CURWENSVILLE- A furious Curwensville rally fell short Monday afternoon as visiting Ridgway held on to pick up a 12-9 victory in District 9 Northern Allegany Small School Division Southern Tier baseball action.
As Curwensville head coach Ryan Briskar put it afterwards, “We really battled back, but just didn’t have enough time left.”
Down 12-3 after five innings the Tide turned on the jets and scored four in the sixth and two in the seventh only to find themselves three runs short.
Actually the Tide and Elkers were all knotted up after three innings of play at three apiece. However, the Ridgway nine turned on some jets of their own as they picked up three in the top of the fourth and a killer six in the top of the fifth to take a nine run lead.
It was the second straight tough outing for Tide starting pitchers as they gave up 11 against Elk County Catholic on Saturday and then the 12 that Ridgway tallied on Monday.
Briskar did like what he saw in relief pitcher Tyler Johns, “Tyler came on in relief and did a very nice job out there. He held his own.” Johns pitched the final two and two-thirds innings, scattering three hits while not allowing a run.
Ridgway was lead offensively by their starting pitcher, Mike Miraglia, as he went 5 for 5 with five RBI’s and two doubles. Teammate Joe Chittester smacked a lead off solo home run in the top of the third for the Elkers.
It was also feast or famine for Miraglia as he went the distance to pick up the win. The Elker pitcher did give up 9 hits and 9 runs but also whiffed 14 Tide hitters. Miraglia was the winner the first time these teams met when the Elkers edged the Tide 3-2. The Ridgway hurler now has 21 strikeouts in two games against the Golden Tide.
Although Miraglia gave up those nine runs Briskar was impressed, “Miraglia pitched a great game today. When he needed to, he had his strike out pitch working.”
The defense for Ridgway also came up big as they turned two double plays. One in the first, and one in the second.
Curwensville junior Derek Brothers, playing third base, did the most with his chance to crack the starting lineup. Brothers went two for three with two RBI’s, two doubles and a stolen base. One double came in the first inning and the other in the sixth frame.
That was something Briskar saw positive on the afternoon, “Derek (Brothers) had a great day both offensively and defensively for us today. He sure made the most of his chance.”
Jesse Hoover and Mark Dell’Antonio also had two hits each for the Tide, with Hoover cracking a seventh inning double.
Curwensville will attempt to snap a two game losing streak on Tuesday as they journey to Glendale to meet up with the Vikings in a Moshannon Valley League (MVL) encounter. Game time is set for 4:30 pm. The Tide are 2-0 this season in the MVL while Glendale sits at 1-1.
RIDGWAY – 12 Sam Skraba ss 5222, Joe Renaud cf 4211, Joe Chittester 1b/c 4221, Mike Miraglia p 5355, Ben Jacques lf 5022, Derek Gaffey 3b 4100, Jeff Slattery rf 0000, Nate Dornish dh 3110, Kevin Kilhoffer 2b 3120, Alan Buehler c 2010, Lou Stillwell 1b 1001. TOTALS – 36 12 16 12
CURWENSVILLE – 9 Wes McGary rf 3000, Derek Brothers 3b 3222, Sam Gardner p 2011, Tyler Johns p 2000, Cory Bloom c 4011, Derek Dixon cr 0000, Brett Sutika 2b 3100, Jesse Hoover ss 3220, Jed Greslick lf 2101, Mark Dell’Antonio 1b 4122, Ben McGary cf 3212. TOTALS – 29 9 9 9
SCORE BY INNINGS R H E
RIDGWAY 012 360 0 12 16 2
CURWENSVILLE 102 004 2 9 9 3
ERRORS – Bloom, Hoover 2, McGary, Slattery, Jacques. LOB – RIDGWAY – 8 CURWENSVILLE – 6. DP – RIDGWAY – 2. 2B – Miraglia 2, Brothers 2, Hoover. HR – Chittester (solo 3rd). SB – Brothers, Skraba. SAC – Stillwell, Greslick. HBP – Hoover (by Miraglia)
PITCHING
RIDGWAY – Miraglia 7 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 4 BB, 14 K, 1 HB
CURWENSVILLE – Sam Gardner 4 2/3 IP, 13 H, 12 R, 11 ER, 4 BB, 5 K Johns 2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
WP – Miraglia LP – Gardner (3-1)