McKeague leads Central Mountain over Clearfield
By Tom Elling
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP, PA- This was a game that lived up to the hype. Two outstanding teams with dominating pitchers highly-ranked in the state, facing off on a gorgeous windy late Tuesday afternoon in Central PA. Clearfield came in 17-2; Central Mountain 15-2. Clearfield was #11 in the state in all classes and #1 in AAA. Central Mountain #32 in the state and #11 in Class 5A.
The hits were few. In fact, Central Mountain’s first two-back-to-back gave the home-standing Lady Wildcats all they would need, when with two outs, Harley Kunes doubled to the right center gap. Clean-up hitter Sophie Mitchell followed with a base hit in the SS hole, plating Kunes.
The ‘Cats would get just one more hit – a single by Kaitllyn Bowman in the 5th.
Coach Fred Caldwell trusted his ace sophomore Adalyn McKeague, who would perform well, with a dominating performance. The right-hander allowed just two base hits. Mound opponent Emma Hipps had the first-a one-out single to right. She moved to second on a wild pitch, but McKeague settled in and got the next two batters on strikes. similarly, the Bison would get a one-out line drive single off the bat of Alexis Bumbarger. McKeague got out of the inning with a groundout and a nice defensive backhand stab in short center by second-sacker Haleigh Peters. That would be all Clearfield would muster.
McKeague struck out eleven Clearfield batters, while walking none. Her defense was solid with solid plays by senior shortstop Caitlyn Watson. That was fitting as it was ‘Senior Night’ and Watson along with Madison Toner – the only two seniors on the squad were honored post-game. And, in a touch of class, the boosters also honored all seniors on the visitor’s team.
Clearfield’s hurler Emma Hipps lived up to her rep, too, coming in with a 15-1 record, averaging two strike-outs per inning. She held down a good hitting CM squad to just those three hits. She struck out 8 and walked nobody. Neither team had an error.
Central Mountain drew a first-round bye in the District 6 Class 5A tournament and will meet the winner of the Bellefonte-Hollidaysburg match-up this Friday. The finals will be played at St. Francis University on Wednesday, May 25. Time to be announced.
Coach Caldwell has to be pleased with his team’s effort in every aspect, but he knows there is still a lot of work ahead.
