CURWENSVILLE – Early in Monday’s opening round of the District IX Class A softball match-up at Riverside Stadium inexperience was showing in the shaky play of the Curwensville Area High School squad. The Lady Tide committed physical and mental errors to fall behind A-C Valley. However, the Lady Tide settled into their game and pounded the Lady Falcons 15-5 in six innings to stay alive in the post season.
With one out, A-C Valley pitcher Nicole Wetzel slashed a double that might have sliced foul if not for the outstretched glove of third baseman Molly Demchak. Wetzel tagged and moved to third on an out to center and then scored on Abby Hindman’s single. A dropped ball at first and a pop-up behind second that no one took charge of gave the Falcons a 2-0 lead after the first inning.
Wetzel had thrown two pitches in the bottom of the first and had one out and one on after Madi Peterman singled. After five pitches in the inning, the score was tied as Tiffany Carter drove a 1-and-1 pitch over the fence in dead center.
“Defensively, we didn’t play as good today as we have been lately,” said head coach Allen Leigey said. “But getting those runs back in the bottom of the first was a big key to winning the game.
“Tiffany had a very good game. She hit the ball hard and played very well behind the plate. She is developing to be a top notch catcher.”
Carter finished the game with three hits, scored three times and drove in four runs. Second-baseman Cheyenne Pentz and center fielder Sarah Wriglesworth also chipped in three hits apiece in the game. Pentz scored once and pushed three runs in while Wriglesworth scored twice with one RBI.
“We were hitting the ball hard, but right at them early in the game,” said Leigey. “I knew it was just a matter of time before we broke things open.”
The bats weren’t registering hits in the second inning, but putting the ball in play allowed Curwensville to start to pull away. The Golden Tide put four runs on the board in the second taking advantage of three errors, a walk and a Pentz single. Nine Tide batters came to the plate in the second inning, and with one hit pushed the score to 6-2.
A-C Valley kept the pressure on in the fourth with four straight hits after two outs. Kelsey Russell doubled to start the threat. Wetzel slipped her third hit of the game perfectly toward second and moved to second base uncontested. Both runs came home on a Megan Cratty single to set the score at 6-4.
The score moved to 6-5 in the top of the fifth with the help of two walks and Curwensville’s third error of the game.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Tide regained control with a pair of runs. Sarah Wriglesworth led off the inning with a triple to deep right. The Tide’s lone senior, Katie Wriglesworth, drove her sister in with a hard hit up the middle. The second run of the inning came in on a Taylor Goodman hit.
“When our hits started coming, the girls decided to wait for pitches,” Leigey noted. “They were being more patient and settling for singles rather than trying to hit the ball deep.”
That patience at the plate helped end the game in the sixth innings as the Tide first sent starting pitcher Lanie Best to the bench. Best left the bases loaded before her exit. Wetzel took over the mound duties, recorded two outs but gave up five additional hits and allowed Best’s runs to score before yielding four of her own to end the game at 15-5 because of the 10-run mercy rule.
“I am pleased with the win. It is a good start for a young team to get a win in an elimination game,” Leigey said. “We will have to clean things up in the field against Smethport, but I like our chances in the next round.”
Madi Peterman, Katie Wriglesworth and Abby Johnson all had two hits for the Tide who slapped out 18 hits in the game and didn’t yield a strike out. For A-C Valley Nicole Wetzel was 4-for-4 while Abby Hindman finished with two hits.
The Tide’s Tierra Shope earned the win by scattering 10 hits, striking out nine and walking just two batters.
“Tierra just seems to find a way to make the right pitch when we need it,” said Leigey. “She gives us everything she can, and it has been good enough so far.”
Curwensville (12-7) will travel to Smethport on Wednesday to face the second-seeded Lady Hubbers. The Hubbers, who earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs, are 13-0 on the season.
A-C VALLEY – 5
KelseyRussell cf 3110, Nicole Wetzel rf/p 4241, Megan Cratty ss 4012, Abby Hindman c 4121, Abby Wetzel 2b 4010, Ashley Manculich 1b 3111, Sadie Comstock 3b 3000, Kayla Cratty lf 3000, Lanie Best p 3000, Gabby Rankin rf 0000. Totals 31 AB 5 R 10 H 5 RBI.
CURWENSVILLE – 15
Taylor Goodman 2b 4212, Madison Peterman lf 4220, Tiffany Carter c 3334, Molly Demchak 3b 4012, Melanie Milliron pr 0000, Cheyenne Pentz ss 5133, Sarah Wriglesworth cf 5231, Katie Wriglesworth 1b 3121, Hanah Bressler rf 3111, Abby Johnson dp 4321, Tierra Shope flex/p 0000. TOTALS – 35 AB 15 R 18 H 15 RBI.
SCORES BY INNINGS – R H E
A-C Valley – 200 210 x – 5 10 3
Curwensville – 240 027 x – 15 18 3
ERRORS – Hindman, Comstock 2; K. Wriglesworth 2, Carter. LOB –A-C Valley 11; Curwensville 10. HR – Carter. 3B –S. Wriglesworth. 2B – Russell, N. Wetzel. DP – None. SB –N. Wetzel. SAC –Demchak. HBP -none. PB – none. WP – Shope.
PITCHING
A-C Valley – Best 5 IP 13 H 11 R 7 ER 4 BB 0 K 0 HB
N. Wetzel .2 IP 5 H 4 R 4 ER 1 BB 0 K 0 HB
Curwensville – Shope 6 IP 10 H 5 R 3 ER 2 BB 9 K 0 HB
W – Shope. L – Best.