Lady Cats Softball Team Wins First, Downs VC 15-4 (05/13/14)
(By Coach Dan Shofestall)
Johnna Rapp pitched a three hitter while picking her first career win as the Clarion Bobcat Softball Team won their first game of the season, 15-4 over Venango Catholic in six innings.
The Lady Cats offense came alive, supporting Rapp, with eighteen hits while defensively they played their best game of the season.
Trailing 1-0, entering the top of the second, the visiting Bobcats were able to tie the contest up. Caitlyn Hill reached on a fielder’s choice and scored on Shamecka Dittman’s two out RBI single.
Clarion then took its first lead of the game as the offense produced some two out lightning once again. Olivia Bartley walked and advanced on Brooke Bowser single. Brittany Strotman then singled home Bartley for the 2-1 lead.
Venango Catholic would then take the lead, with three runs in the bottom of the third, but that would be their last lead of the game as Rapp and the Clarion defense would shut the Vikings offense down the rest of the way.
In the fourth, the Lady Cats went back on top for good with three more tallies. Hill led off the inning with a walk and scored on Dittman’s single. Dittman stole second and scored on Keanna Overs hit. Rapp then singled. Both runners would score on wild pitches.
The Bobcats offense broke the game wide open with seven runs in the top half of the fifth. Hill led off the big inning with a triple and scored on Aliya Reed’s RBI groundout. Dittman then recorded her third hit of the contest and scored on Keanna Over’s base hit. Over would race home on an error on the play. Rapp continued the inning when she was hit by a pitch and moved to second on a Cora Zerfoss base knock. Bartley induced a walk to load the bases. Bowser then stepped to the plate and rapped a single, scoring Rapp. On the play Zerfoss was thrown out at the plate. Brittany Strotman’s hit plated Bartley. Hill kept the inning rolling with her second hit of the frame. Reed then recorded her second and third RBI’s of the inning, with a single scoring pinch runner Lexa McGill and Strotman to give Clarion a commanding 12-4 lead.
They would tack on three more runs in the sixth, once again, after two outs were recorded. Johnna Rapp doubled, followed by a Zerfoss single, followed by a Bartley walk. Bowser then drove in Rapp with her third RBI of the game. Zerfoss was also able to score on the play. Bartley would then score the final run of the game on Caitlyn Hill’s fielder’s choice.
Johnna Rapp and the Clarion defense did the rest, as they held the Venango Catholic offense scoreless, over the final three innings, to make the score 16-4 in favor of the Bobcats.
It was a good win for the girls. It was definitely our best game of the season so far. Johnna has been pitching well for us and it was good to see her get her first win. She has put in a lot of hours with pitching coach John Stroup and it’s starting to pay off. She hangs tough in there and gives our team a chance to win when we play well behind her, like we did tonight. Our defense played well behind her and that’s what we need to continue to do. We also got big contributions the whole way down through our lineup tonight, with our bats and as usual the support from the bench was outstanding.
I give our girls a lot of credit. At the beginning of the season a win like this would not have been possible. Not everything has gone our way throughout the season but to their credit they refused to quit. They stick together and come to practice every night, willing to learn and get better. I know I speak for the whole coaching staff when I say that we are very proud of them and how far they have come this year.
Brooke Bowser and Shamecka Dittman each recorded three hits, while Caitlyn Hill and Johnna Rapp had the extra base hits, with a triple and double respectively. Aliya Reed and Bowser also paced the offense with three RBI’s each.
Johnna Rapp allowed fanned three Viking hitters while allowing three hits.
(Thanks to Coach Shofestall for this article and congratulations Lady Cats!!)