CURWENSVILLE – The biggest headache in playing spring sports is the unpredictability of your schedule. The Curwensville Area High School softball team has been red hot in the past two weeks winning 7-of-8 games in a 13-day stretch before school functions and the weather interrupted their momentum. While the Lady Tide did win its eighth game in a row with a 5-3 decision over Dubois Central Catholic Tuesday, the performance was less than dominating.
“We were in a good stride through last week,” mentioned Tide head coach Allen Leigey. “I was fearful that the layoff was going to get us out of game speed. You can work on things in practice, and we hit every day, but it’s just not the same as game speed.”
Curwensville had not played a game in six days and had a slightly sluggish start that gave the visitors the early momentum. Lauresa Gulvas opened the game for DCC with a single and moved to second when the ball was misplayed in the outfield. Kylee Schaffer followed with a bunt single to put runners on the corners. Tricia Varacallo grounded out to second to plate Gulvas for a 1-0 lead in the first.
“I knew they were an improved team,” Leigey said. “I was sure they would come in ready to play.”
Being hit by a pitch in the first inning may have affected Thomas in the circle. Thomas opened the bottom of the first by walking Taylor Goodman. Madi Peterman drilled a single inside first base that left runners at the corners and Tiffany Carter walked to load the bases. Molly Demchak knotted the score with a sacrifice fly to center and singles by Cheyenne Pentz and Megan Barrett left the hosts with a 3-1 lead after one inning.
However, after that first inning Thomas settled in the circle and allowed only 10 Lady Tide Batters to come to the plate through the next three innings. In the meantime, the Lady Cardinals found just enough fire power to tie the score 3-3 after four innings. Schaffer’s double in the third and a triple by Kayla Bittner in the fourth were the key hits in the visitor’s scoring effort.
Curwensville put the pressure on their visitors again in the fifth inning when after the first out, Carter drew her third free pass of the game. Courtesy runner Abby Dugo moved to third on a hard drive to center by Demchak and scored on the only DCC error of the game off the bat of Pentz. Barrett then drove the ball to the gap in right-center that was tracked down by a diving Schaffer. However, pinch-runner Alaina Stiles was able to tag and score for the 5-3 final.
“The team did what it needed to do,” said Leigey. “We came up with hits when we needed them. The pinch-runners helped manufacture a couple runs, and Tierra pitched well to get out of some situations. We simply weathered the storm and got it done.”
The key to the game in the circle was that Shope walked no one. She gave up eight hits while striking out four and hitting one batter. In the final three innings of the contest, Shope and the Lady Tide defense allowed only one runner to reach base.
On the other side of the card, Thomas walked six and allowed seven hits. She struck out seven Tide batters in a losing effort.
Curwensville (13-3) will continue to get back into playing rhythm Wednesday afternoon when they host Elk County Christian before traveling to Brockway on Thursday. ECC and the Lady Rovers had both defeated the Lady Tide in their first meetings. The game has yet to be finalized, but Curwensville may also make up a game with West Branch on Saturday in what would be the Moshannon Valley League Championship.
DUBOIS CENTRAL – 3
Lauras Gulvas ss 4120, Kylee Schaffer cf 4120, Tricia Varacallo 2b 3012, Katlyn Yabernetsky lf 3010, Taylor Thomas p 2000, Rosie Gillespie cr 0000, Alyssa Marchioni 1b 3110, Juliana Ingham c 2000, Kayla Bittner 3b 3011, Megan Hassan rf 3000, TOTALS – 28 AB 3 R 8 H 3 RBI.
CURWENSVILLE – 5
Taylor Goodman 2b 3100, Madi Peterman 1b 4120, Tiffany Carter c 1200, Abby Dugo cr 0000, Molly Demchak 3b 2011, Alaina Stiles pr 0100 , Cheyenne Pentz ss 3011, Melanie Milliron pr 0000, Megan Barrett dp 2012, Sarah Wriglesworth cf 3010, Abby Johnson lf 3000, Hannah Bressler rf 2010, Tierra Shope p 0000, TOTALS – 23 AB 5 R 6 H 4 RBI.
SCORES BY INNINGS – R H E
Dubois Central 101 100 0 – 3 8 1
Curwensville 300 200 x – 5 7 1
ERRORS – Yabernetsky; Johnson. LOB – DCC 5; Curwensville 7. 2B – Schaffer. 3B – Bittner. HR – none. SB – none. SAC – Varacallo, Ingham; Demchak, Barrett. DP – Dubois Central. PB – none. WP – Thomas 3; Shope 3. HB – Thomas (Shope).
PITCHING
Curwensville – Shope 7 IP 8 H 3 R 3 ER 0 BB 4 K 1 HB
Dubois Central – Thomas 6 IP 7 H 5 R 4 ER 6 BB 7 K 0 HB
WP – Shope (13-3). LP – Thomas (5-2).
Umpires – Scott Vierdorffer, Jay Siegel.
Lady Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/27 | @ DuBois Central | 8 – 7 | 1 – 0 |
| 3/29 | BROCKWAY | 2 – 6 | 1 – 1 |
| 4/02 | @ Sheffield – DH | ppd. | 1 – 1 |
| 4/04 | @ Ridgway | 11 – 3 | 2 – 1 |
| 4/11 | KANE | ppd. | 2 – 1 |
| 4/13 | @ Keystone | ppd. | 2 – 1 |
| 4/13 | KANE | 5 – 1 | 3 – 1 |
| 4/16 | @ Glendale | 11 – 0 | 4 – 1 |
| 4/17 | @ Johnsonburg | 17 – 1 | 5 – 1 |
| 4/19 | @ Elk County Catholic | 1 – 6 | 5 – 2 |
| 4/23 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | ppd. | 5 – 2 |
| 4/25 | @ Brockway | ppd. | 5 – 2 |
| 4/26 | @ Keystone | ppd. | 5 – 2 |
| 4/27 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | 3 – 5 | 5 – 3 |
| 4/30 | @ Sheffield | 10 – 0 | 6 – 3 |
| 4/30 | @ Sheffield – DH | 16 – 1 | 7 – 3 |
| 5/01 | @ Harmony | ppd. | 7 – 3 |
| 5/02 | @ Harmony | 23 – 0 | 8 – 3 |
| 5/03 | RIDGWAY | 11 – 2 | 9 – 3 |
| 5/04 | @ Mo Valley | 6 – 5 | 10 – 3 |
| 5/07 | @ Kane | 19 – 3 | 11 – 3 |
| 5/08 | @ Brockway | ppd. | 11 – 3 |
| 5/09 | JOHNSONBURG | 12 – 2 | 12 – 3 |
| 5/14 | WEST BRANCH | ppd. | 12 – 3 |
| 5/15 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | 5 – 3 | 13 – 3 |
| 5/16 | ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC | ||
| 5/17 | @ Brockway | ||
| TBA | District 9 Playoffs |