BELLEFONTE — It is very difficult to say where Bellefonte softball opponents least like to encounter junior Tara Baney — on the mound or in the batter’s box.
The fact is that in either place, Baney can do some serious damage.
The Penns Valley Lady Rams found all of that out — although they likely already knew — when they traveled to Bellefonte Middle School for a Mountain League contest on April 25.
On the mound, Baney pitched a complete game in the Raiders’ 6-1 victory over the Rams. She allowed one hit, struck out 14, walked two and had five 1-2-3 innings. She allowed just three base runners in the game, and only an RBI single by PV’s Caroline Collison stood between her and a no-hitter.
At the plate, Baney was two-for-two, including the second-ever home run hit over the new outfield fence at the middle school field. She was also — you guessed it — the first player to hit a home run over that fence in Bellefonte’s previous game.
This one was an opposite-field shot that landed far up the bank in right field and scored the Raiders’ second and third runs of the game in the bottom of the third inning. Bellefonte had already put a run up in the first inning, added another one for a total of three in the third, and then finished with two more in the fifth.
“She (Baney) is having a great junior year,” Bellefonte coach Fred Caldwell said. “She has five home runs this season and she’s doing fantastic. I think her ERA is about 0.80 right now, so she is doing a great job.”
Baney did have some help in this game. Her defense did not commit an error, and the Raiders pretty much gave her all she needed with a run in the first inning. That happened when leadoff hitter Alexis Wetzler walked, stole second base and then scored on Angela Capparelle’s RBI single.
In the third, Capparelle led off with a hit, and then Baney followed with her rainbow to right. There was no question that it was out as soon as Baney hit it, and, fittingly, it was the winning hit in the game.
“It felt great when I hit that home run because I knew our team needed it,” Baney said. “Honestly, I didn’t know it was out. I thought it was a deep fly ball, but as I watched it a little bit more and I saw it going, I guess it got to be a home run. I didn’t know what pitch it was, but it was a good pitch to hit.”
Baney eventually came around to score after a single by Samantha Gates to make the score 4-1. In the sixth, Rachel Bernier and Emily DeHaas both walked and both scored on a single by Taylore Maurer.
“We played a pretty solid game,” Caldwell said. “Defense was pretty solid, and we didn’t throw it around. I thought we could have hit it a little bit better, maybe, but it was a good game, good solid game.
“And PV is better than its record shows. This was not a blowout or a shutout. It was a good, competitive game.”
TIM WEIGHT/For the Gazette
Bellefonte’s Tara Baney delivers a pitch during the April 25 game with Penns Valley at O’Leary Field. The Lady Raiders won the game, 6-1.
