Curwensville Bitten By Bulldogs In 4-2 Loss To Redbank Valley

NEW BETHLEHEM – It would seem that the focus used by the Curwensville Area High School softball team to collar Kane on Tuesday was missing on Friday as Redbank Valley bumped the Lady Tide 4-2.  As the regular season winds down, the meeting holds the possibility of being a preview to the District IX Class AA playoffs.

The Golden Tide (11-4) committed three errors in the contest with two of those miscues allowing three runs to score.  Head coach Allen Leigey, mentioned that the errors were difficult to swallow, but the aftermath may have been more damaging.

“We’re not going to be able to play error-free ball all the time, and I understand that,” Leigey mentioned.  “The hard part was watching the way we reacted afterwards.  You would have thought we were down by 10 runs.  I’m glad the team is not satisfied with average play, but there was no need to be so hard on ourselves.  We had plenty of game left to play.”

The errors leading to runs came in the first and third innings, and the Lady Tide trailed by just one run in the third.  However, the visitors could muster just two hits and three base-runners in the final four innings.

Curwensville opened the game with a 1-0 lead in the first inning.  After two outs, Cheyenne Pentz and Tiffany Carter dropped back-to-back doubles in play to take the lead.

The Lady Bulldogs evened the score in the bottom of the frame by taking advantage of the first error with two outs.  A single followed to bring home the tying run.

The third inning gave the Tide back the lead when Sarah Wriglesworth singled and stole second with one out.  Wriglesworth moved to third on a ground out before Pentz hit safely to drive her home.

Redbank Valley managed four hits in the bottom of the third and would have likely scored at least one run to tie the game again.  However, both runs were able to come home when a throw from the outfield missed a cut-off and allowed both runs to score for a 3-2 deficit.

“Instead of battling back and erasing mistakes with our bats, we let our defense dictate what the offense did, and it didn’t help our cause,” Leigey said.  “I know we have hit better pitching than we saw in this game, and it was hard to watch us go cold.”

The Bulldogs managed a single run in the sixth inning without a hit.  They took advantage of a walk, a fielder’s choice that yielded no outs, a passed ball and an infield ground-out for the final 4-2 tally.

In the circle for the Tide, Tierra Shope allowed seven hits and seven strikeouts for the game.  She walked just two batters and gave up two earned runs in the loss.

“”I thought Tierra pitched well enough to win the game, Leigey said.  “I told the girls that we let her down.

“We are a stronger team than we showed in this game, and, hopefully, we’ll use this loss as a lesson in perseverance and realize that one mistake doesn’t dictate the whole game.  We do want to limit mistakes, but have to take advantage of what our opponents give us.”

The Lady Tide will look for a quick turnaround as they travel to St. Marys on Monday for a rematch with Elk County Catholic.  The Lady Crusaders won the first meeting 5-0.

CURWENSVILLE – 2

Sarah Wriglesworth cf 3110, Taylor Goodman 2b 3000, Cheyenne Pentz ss 3121, Tiffany Carter c 3011, Abby Johnson lf 3000, Abby Dugo 3b 3010, Alaina Stiles rf 3010, Nikki Harker 1b 3000, Malanie Milliron dp 2000, Megan McCartney ph 1000, Tierra Shope flex/p 0000, TOTALS – 27 AB 2 R 6 H 2 RBI.

REDBANK VALLEY – 4

Alex Bell cf 3110, A. Kunselman ss 4001,K. Brothers c 4210, K. Shick cr 0000, H. Rearick 2b 3030, Emma Kennemuth 1b 3010,  D. Gruver 3b 3000, L. Jones p 3000, M. Torh lf 2110, Megan Nolf pr 0000, T. Troup rf 3000,  TOTALS – 28 AB 4 R 7 H 1 RBI.

SCORES BY INNINGS – R H E

Curwensville  101 000 0 – 2 6 3

REDBANK VALLEY    102 001 x – 4 7 0

ERRORS – Pentz, Stiles, Dugo.  LOB – Curwensville 5; Redbank Valley 8.  2B – Pentz, Carter.  SAC – Kunselman.  SB – Wriglesworth. PB – Carter.

PITCHING

Curwensville –  Shope –  6 IP 7 H 4 R 2 ER 2 BB 7 K 0 HB

Redbank Valley –   Jones –  7 IP 6 H 2 R 2 ER 0 BB 2 K 0 HB

WP -Jones.  LP -Shope (11-4).

Lady Tide Scoreboard