Mo Valley Topples Curwensville 9-3 to Win MVL Championship

CURWENSVILLE – With the Moshannon Valley League Title (or a piece of it) on the line, the Curwensville Area High School softball team hosted Moshannon Valley Monday afternoon at Riverside Stadium.  A win for the Lady Tide would cause a three-way tie with West Branch and Mo Valley, and a Damsel victory would give them the MVL crown exclusively.

The Mo Valley offense slapped out 12 hits to capture the MVL title with a 9-3 victory over Curwensville. 

“They brought out their sticks and outhit us,” said Tide head coach Allen Leigey.  “Mo Valley always comes to play and isn’t going to back down against anyone.”

The Damsels got off the bus in attack mode as Kristen O’Donnell walked with one out in the first inning.  Laura Harris followed to help her own cause with a triple to right center to score O’Donnell.  The lead moved to 2-0 on Kristen Gallagher’s single that pushed Harris across the plate.

In the bottom of the first, the Lady Tide came right back.  Taylor Goodman led off the inning with a single, Madi Peterman followed with a free pass.  Both runners advanced on a passed ball before a second passed ball allowed Goodman to race home.  After a second walk in the inning, Cheyenne Pentz singled in Peterman to knot the score at 2-2 after one inning.

The visitors continued to swing the big bats in the second inning as Katelin Thompson opened with a triple to left.  Thompson scored on the play as the the throw to third was wide and skipped out of play.  A second run scored in the inning after Sara Harris walked, stole second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Kelsey Kitko’s sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.

The Damsels added two more runs in the fourth after two outs.  Kitko singled, Mikayla Lewis walked and Kristen O’Donnell slapped her team’s third triple of the game to push the margin to 6-2.

In the fifth inning, Curwensville mounted a two-out rally of their own as Goodman tripled to right field.  Peterman followed with an RBI single for a 6-3 mark.

Any thoughts of a comeback for the Tide were quickly squelched as the Damsels put up three more runs in the sixth inning.  Kitko, who ended the game 3-for-3, started the inning with a hit after the first out.  Lewis then singled to allow Lewis to score from first. Kristen O’Donnell then singled, and after the second out, Gallagher drove a ball to center that was misplayed to allow both runners to score for the 9-3 final.

“Our pitches weren’t hitting the spots like we have been over that last few games,” Leigey said.  “They took advantage of that and did a good job hitting the ball.

“We got behind and seemed  to be out in front of pitches.  We were anxious at the plate a lot.  Then we also watched some good pitches go by for strike three.  I didn’t feel that we played with a sense of urgency.  We need to get that back before we go into the playoffs.”

Kitko followed up her strong plate experience by scoring two runs and adding an RBI.  Kristen O’Donnell scored twice on her two hits while knocking in two runs.  Gallagher added a pair of hits and two RBIs while Thompson also hit safely twice.

For the Lady Tide, Goodman provided the majority of the offense with a  3-for-4 day at the plate and two runs scored.

Moshannon Valley moves it’s record for the season to 8-10 while the loss set the Tide at 10-6.

Curwensville will travel to Harmony Tuesday.   

MOSHANNON VALLEY – 9

MIkayla Lewis cf 3211, Kristen O’Donnell rf/lf 3222, Laura Harris p 4111, Kristen Gallagher c 4022, Chelsea Domanick 1b 4010, Lauren O’Donnell 2b 4000, Katelin Thompson 3b 4120, Sara Harris ss 3100, Kelsey Kitko dp 3231, Lucy Baker flex lf/rf 3231.  Totals 32 AB 9 R 12 H 7 RBI.

CURWENSVILLE – 3

Taylor Goodman 2b 4230, Madison Peterman lf  3111, Tiffany Carter c 3000, Molly Demchak 3b 2000, Cheyenne Pentz ss 3011, Sarah Wriglesworth cf 3000, Katie Wriglesworth 1b 3000, Hanah Bressler rf 3000, Abby Johnson dp 3000, Tierra Shope flex/p 0000. TOTALS – 27 AB 3 R 5 H 2 RBI.

SCORES BY INNINGS –  R H E

Moshannon Valley – 220 203 0 – 9 12 1

Curwensville – 200 010 0 – 3 5 3

ERRORS –  L. O’Donnell; S. Wriglesworth, Peterman, Goodman.  LOB –Moshannon Valley 7; Curwensville 5.  HR – None. 3B –K. O’Donnell, L. Harris, Thompson; Goodman. 2B – none.  DP – None. SB –Lewis, S. Harris. SAC –Kitko.  HBP -none.  PB – Gallagher 2; Carter.  WP – Shope.

PITCHING 

Moshannon Valley – L. Harris 7 IP 5 H 3 R 3 ER 2 BB 7 K 0 HB

Curwensville – Shope 7 IP 12 H 9 R 8 ER 4 BB 3 K 0 HB

W  – Harris (8-10).  L. Shope (10-6).