Bald Eagle Area softball unfazed by early threat, tops rival Philipsburg-Osceola 4-1

A trait of this Bald Eagle Area softball team is that it lashes out when threatened.

That has been the case several times this season, and it was again Tuesday in BEA’s 4-1 win over visiting rival Philipsburg-Osceola.

The Lady Mounties struck instantly when Jordan McDonald lined the first pitch the of the game from Madison Peters over the fence in left-center field.

“I don’t think I ever saw a home run on the first pitch of the game,’’ said Jim Gonder, longtime P-O coach who is now an assistant at BEA.

But true to form, the Lady Eagles answered the P-O threat immediately in the bottom of the first inning.

With two out, Lady Mountie pitcher Karissa Taylor ran into control problems and hit Ava Stere. Opposing pitcher Madison Peters then tied the game with a double to the left-center gap to score Stere. Taylor then hit Maegan King, and Autumn Tobias doubled to center to score both runners to make it 3-1.

The score stayed that way until the fifth inning when the Lady Mounties mounted another threat, all on soft singles.

Josey Williams got aboard on a short popup that fell in front of third. A fielder’s choice erased Williams. Emily Herr reached on a pop-up that fell in front of the plate and Ashley Vaux reached on a soft pop just behind third and McDonald dropped a short fly behind third to load the bases with two out. But Peters was able to get London Cutler on a pop to short to end the threat.

“If they get a hit there, we might be talking in the bottom of the seventh now,” said BEA coach Don Lucas after the game.

But just the hint of a threat was enough to trigger BEA’s reaction.

And in the bottom of the fifth, BEA tacked on another run when Mara Hockenberry’s fly behind short fell in and she ran it into a double. She stole third and McKenna Baney drew a walk and stole second. Ava Stere placed a suicide bunt perfectly among the P-O fielders to score Hockenberry with an insurance run.

“A good team will rise to the occasion and we have been doing that,” Lucas added. “You have to stand your ground when something bad happens. You don’t say anything, you just go play. And if you play well, at the end of the day will you be a winner most of the time”

P-O coach Steve Frank pointed to the failed fifth-inning rally as a key to the game.

“We couldn’t get the timely hit,” he said. “We needed some girls to step up and they didn’t ..

“We had the bases loaded with our No. 2 hitter up. She ripped a ball but it was foul. If it’s fair it’s probably two runs. We hit some balls hard but right at someone. Karissa (Taylor) pitched well enough to keep us in the game.”

Taylor allowed seven hits, including doubles by Tobias, Hockenberry and King. McDonald had three hits for P-O while Tobias had two for BEA.

Peters gave up six hits, struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.

“That home run didn’t bother her,” Lucas said. “We’re so used to seeing that from her. She never shows any emotion.”

BEA is now 6-1 and was supposed to play Bellefonte Thursday, but that game has been suspended due to COVID. P-O is 4-4 and will entertain Clearfield Thursday.