Rowles sent two balls over the fence, including a first-inning bomb, to give her seven round-trippers this season and tie her sister Lindsey's career single-season mark.

The homers helped the Lady Bisons defeat the Lady Crusaders, 7-2.

"It was a good game," Clearfield head coach Bob Dixon. "They are a decent ballclub. They are always well-coached. Coach (Joe) Caruso always does a nice job. I respect the work he does. They are always a well-coached, well-behaved team. They have a good bunch of girls over there."

Elk County Catholic put the first run up on the board in the top of the first inning, as Kayla Leuschel laced a one-out single just past a diving Alanna Luzier. Mary Kate Minnich followed that up with a double into left field, scoring Leuschel for the game's first run.

The Lady Bisons quickly got out of the inning, as Rowles struck out the next batter before getting Kathleen Caruso to groundout to Luzier for the final out.

Clearfield got things rolling quickly in the bottom of the frame, as both Luzier and Megan Butler singled. After a strikeout, Rowles stepped to the plate, taking a 1-1 pitch over the center-field fence.

The homer gave the Lady Bisons a lead they would never relinquish.

"I thought that first one she hit was well over the fence," Dixon said. " I think Alanna also hit the ball real well tonight. Megan Butler continues to do what we ask of her in that spot."

Rowles allowed a single in the second inning, but struck out the other three batters she faced.

Clearfield got back on the scoreboard in the second inning, as Elk County pitcher Lauren Evers got into a bit of a jam.

Evers walked the first two batters she faced in Susie Colesar and Kenzie McGovern. Sarah Kovalick attempted to bunt the runners over, but the Lady Crusaders were prepared for the play and got Colesar out at third.

Luzier singled into right field, scoring McGovern and moving Kovalick to third.

Clearfield then executed a perfect double steal, as Kovalick crossed the plate way ahead of the throw home to increase the lead to 5-1.

Elk County got a run back in the third inning as Loren Olewnik reached on a three-base error. The next batter, Leuschel, brought her home on a groundout.

But the Lady Bisons continued to play solid defense, and Rowles got another strikeout and a groundout to end the frame.

Rowles finished the game with 11 strikeouts, walking just one batter.

"Mandy threw a pretty good ballgame," Dixon said. "I don't think she threw as hard as she has in the past, but she did well. We have been working on her knuckleball. It's not quite knuckled enough, but boy does it change speeds. She did a nice job with it."

The Lady Bisons scored a run each in the fifth and sixth innings, as Rowles hit a solo shot over the center-field fence and Carrie Harbold scored on a sacrifice fly by Luzier, setting the final at 7-2.

Rowles went 2-for-3 with four RBIs. Luzier finished the day 2-for-2 with two RBIs.

"I thought the bottom of the order did a good job," said Dixon. "We brought Carrie Harbold in there in the sixth inning to pinch run because we had lost some momentum there, and we were trying to pick the team up. She stole a base and she scored.

"We are just trying to be aggressive and play some small ball."

The loss was just the second of the year for Elk County Catholic, which dropped to 8-2 overall. The team's only other defeat came at the hands of Curwensville.

"It's nice to play a decent, quality opponent," Dixon said. "It's good to play teams like this. With the tournament coming up on Saturday (at P-O), it helps you prepare."

Clearfield improved to 7-2 overall.

The Lady Bisons travel to the Philipsburg-Osceola Tournament on Saturday where they will face Northern Cambria in the first round.

Elk County Catholic-2
Olewnik c 3100, Leuschel cf 3110, Minnich rf 3011, Bucheit 3b 3000, Caruso ss 2000, Evers p 2000, Levenduski ph 1000, Porter 1b 2000, Schlimm ph 1000, Schwabenbauer 2b 3010, Hawkins lf 2010. Totals: 25-2-4-1.

Clearfield-7
Luzier 2b 2122, Butler 3b 4110, Lias ss 3000, Rowles p 3224, J. Colesar 1b 3000, Anderson cf 3000, Morgan lf 0000, S. Colesar rf 2010, Harbold pr 0100, McGovern c 2110, Kovalick lf-cf 2100. Totals: 24-7-7-6.

Score by Innings
Elk County Catholic        101   000   0-2   4   1
Clearfield                      320   011   7-7   7   1

Errors-Schwabenbauer; S. Colesar. LOB-Elk County Catholic 5, Clearfield 4. DP-Clearfield. 2B-Minnich. HR-Rowles 2 (2 on, 1st; solo, 5th). SAC-Kovalick. SF-Luzier. SB-Hawkins; Luzier 2, Harbold, McGovern, Kovalick.

Pitching
Elk County Catholic: Evers-6 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO.
Clearfield: Rowles-7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 SO.

WP-Rowles (7-2). LP-Evers.