HYDE – Bradford High’s first meeting of the season with a fellow
AAA school was short and not-so-sweet as Clearfield eliminated the
Lady Owls with a five-inning 10-0 decision in the District 9 Class
AAA softball playoffs at Clearfield High School on Wednesday.

The linescore told the whole story as the second-seeded Lady
Bisons (15-5) pounded out 11 hits and had no errors, while
third-seeded Bradford could muster just one hit off Hilaree Dixon
and committed eight miscues in the field.

“This was an experience,” said Sue Aljoe, BHS head coach. “We
hadn’t faced a AAA team this year and we had to face them in the
playoffs. It was good to come down here and understand what kind of
competition they are in the playoffs.

“They (Lady Bisons) hit the ball hard all the way up and down
their lineup. The better team won today and there was no doubt
about it.”

After Dixon retired Bradford on three ground consecutive ground
balls in the top of the first, Lady Owls’ hurler Shelly Fuhrman
also registered a one-two-three frame with a groundout, an infield
popup and then a diving catch by right fielder Brittany Harsen on
the foul line.

Fuhrman induced a pair of ground balls to commence the bottom of
the second, but two infield errors resulted in one run and then
Alyssa Anderson drove in another with a single to left and it was
2-0 Clearfield.

“We made some errors,” Aljoe admitted. “When you play a team as
good as Clearfield, you can’t afford to make errors. We gave them a
couple of runs in the second inning and then everything caught up
to us in the fifth inning.”

Dixon carried a perfect game into the fourth when Fuhrman drew a
one-out walk and Lyndsay Nuyen drilled a too-hot-to-handle infield
single off the second baseman’s glove. Dixon then escaped the
dilemma with two infield flyouts.

Clearfield extended its lead to 6-0 in the home half of the
fourth on base hits by Mandy Rowles and Chelsea Kovalick, and RBI
singles from Anderson, Kyleigh Bowman and Alaina Luzier, and a
throwing error.

“We made some poor choices as far as where we threw the ball,”
Aljoe recalled. “You have to be mentally in every game and you
can’t afford to make mistakes. We had to play a perfect game to
stay in the game, and we certainly didn’t do that.”

The Lady Bisons then invoked the 10-run rule in the fifth on
run-producing knocks by Rowles, Kovalick and Anderson.

Dixon struck out four, walked one and encountered just a pair of
three-ball counts the entire afternoon for Clearfield, who will
face top-seeded Punxsutawney next Wednesday for the D-9 title.

The Lady Owls finish with an 11-10 record.

“We’re young and we have a lot to learn,” Aljoe declared. “We
start four sophomores and a freshman, and it takes time.

“All in all, we had a good season. I’ll miss the seniors (Hope
Ruffner, Hope Matzner, Alissa Cameron and Leanna Cameron) and I
wish them the best.”