Lady Crusaders Shut Out Curwensville 5-0

CURWENSVILLE – For the first time in the 2013 season, the Curwensville Area High School softball team was unable to push a run across the plate in a 5-0 tilt with Elk County Catholic on Tuesday.

The Lady Tide (8-2) were unable to be consistent with their bats against Crusader sophomore Abbey Bauer, who scattered just four hits in the game while striking out  five and giving up not a single free pass.  The hosts were unable to get a runner past second base until the seventh inning.

“Bauer is a crafty pitcher who has been around the game long enough to understand her role,” said Tide head coach Allen Leigey about his opponent.  “We always seem to have good games with them (ECC), but they seem to just have our number lately.  The difference usually comes down to who cracks first.”

The first crack to come in the most recent encounter took place in the first inning in the form of a big fly.  After two quick strike outs from Tide pitcher Tierra Shope, one pitch was too good for Lady Crusader Jessie Ginther to pass up.  Ginther popped a Shope delivery over the left-center fence that kept going after it bounced into the Susquehanna River.  Ginther’s hit turned out to be the game-winner.  ECC used a pair of hits in both the third and fourth innings to add two runs each for insurance.

“They always seem to have one really strong hitter, and this year the name just happens to be Ginther,” said Leigey.  “This is an interesting week on our schedule.  We are bookended with ECC and Punxsutawney.  One is probably the top single-A team in the district and the other will be looking to capture the triple-A crown.  It’s a good measuring stick for us in the double-A bracket.”

Shope’s early mistake overshadowed the fact that she struck out  five of the first six outs and finished with 10 K’s in the game.  ECC finished with six hits total and were given just three walks.  Curwensville did hit the ball hard several times off Bauer on the evening, but the Lady Crusaders turned in enough web gems to close the door on any rally.

“We played pretty well, but just couldn’t come up with the key hits when we needed them,” Leigey said.  “I would have liked to see one more hit in the seventh inning to put a little pressure on them to see what might have happened.”

The bottom of the seventh opened with Tiffany Carter drilling a shot through the legs of the third baseman. With one out, Alaina Stiles hustled down the line and was safe on a wide throw from second.  Abby Dugo followed with a pop-up single to short right to load the bases.  However, that extra hit in the inning didn’t come for Leigey and his troops as Bauer got the next two batters to pop out to end the game.

No one player for Elk County had more than one hit while Carter and Dugo posted two hits each to account for Curwensville’s only knocks on the day.

“Now we have to take on DCC again after they lost to ECC (on Monday) 6-3,” Leigey said.  “Being shut out can only boost their (DCC) confidence, and we can’t take them for granted after beating them on Saturday 12-1.  We can’t let them catch us after this tough battle ended in a loss.”

The Lady Tide will host the Lady Cardinals Wednesday at Riverside Stadium.

Elk County Catholic- 5

Michelle Imbrogno ss 2112, Mackenzie Neureiter 2b 3100, Micheala Cashmer ph 1000, Jessie Ginther 3111, Kristy Hanes c 4012, Talor DaCanal 1b 3000, Rachel Stauffer 3b 3010, Abbey Bauer p 3110, Sierra Meyer cr 0000, Carly Schneider dp 3010, Sadie Vigilone pr 0000, Mandy Schneider lf 3100, Sadie Vigilone  flex/rf 0000,  TOTALS – 28 AB 5 R 6 H 5 RBI..

CURWENSVILLE – 0

Sarah Wriglesworth cf 3000, Taylor Goodman 2b 3000, Cheyenne Pentz ss 3000, Tiffany Carter c 3020, Abby Johnson lf 3000, Alaina Stiles rf 3000, Abby Dugo 3b 3020, Nikki Harker 1b 3000, Megan McCartney dp 3000, Tierra Shope flex/p 0000, TOTALS – 27 AB 0 R 0 H 0 RBI.

SCORES BY INNINGS – R H E

Elk County 102 200 0 – 5 6 3

Curwensville  000 000 0 – 0 4 1

ERRORS – Neureiter 2, Staufer; Goodman.  LOB – ECC 5; Curwensville 6.  2B – Imbrogno, Staufer; Dugo.  HR – Ginther. DP- ECC. SB – Cashmer, Meyers, M. Schneider.

PITCHING

Elk County –   Bauer 7 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 0 HB

Curwensville –  Shope 7 IP 6 H 5 R 5 ER 3 BB 10 K 0 HB

WP – Bauer.   LP -Shope (8-2).

Umpires – Rosseli, Viehdorfer.

Lady Tide Scoreboard  – includes new dates for previously postponed games: