The Tide come in with a 13-6 2010 record and are the fifth seed with the Panthers, the number twelve seed at 8-9.
In 2009 Curwensville beat Brockway 2-1 in the opening round of the District playoffs before losing in the quarter-finals to Coudersport 10-3.
Curwensville is led by senior centerfielder Sam Gardner with a lofty .528 batting average which include 26 RBI’s, twelve doubles and three triples. Gardner, who also leads the team with 25 runs scored is one of the mainstays on the mound for Curwensville with a 4-1 record. Gardner has an ERA of 3.96 with 47 strikeouts.
Second baseman Brett Sutika has had a solid year at the plate for Curwensville batting .406 and 21 RBI’s with fellow seniors Wes McGarry, an outfielder/pitcher, hitting .380 and Tide catcher Jonathan Michaels batting .388. McGarry has eight extra base hits, five being doubles.
Another senior who hit well during the regular season has been shortstop Jed Greslick. Greslick batted .394 and was the team leader in home runs with four.
Junior Shane Hoover, outfielder/infielder, has also had a solid season at the plate with a .371 batting average and 25 RBI’s.
McGarry is the team leader in wins on the mound for Curwensville with a 5-2 mark and an ERA of 3.64, while junior Garrett LaBorde has made the most of his trips to mound with a 2-1 record including 24 strikeouts and only walking nine.
First year head coach of the Tide Denny Johns spoke about what his team needs to do to be successful, “We have got to continue hitting the ball to put pressure on our opponent.” Then Johns added, “Playing clean and smart defensively obviously is a key. And our pitchers must stay around the plate while mixing their pitches to keep the other guys off balance.”
The Panthers, also under first year coach Chad Bell, are paced on offense by their lead-off hitter Kenny Alsop, a senior catcher, hitting .455 with ten doubles, 17 RBI’s and 18 runs scored.
Matt Hergenroeder, a junior second baseman, is hitting .333 followed by Zack Smith, a senior who roams centerfield and pitches, is batting .316 with two homeruns and 18 RBI’s.
Senior Brett Zuck, shortstop/pitcher, has an average of .268. The senior has four triples to lead the Panthers.
Junior Mitchell Rearrick has the most wins for the Panthers posting a 4-2 record with Zack Smith at 3-2 and one save. Smith also has a pretty good strikeout to walks ratio at 45 k’s and only 10 walks.
The winner will advance to play in the quarter-finals on Thursday against either the number four seed DuBois Central Catholic Cardinals (13-4)or the number 13 seed Smethport Hubbers (8-10).
Johns finished by saying, “The kids are very positive with starting the second season. They realize that they need to play their best baseball of the year if they want to move on.”
Listen to Golden Tide District 9 playoff baseball on WOKW-FM, 102.9 on Tuesday starting with the pre-game at 4:15 pm.