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Clearfield trims St. Marys, 1-0
Thursday, April 22, 2010
By Rich Murawski Assistant Sports Editor
HYDE - Clearfield's first hitter of the game - Melinda Owens - scored what looked like an innocent-enough run in the bottom of the first inning, crossing home plate on a wild pitch.
But Owens ended up being the first - and last - player to score Wednesday at the Bison Sports Complex as Lady Bison pitcher Heather Picard outdueled St. Marys counterpart Rachel Gunther in Clearfield's 1-0 win over the Dutch.
"That was hard on the coaches," Clearfield head coach Bob Dixon said.
"You get one (run) with your first batter, and then no one scores the rest of the game. You're always trying to squeak through that inning, and we ran through the raindrops a couple times out there."
Picard allowed just three hits and walked three batters, while striking out 14 to earn the complete-game shutout. Picard pitched through one stretch from the last batter in the first inning to the second batter in the fourth where she fanned eight of 10, including six straight.
Gunther nearly matched her pitch-for-pitch however, keeping the Lady Bisons off-balance with a nasty changeup. She gave up just four hits and two walks to go along with 11 strikeouts.
"She had a heck of a changeup and a decent riser," Dixon said. "She pitched a good game."
After breezing through the St. Marys lineup through the first 3 2/3 innings, Picard got herself in a jam with two out in the top of the fourth inning.
She gave up an infield single to Lady Dutch cleanup hitter Mandy Gerarge before issuing consecutive walks to Savannah Krivonyak and Chelsea Walker, loading the bases. But Picard struck out Lucia Caddri to keep St. Marys off the scoreboard.
Picard found a little trouble again in the fifth when she walked Raelyn Cunningham and gave up a bunt single to Gerarge with just one out. But again, Picard came up with big pitches, striking out Krivonyak swinging and catching Walker looking at strike three.
"Heather did a nice job," Dixon said. "She hit her spots when she needed to. I think a few times there she got away from hitting her spots, and that's when you get in a little trouble. But by the end of those innings, she was back pounding the glove. I thought she threw a real nice ball game. She showed a lot of character."
In the seventh, the Lady Bisons flashed a little leather behind Picard to cement the win. Rightfielder Mikayla Ebling sprinted forward and caught a low liner for the second out of the inning, and shortstop Owens put the finishing touches on the game with a slick backhanded stop of a grounder and strong throw to first.
Owens got things going for Clearfield offensively in the bottom of the first, leading off with a walk on a full count. Janell Zalno sacrificed her to second and a passed ball allowed Owens to move to third base. Gunther then uncorked a wild pitch, and Owens raced home with what turned out to be the game-winning run.
B.J. Bowman had three of the four Clearfield hits. Zalno's third-inning, infield single accounted for the other.
"We've been stressing that every time you strike out, that's an out between the pitcher and catcher with no stress on their defense," Dixon said.
"We've got to do a better job of making contact with the ball and making the other team work. Last game we struck out 14 times. That's just too many strikeouts."
With the win, Clearfield evened its record at 5-5. The Lady Bisons have won four of their last five games after a 1-4 start to the season.
"We've been working on that for a while," Dixon said. "We played some of the best teams on our schedule early in the season.
"I think the girls are starting to expect to win a little more. They are becoming more confident they can do the job. And they have a lot of confidence in Heather."
Clearfield returns to action Wednesday, hosting Brookville. St. Marys-0
Sore ss 4010, Quggliani 2b 3000, Cesa 2b 0000, Gunther p 3000, Cunningham dp 2000, R. Walker pr 0000, Gerarge lf 3020, Krivonyak 3b 2000, C. Walker rf 2000, Caddri 1b 3000, Aul c 1000, Gradizzi ph 2000, Kones (flex) cf 0000. Totals: 25-0-3-0. Clearfield-1
Owens ss 2100, Zalno lf 2010, Bowman cf 3030, Colesar 1b 3000, Moore c 3000, Keener 3b 3000, Read 2b 2000, Ebling rf 2000, Farmery dp 1000, Picard (flex) p 0000. Totals: 21-1-4-0. Score by Innings
St. Marys 000 000 0-0 3 0
Clearfield 100 000 x-1 4 1 Errors-Read. LOB-St. Marys 7, Clearfield 6. 2B-Sore. SAC-Zalno. SB-Gerarge 2, R. Walker, Krivonyak. HBP-Farmery (by Gunther). WP-Gunther 2. Illegal Pitch-Picard. PB-Aul 2. Pitching
St. Marys: Gunther-6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO.
Clearfield: Picard-7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 14 SO.
WP-Picard (5-3). LP-Gunther.
Time-1:27.
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