BROCKWAY – A scintillating pitching performance by sophomore Sam Gardner and solid defense carried Curwensville to a 3-0 win over Keystone in a District 9 Class A semifinal baseball scrap at the Brockway Area High School Field Tuesday afternoon.
Coach Ryan Briskar\’s fourth-seeded Golden Tide (16-6) will meet Cameron County (16-2) in the championship game Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Berwind Park in St. Marys.
Both teams will advance to the PIAA Playoffs along with the winner of Thursday\’s 1:30 p.m. consolation game between Keystone (11-7) and Kane, which was clubbed 12-2 in five innings by Cameron County Tuesday.
Gardner, who had pitched eight innings in three appearances, posted a three-hitter in only his second varsity start.
The right-hander was especially masterful after Mike Switzer and Matt Bashline singled in the first inning.
He retired 12 Panthers in a row before walking Brett Zuck with two outs in the fifth.
Trailing 2-0, Keystone posed a mild threat in the sixth on Zach Smith\’s two-out double to deep center and an intentional walk to Bashline. However, Gardner bounced off the mound to barehand Scott Lutz\’s topper and fire to first for the final out.
In the seventh, Panther Kenny Alsop reached base on the Golden Tide\’s lone miscue, but Gardner preserved the shutout via a flyout to busy center fielder Ben McGary and two pop-ups.
\”I don\’t know what more you can ask out of a player,\” Briskar said of Gardner\’s effort. \”He\’s got a live arm, and he\’s got really good control.
\”Through five innings, he had 65, 66 pitches. He had the pitch count real low. He was doing what he needed to do. He got pop flies and ground balls. He made his defense work.
\”And that\’s what we told him. I said, \’You\’ve got one of the better defenses you\’ll ever play with. Let them work for you. I don\’t care if you have one strikeout or 21. Make them hit the ball. Pound the strike zone. And that\’s what he did.\”
For the record, Gardner had four strikeouts.
His mates made every play but one, including a diving catch of Alsop\’s extra base hit bid by right fielder Wes McGarry for the first out in the second inning and six grabs by McGary, who ranged from left center to right center.
The Golden Tide took advantage of a stiff wind blowing into the batters\’ faces and high grass in the outfield. Because of morning rains, only the infield grass was mowed.
When the Curwensville coach staff saw those conditions, \”We knew what we were gonna do and that was shorten everything up,\” Briskar said. \”Bring our infield up a couple steps and bring our outfield in a little bit and challenge them to hit over our heads. The wind was blowing enough to keep everything in front of you.
\”We played solid defense, and so far this year, that\’s been our strong point.\”
Curwensville did just enough offensively, though stranding nine runners.
After McGarry was cut down trying to steal second by Panther catcher Alsop for the second out of the first inning, the Golden Tide used a often-practiced play to steal a run.
Jed Greslick drew the second of loser Bashline\’s five walks, scampered to third on Brett McCracken\’s single up the middle and stole home when McCracken broke for second with Bashline in the set position. The Panther hurler stepped toward McCracken, but he slipped and fell when he tried to turn around for a possible play at the plate.
\”That was huge,\” Briskar said. \”If he doesn\’t slip, it\’s still a bang-bang play at the dish, cause that kid\’s a heck of an athlete and has a very solid arm. So, thank God for a little bit of rain that had we to slick it up.
\”Every team plays better when they\’re ahead. Our team is characteristic of that.\”
McGarry drilled a double to right center and slid around Alsop\’s tag attempt at the plate on McCracken line single to center to make it 2-0 in the third.
Following a walk to Mark Dell\’Antonio and a two-out throwing error on McGary\’s grounder, McGarry capped a three-hit day with a liner to left center for an RBI-double.
\”Wes has been kind of a sleeper for us,\” Briskar said. \”He makes a play like (the diving catch). He had that leadoff double. We\’re real aggressive with him. He\’s the one who did the hook slide at the plate.
\”He did everything he needed to do. He played very good, smart baseball.
\”Sometimes you overlook people. Right now, I just want to make sure he gets the credit that\’s due.
\”He and Sam Gardner played outstanding.\”
KEYSTONE — 0
Gary Stephens rf 3000, Mike Switzer lf 3010, Zach Smith cf 3010, Matt Bashline p 2010, Scott Lutz 1b 3000, Kenny Alsop c 3000, Josh Huffman 3b 3000, Brett Zuck ss 2000, Ben Marchand 2b 3000. TOTALS: 35 0 3 0.
CURWENSVILLE — 3
Ben McGary cf 3000, Wes McGarry rf 4131, Jed Greslick lf 3110, Brett McCracken ss 2021, Trevor Horton dh 2000, Jonathan Michaels ph 1000, Andrew Straw 3b 0000, Cory Bloom c 3000, Brett Sutika 2b 2000, Mark Dell\’Antonio 1b 2000, Mark Opaliski pr 0100, Sam Gardner p 3010. TOTALS: 25 3 7 2.
Score by Innings
Keystone 000 000 0 – 0 3 1
Curwensville 101 001 x – 3 7 1
Errors – Zuck; Straw. LOB – Keystone 6; Curwensville 9. 2B – Smith; McGarry 2, Gardner.
Pitching
Keystone – Bashline 6 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 3 K.
Curwensville – Gardner 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
W – Gardner (2-0). L – Bashline.
Umpires – Rob Murphy (home plate), Glenn Fiebig (first base), Jim McKee (second base), Bob Boyer (third base).