CLERMONT, Fla. – The Clarion softball team nearly pulled out its first win of the season in the nightcap on Monday, but the Golden Eagles came up just short in dropping both of its games on the second day of the PFX Spring Games.  Clarion opened the day with a tough assignment against a formidable Cedarville team, falling 15-3 in five innings, while taking a narrow 8-6 defeat to Seton Hill in the late game.
 
Moriah Lynn, Rebecca Kelley and Taylor Nonnenberg each drove in two runs apiece in the late game against the Griffins, powering the Golden Eagles to an early 5-3 lead and helping them tie the score at 6-6 in the later innings.  Seton Hill responded with runs in the sixth and seventh innings to preserve the win.  Macy Rubin (0-4) allowed seven runs in the loss.
 
Clarion responded to a three-run homer by the Griffins in the first inning with a potent attack in the second, starting with a two-run double by Nonnenberg that scored Kelley and Aryn Boyer.  Moriah Lynn followed that up with a two-bagger of her own, plating Nonnenberg and Brooke Cline, to give the Golden Eagles a 4-3 advantage.
 
Kelley added on to that lead in the bottom of the third inning.  After Natalie Else reached on a one-out walk and moved into scoring position on a stolen base, Kelley drove her home with a long double to put the Golden Eagles ahead 5-3.  Even after the Griffins retook the lead in the fourth inning with another three-run homer, the Golden Eagles didn't flinch, with Kelley scoring Makenzie Wolfe on a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 6-6.  It wasn't until Seton Hill added their final two runs of the game that the result went out of reach for Clarion.
 
The early game against Cedarville, was a much more difficult assignment, as the Yellow Jackets opened the game with 11 runs in the first three innings to take a commanding advantage.  The Golden Eagle bench showed guts in the fourth inning, though, starting with Maycee Shumaker's RBI single that scored Alyssa Rieth.  With the bases loaded, Molly Cowden drew a walk that allowed Shumaker to score, and Brooke Cline did the same later in the inning to plate Hannah Norton and make it 11-3.
 
Cedarville settled from there, though, holding Clarion scoreless in the final innings to secure the win.  Kelley (0-4) suffered the loss by allowing seven runs – six earned – in 1.1 innings.