With the Tide smacking out 13 hits against the Elkers Curwensville pushed it‘s record to 3-3 on the 2011 campaign.
Curwensville head coach Denny Johns was certainly glad his squad found some offense, “It was very encouraging to see us get 13 hits today. I told the kids after the game that now we’ve got to build off of this game and become consistent offensively going forward.”
The Tide would score the game’s first run in the bottom half of the first inning when catcher Kyle Bloom singled to lead off and would later score on back to back singles by Boone McGary and Garrett LaBorde.
Two more Curwensville runners would cross the plate in the second frame as Shae Best singled to center and stole second with one out. Kyle Johns walked, which was followed by a passed ball moving Best to third and Johns to second still with one out.
Bloom then grounded out to first which enabled Best to score from third base.
Freshman Tanner Elensky singled which gave the Tide runners at first (Johns) and third.
Ridgway starting pitcher Jesse Reynolds followed with a balk which allowed Johns to score making it 3-0 Tide after two innings.
The Elkers, who had five errors on the day, would allow the Tide to score three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, which basically put the game away for Curwensville.
Johns drew a walk and stole second with Bloom then walking putting runners on first and second.
Elensky put down a bunt single by beating the throw to first by Reynolds. However the Ridgway pitcher threw the ball into right field which allowed Bloom and Johns to score on the play.
The throwing error sent Elensky to third and he would later score on a fielder’s choice by Shane Hoover.
Curwensville would add two more runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to set the final at 9-2.
Hunter McCracken picked up the win for Curwensville in his first outing of the year with Best closing out the final two innings.
Johns liked what he saw he in the performance by McCracken, “Hunter really stepped forward in his first game on the mound this year. He threw a lot of strikes and had good velocity.”
Then the Curwensville skipper praised the defensive effort by his squad, “We were solid defensively today and had two nice plays in the outfield, one each by (Brad) Coudriet and Best. And Kyle Bloom threw out two runners.”
The Golden Tide will be home again on Friday when the Black Knights of Moshannon Valley come calling in a 4:15 pm Moshannon Valley League contest.
RIDGWAY – 2
Jesse Reynolds p/ss 4110, Kevin Kilhoffer ss/3b 4021, Josh Mitchell 1b 4021, D. J. Skraba c 3000, Jesse Gardner 3b/p 2000, Slade Horner 2b 2000, JoJo Jacques 2b 1010, Alex Dickant cf 3000, Aaron Sorge lf 2110, Derek Mattiuz rf 3010, TOTALS – 28 2 8 2.
CURWENSVILLE – 9
Kyle Bloom c 3311, Shelby McGary cr/cf 1001, Curt Bloom cr 0000, Tanner Elensky 2b 5120, Shane Hoover ss 4112, Boone McGary 1b 4031, Jordan Russell lf 0000, Garrett LaBorde dh 4021, Brad Coudriet rf 2000, Hunter McCracken p 3010, Jesse Zorger cf/3b 1000, Shae Best cf/p 4220, Kyle Johns 3b 1210, TOTALS – 32 9 13 6.
SCORE BY INNINGS R H E
RIDGWAY 000 020 0 2 8 5
CURWENSVILLE 120 321 X 9 13 1
ERRORS – Horner, Dickant, Reynolds, Gardner 2; Hoover. LOB -RIDGWAY – 7 CURWENSVILLE – 11. 2B – Hoover, Best. 3B – Johns. SB – Mitchell, Kilhoffer, Jacques; Best, Johns 2.
PITCHING
RIDGWAY
Reynolds 3 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
Gardner 3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 1 Balk
CURWENSVILLE
McCracken 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Best 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
WP – McCracken (1-0) LP – Reynolds