CURWENSVILLE – Curwensville Area High School softball coach Allen Leigey feels very good about his team’s position going into today’s District IX Class A Tournament. The Lady Tide will host Johnsonburg in first round action this afternoon at 4:30 at Riverside Stadium.
“We couldn’t be in a better position if they let me pick the brackets myself,” Leigey said. “Our goal at the beginning of the season was to make the district finals. I think our chances are very good for that to happen – we just have to play hard and take care of business.”
The Golden Tide is the seventh seed in the tournament while Johnsonburg is the number 10 team. During the regular season meetings, the squads split decisions. Both teams won on their home fields.  Curwensville captured the first meeting 4-2 on April 13. When the Tide traveled to Johnsonburg on May 6, the Ramettes posted a 14-12 win.
Two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning helped the Lady Tide break a 2-2 tie and eventually log their home victory in the first meeting against Johnsonburg.  Home cooking favored the Ramettes in the secod game as a 14-run fourth inning was all the offense they needed to even the season series.
“That was the only game of the season that disappointed me,” said Leigey. “We tried to come back, and got close, but the girls didn’t seem to have the desire to win that game. We were just flat, and it didn’t sit well with me. I think the results will be different in this third game.”
 To avoid giving up that kind of offense again, the Tide will look to senior Stacey Johnson to rule the circle. Johnson, who like the team is 14-6, has had impressive outings against ECC and Punxsutawney in the final two outings of the regular season and will use that push to the playoffs for focus.
“If Stacey can give us six good innings like she did against Punxsy, we’ll walk out of the game with a win,” Leigey noted. “Focus and stamina are key for all of us. I think we’re ready to go at them like we haven’t yet this year – from start to finish.”
Johnson has thrown all but one inning for the Lady Tide this season, (Tess Bloom came on to record the three outs needed to stop Johnsonburg in that fourth inning of the second meeting) but, as Leigey said in the pre-season, “she will take us as far as we can go.”Â
Among her three shut-outs, Johnson has posted five no-hitters.  She has thrown 119 innings on the season allowing 83 runs, 54 of them earned, for a 3.18 ERA. She has struck out 170 batters and allowed 78 hits, walked 101 batters and hit 27.
Johnson leads the team offensively as well with a batting average of .490. She has scored 28 times collecting 25 hits – 11 doubles and two home runs. Johnson has walked 27 times and also has 27 RBI’s which ties Sara Clark for tops on the team.
Clark, a senior shortstop and lead-off hitter, is batting .449 on the year with 35 hits and 32 runs scored. Clark has slapped out seven doubles, four triples and one homer. Other leading hitters on the team include Hannah Bressler at .364, Bloom at .333 and Lindsay Barrett hitting .296.
A pleasant surprise for the Lady Tide has been the contribution of freshmen Taylor Goodman and Cheyenne Pentz. Goodman has started the last nine games of the season at third base after sophomore Molly Demchak was sidelined with a broken hand. Since taking over the position, Goodman has hit .360 with nine hits and scored seven runs. Pentz moved into the hitting rotation after the injury to Demchak as well and is hitting .348 with eight hits, eight RBI’s and 10 runs scored. Pentz also has a double and a triple among her hits.
As a team, Curwensville is batting .344 with 190 runs on 190 hits. The team has 32 doubles, six triples and five home runs on the year. The Lady Tide has stolen 16 bases on 17 attempts with Barrett leading the team with eight steals.
“We are on a mission to get Johnsonburg out of Curwensville as soon as possible,” Leigey said of today’s game. “I know the team is geared to do that. I know we’re going to hit the ball all over the place, and Stacey will take care of things in the circle.”
At the time of the district seedings, Curwensville was holding a 14-5 record that gave them the seventh seed while The Ramettes stood at 8-9 and earned the 10th seed.
The winner of todays game will travel to Coudersport on Wednesday for a 4:30 contest. Coudersport earned a bye for today as the number two seed.Â
Undefeated Elk County Catholic is the top seed in the tournament and will get to watch Northern Potter (8) vs Brockway (9) today before playing the winner on Wednesday. Other matches for the opening round include A-C Valley (13) vs. Smethport (4); DuBois Central Catholic (12) faces Clarion-Limestone (5) and Cameron County (11) faces Venango Catholic (6) with the winner to meet Clarion (3).
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The district semifinals are scheduled for June 1 and the championship is scheduled for June 3 at a location to be announced.
