CURWENSVILLE – In a pivotal District 9 Northern Allegany Small School Division Southern Tier game Elk County Catholic (ECC) handled the Curwensville Golden Tide Saturday afternoon in five innings, 11-1.
Entering the battle for first place was the Tide at 3-1 and the Crusaders at 4-1. When it was over ECC had a handle on first place thanks to banging out 14 hits along with a leaky Tide defense. Of the eleven runs scored by ECC only six were earned.
As Curwensville head coach Ryan Briskar stated afterwards, “Elk County just pounded the ball against us today.” That they did.
Tide senior pitcher Ben McGary just couldn’t find the answer in the three and one third innings of work he put in. McGary was touched for two in the first and two more in the second as the Tide fell behind 4-0 after two innings.
ECC really put the game on ice in the top of the fourth as they picked up four more off of McGary and the Tide\’s suddenly leaky defense. Three of the four runs were unearned in the fourth frame as the Crusaders built their lead to 8-0.
McGary gave way to Jesse Hoover, who went the final one and two thirds innings in relief. Although Hoover gave up three runs in the fifth, two more unearned, Briskar was happy with what he saw, “Hoover did a nice job in relief in only his second time out this year. I felt that he threw well and was fairly effective with his fastball and curve.”
Of course the defense was a concern with Briskar, “We have worked three years on our defense, making adjustments and all, but today, it just wasn’t there for whatever reason.”
The Crusaders were led by shortstop Ricky Pearsall, Joe Jacob and Luke Daghir. Jacob and Daghir each had three hits including doubles. Jacob also drove in three runs. Pearsall had two hits and scored three runs as ECC had eight players getting at least one base hit.
Curwensville scored it’s lone run in the bottom of the fourth as Mark Dell’Antonio scored on a single by Hoover after Sam Gardner had doubled.
Crusader hurler Ben Daghir wasn’t overpowering as he went the distance to pick up the win, but he only gave up two hits and had solid defense behind him as ECC turned two double plays in the contest.
The Elk County Catholic squad stretched their 2009 overall season record to 7-2 while the Tide slipped to 6-2.
For Curwensville next week won’t be a walk in the park either as Briskar said, “Not only will next week be a challenge for us but it won’t be easy from here on out. That’s not just for us though, that’s for all the other teams out there as well.”
Curwensville begins that busy week that Briskar mentioned on Monday when the Tide are at home with Ridgway. The Elkers won the first meeting earlier this spring 3-2. After their only home game next week ,Curwensville then travels to Glendale on Tuesday, to Johnsonburg on Wednesday and then to Cameron County Friday.
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC – 11 Ricky Pearsall ss 3321, Joe Jacob 3b 4333, Cody Herzing c 4111, Tom Schneider cf 3011, Josh Lovendusky 1b 4021, Andy Wehler 2b 3010, Ben Daghir p 3000, Luke Daghir lf 3331, Justin Brem rf 0000, Dave Bojalad dh 2110. TOTALS – 29 11 14 8
CURWENSVILLE – 1 Ben McGary p/cf 3000, Wes McGarry rf 1000, Brett Sutika 2b 2000, Cory Bloom c 1000, Nick Opaliski cr 0000, Mark Dell’Antonio 1b 2100, Sam Gardner cf/lf 2010, Jesse Hoover ss/p 2011, Tyler Johns 3b 1000, Derek Brothers 3b 1000, Jed Greslick lf/ss 1000. TOTALS – 16 1 2 1
SCORE BY INNINGS R H E
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 220 43 11 14 1
CURWENSVILLE 000 10 1 2 4
ERRORS – Jacob, Gardner, Johns 2, Brothers. DP – ELK COUNTY – 2. LOB – ELK COUNTY – 6 CURWENSVILLE – 4. 2B – Gardner, Jacob, Lovendusky, L Daghir. SB – Pearsall
PITCHING
ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC – B. Daghir 5 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
CURWENSVILLE – McGary 3 1/3 IP, 12 H, 8 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. Hoover 1 2/3 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
WP – B. Daghir LP – McGary (1-2)
UMPIRES – Plate – Scott Viehdorfer, Bases – Dale Shaw