18-7 and 10-0, Bradford 10-0 and 4-0 and Hollidaysburg 5-2 and 7-5 and split with Altoona, winning 1-0.
In contrast, the Lady Bison defeated St. Marys, Bradford 11-0 and Hollidaysburg 2-0 in eight innings and lost to Altoona 5-1, P-O twice 9-0 and 11-0 and BEA twice 11-1 and 9-3.
The winner will advance to the PIAA Tournament against the District 7 runner-up on June 6.
Lady Bison Scoreboard:
Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
3/29 | CENTRAL | 0 – 11 | 0 – 1 |
3/31 | @ Huntingdon | 3 – 4 | 0 – 2 |
4/05 | @ Bellefonte | 0 – 8 | 0 – 3 |
4/08 | TYRONE | ppd. | 0 – 3 |
4/11 | @ Bald Eagle Area | ppd. | 0 – 3 |
4/13 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 3 – 0 | 1 – 3 |
4/14 | PENNS VALLEY | 7 – 5 | 2 – 3 |
4/18 | TYRONE | 10 – 0 | 3 – 3 |
4/19 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | 0 – 9 | 3 – 4 |
4/20 | @ Bald Eagle Area | 1 – 11 | 3 – 5 |
4/22 | @ Central | 0 – 11 | 3 – 6 |
4/25 | HUNTINGDON | 5 – 11 | 3 – 7 |
4/28 | BELLEFONTE | ppd. | 3 – 7 |
4/29 | BELLEFONTE | ppd. | 3 – 7 |
5/02 | GLENDALE | ppd. | 3 – 7 |
5/03 | @ Tyrone | 7 – 2 | 4 – 7 |
5/05 | @ Curwensville | 3 – 1 | 5 – 7 |
5/06 | BALD EAGLE AREA | 3 – 9 | 5 – 8 |
5/09 | @ Penns Valley | 3 – 1 | 6 – 8 |
5/11 | GLENDALE | 0 – 2 | 6 – 9 |
5/12 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 0 – 11 | 6 – 10 |
5/16 | @ Hollidaysburg | 2 – 0 | 7 – 10 |
5/17 | BELLEFONTE | 1 – 12 | 7 – 11 |
5/18 | ALTOONA | 1 – 5 | 7 – 12 |
5/19 | @ Bradford | 11 – 0 | 8 – 12 |
5/24 | D9 AAA Semifinals | ||
5/24 | @ St. Marys | 6 – 5 | 9 – 12 |
5/31 | D9 AAA Finals | ||
5/31 | vs. Punxsy (@ DuBois) |