Ishman’s Pitching, Hitting Leads Punxsutawney Past Clarion in Softball

CLARION, Pa. – Allie Ishman wasn’t sure if her first-inning home run had actually cleared the fence or not.

But it had, despite a valiant effort by Clarion centerfielder Sidney Kiser, and in the process Ishman gave herself a 2-0 early lead.

It was all the run support the junior Ishman, making her first start in five days, needed, although she got plenty more, as Punxsutawney beat Clarion 8-1 Wednesday afternoon at Paul A. Weaver Park in Clarion.

Ishman went to the circle after watching teammate Kylee Lingenfelter throw three straight no-hitters in the Lady Chucks last three games and was as good – if not quite as efficient (who would be after all) as Lingenfelter has been lately.

She allowed an unearned run in the first but surrendered only six hits while walking two in getting the complete-game win. She struck out four and retired 10 of the final 12 Clarion batter she faced.

As good as Ishman was in the later half of the game, she was just as gusty in the first part of it limiting Clarion to the one run despite the Lady Cats having numerous chances in the first four innings.

Clarion stranded 10 runners in the game, including seven in scoring position, and eight of those – six in scoring position – came in the first four innings.

But after that, Ishman’s spinners started working better, and Clarion’s batters didn’t have a chance.

Here is what Ishman had to say about her performance.

While Ishman was limiting Clarion’s hitters, the Punxsutawney offense, including Ishman was enjoying its third-highest scoring game of the season with Ishman right in the middle of it driving in three of the eight runs.

Morgan Adamson added a pair of its including a double and a two-run single in the second that extended Punxsy’s lead to 4-1.

Sam Satterlee was also 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI.

As mentioned earlier, Clarion wasn’t without its chances, especially early on.

After scoring a run on a throwing error in the first inning, the Lady Cats had runners on second and third with two outs only to see Cora Zerfoss just get under a ball and sky it to center for the third out.

Clarion again had runners on second and third in the third inning, this time with one out following a double down the leftfield line by Carly Best, one of two hits on the day for the freshman.

But Ishman got Keanna Over to ground out to third with the runners having to hold and then induced Anna Reed into fouling out to left.

It was more of the same for the Lady Cats in the third with runners on first and second with one out, Zerfoss lined out to third and Alexis Constantino grounded back to the mound ending the threat.

And again in the fourth Clarion had runners on first and second with two outs for the heart of its lineup only to see Ishman get out of trouble by getting a groundout to short by Johnna Rapp.

While Clarion wasn’t capitalizing early, Punxsutawney was.

After the two-run single by Adamson in the second, the Chucks made it 6-1 with two more runs in the third thanks to a sac fly by Ishman that was dropped in left field allowing Ishman to reach and a wild pitch that scored Ishman.

Back-to-back doubles by Grace Aikens and Sam Satterleee and another wild pitch in the fifth made it 8-1.

The second wild pitch proved costly with Constantino, the pitcher, getting injured on the play.

Sadie Rudesyle came in cold and did fine work striking out five while allowing just one hit in 2 ⅔ innings.

Clarion had one last chance to score in the seventh putting runners on first and third with one out, but again Ishman wiggled out of trouble getting Rudesyle to line out to third and Maya Thornton to bounce back to the circle.

With the loss, its fourth straight, Clarion falls to 6-5. Punxsutawney improves to 9-2.