Lady Cats Drop Two Softball Games (04/23/14)

The Clarion Girls Softball Team hosted Venango Catholic on Monday and traveled to Cranberry on Tuesday.

In Monday’s game with the Lady Vikings, the Lady Cats came up short in a high scoring 21-16 loss.

Keanna Over sliding in to safely to score against Venango Catholic

VC opened the game by scoring six runs in the top of the first. Clarion closed the gap to 6-3, by scoring three of their own in their half of the inning. The second was another big inning for the Vikings, as they scored five more to move to an 11-3 lead.

Each team scored two in the third inning. With another run in the fourth and two more in the fifth, VC had a commanding 16-5 lead. If they could hold Clarion to a run or less in the bottom of the inning, the game would be over.

But the Lady Cats would have none of it, sending fourteen batters to the plate and scoring nine runs to move to within two, at 16-14. Clarion got to within one run, in the sixth inning, scoring two to VC’s one, making the score 17-16, Vikings.
The Vikings would score four more in the seventh to set the 21-16 final.

Though they lost the game, it was nice to see the young Lady Cats battle back.

Keanna Over and Olivia Bartley each had a hit and scored three runs and Kaitlyn Hill and Johnna Rapp each had a hit and scored two runs. Riley Fox, Brooke Bowser, Brittany Strotman, Erica Peterson and Keilani Rupp each had a hit. Peterson scored once. Aliya Reed and Cora Zerfoss also scored.

Brooke Bowser at the plate against VC

Taylor Moltz and Carlee Wenner both homered for Venango Catholic.

Cranberry downed the Lady Cats 12-2 in five innings on Tuesday. But the game was much more competitive than the final score would let on.

Cranberry scored three runs in the bottom of the first. Clarion would answer with a run of their own in the third and another in the fourth, cutting the deficit to just one run, 3-2. But an eight run outburst by the Lady Berries in the bottom of the fourth moved their lead to 11-2 and a Cranberry run in the bottom of the fifth, ended the game.

Over, Rapp, Zerfoss and Hill each had hits for Clarion, with Zerfoss and Over scoring the Lady Cats’ runs.

Courtney Allen had three hits for the Berries; Brittani Burris and Mallory Brannon had two hits apiece.

The Lady Cats will host East Forest on Friday (April 25).