DUBOIS — After another year of program development which gave way to the first playoff berth in several years, the Bradford softball team’s season came to an end with a 4-0 shutout loss to Clearfield in the District 9 Class 4A semifinals.
Before their meeting in the semifinals, Clearfield was still fresh in the Lady Owls’ minds. The two squad’s lone meeting of the season came a week prior with the Lady Bison narrowly sneaking out a 7-6 win. While Clearfield hoped to avenge their loss to St. Marys in the championship game a season prior, the contest on Monday would be the first postseason venture for Bradford in more than a few years.
“It was a really nice week but the kids have so much going on this week with the end of school,” said head coach Marty Bechelli. “It made it hard (to prepare).”
The Lady Owls found themselves fighting an uphill battle early on. After suffering three outs in four batters, Bradford allowed two runners on with back-to-back walks. The Lady Owls held strong at first, making consecutive plays at third to earn two outs, however, the Lady Bison broke through with consecutive singles from Sam Campolong and Alexus Green. The tandem’s perfectly placed hits went through the legs of the baserunners, disrupting the Lady Owls’ infield and allowing the first two runs of the day.
Finding themselves in a hole, Bradford struggled to get anything going in the batter’s box, going three-and-out through the next two frames. While they were able to hold the Lady Bison scoreless in the second, Clearfield would tag another run on to their lead in the third. A single from Aevril Hayward turned into a visit to third with a steal and wild pitch. Then, a Eve Siegel single drove her across home plate, putting the Lady Bison up 3-0.
Though Bradford would tally sporadic hits, their bats remained cold and the Lady Bisons’ lead firmly in place. Clearfield’s fourth run of the day would come in the fifth, with Campolong hitting a sacrifice grounder to drive in Hayward.
In the top of the sixth, Bradford finally looked ready to turn the tide. Singles from Sophie Cornelius, Kalie Dixon and Daisy Greene loaded the bases with only one out. Looking to send in the first Lady Owls run of the day, Mallory Craig launched a deep shot into centerfield. A miraculous catch by the Lady Bison tallied out number two while a missed tag-up at third tallied number three, also taking away a would-be run and leaving two Lady Owls stranded on base.
That would be the closest Bradford would to avoiding a shutout. While the Lady Bison wouldn’t be able to add to their lead, they were able to shut out the Lady Owls for a final time in the seventh, ending Bradford’s season while punching their ticket to the finals. Clearfield will go on to play the No. 1 Lady Dutch next Monday.
“We battled but just didn’t get those timely hits early,” said Bechelli. “We had to shore up some of the errors but we’re young. Bottom line, we’re flat out young. We either make a play or we don’t.”
Dixon and Greene would both end 2-for-3, while Sophie Cornelius and Zandy each finished 1-for-3 in the loss.
“I was happy. I mean bottom line, it was the first time they’ve made the playoffs in forever and we did have a possibility of winning this game,” said Bechelli. “We really did, it just didn’t come through.”
AT DUBOIS
R H E
Bradford 000 000 0 0 6 2
Clearfield 201 010 X 4 4 0
BRD: Dixon (2 SO, 4 BB) and Johnson
CLF: Megan (8 SO, 0 BB) and Twigg
