Lady Chucks down Clearfield
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
By Jon Christoff Sports Writer
HYDE - A home run to cut the deficit in half usually gives a team some momentum to make a comeback.
Unfortunately for the Clearfield softball team, that couldn't be said after B.J. Bowman's solo blast made it a 2-1 game with District 9 foe Punxsutawney on Monday.
Bowman's homer was the lone bright spot for the Lady Bisons, who got mowed down afterward by Lady Chucks pitcher Kelsey Cook.
Cook wasn't overpowering through the first three innings, as she struck out four hitters, but the diminutive right-hander went to work after Bowman's longball.
The next seven batters all struck out against Cook, who finished the game with 14 and allowed just the one hit.
"We were just overmatched," said Clearfield head coach Bob Dixon. "(Cook) had 14 strikeouts and we didn't hit many balls very hard - other than B.J.'s home run and the foul ball she hit at me (in the seventh). I think those were the only two we hit hard.
"I told them, ‘you can't strike out that many times and not put the ball in play (because) we didn't put any pressure on their ball team.' "
The Lady Bisons played well through the first three innings, as the lone blemish against pitcher Heather Picard was a wind-aided solo home run from Punxsy's Ashley Barenchik.
Once the fourth inning rolled around, however, the Clearfield defense struggled.
The Lady Bisons were fortunate that their four-error fourth only led to one run. But the next two led to big innings in the fifth and sixth for the Lady Chucks, who answered the call of the Bowman round-tripper and put the game away.
"It was 2-1 after B.J. hit her home run, but we continued to fall apart," Dixon said. "I feel bad. We have a lot of kids playing out of position (but) it's no excuse. The routine plays you have to make, and now, we're not even making them."
The Lady Chuck's Megan Kauffman got things started in the fifth by opening with a single and stealing second base. Kauffman and Barenchik each scored on a Lady Bison error to make it a 4-1 game.
Punxsutawney finished the contest with 10 hits, including two each from Kauffman, Hannah Neal, Jenna Reitz and Angela Laska.
Bowman drew a walk in the seventh to snap Cook's string of eight straight retired, but the Punxsy hurler struck out the next three to end the contest.
Mia Keener broke Cook's string of seven straight with a one-out walk in the third.
In addition to Bowman's shot, only one ball left the infield - a flyout off the bat of Janell Zalno - against Cook.
"We haven't hit really well all year as a team," said Dixon. "That's been a big disappointment because I thought we were going to have a better hitting team than we had.
"Cook blew us away. We fielded bad, we hit bad and that's a real bad combination when you're out there trying to win a ballgame. I told them, ‘we always want to keep getting better ... even if it's only a little better.' We're just not progressing right now."
Clearfield (7-8) will look to bounce back Wednesday at St. Marys. Punxsutawney-9
Barenchik 2b 2311, Couser ph 1000, Neal c 4021, Powell 1b-lf 4001, Reitz 3b 3120, Crago dp 2100, Laska ss 4121, Lellock rf 3011, Kopas ph 1000, Davis lf 2000, Fedder ph-1b 2000, Kauffman cf 3220, Dubensky ph 1000, Cook p (flex) 0100. Totals: 32-9-10-5.
Clearfield-1
Owens ss 2000, Davis rf 1000, Zalno lf-2b 3000, Bowman cf 2111, Ebeling rf-lf 3000, Lewis 2b-ss 3000, Colesar 3b 3000, Moore c 2000, Keener dp 1000, Kovalick 1b 2000, Picard p (flex) 0000. Totals: 22-1-1-1.
Score by Innings
Punxsutawney 001 123 2-9 10 0
Clearfield 000 100 0-1 1 6
Errors-Owens 3, Zalno 2, Colesar. LOB-Punxsutawney 7, Clearfield 2. HR-Barenchik (solo, 3rd inning); Bowman (solo, 4th inning). SAC-Crago. SB-Barenchik, Laska, Kauffman 2. CS-Neal (by Moore). WP-Picard 3. PB-Neal. Pitching
Punxsutawney: Cook-7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 14 SO.
Clearfield: Picard-7 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO.
WP-Cook. LP-Picard (7-5).
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