Lady Tide Softball Conquers New Ground With 2-0 Win For Class AA Title

BROCKWAY –  Curwensville Area High School softball has certainly made a name for itself over recent years in District IX and PIAA Class A circles.  However, the 2013 squad has taken the first step in putting themselves on a different plateau as the Lady Tide side-lined top-seeded Redbank Valley 2-0 on Friday to win its first ever District IX, Class AA Championship.

With two PIAA Class A State Championships secured in the program’s history, the present team has already made a name for itself where no Tide team has ever succeeded.   Curwensville will now continue its season in the PIAA state playoffs on Monday when they will face District 7 Champion, Riverside, at North Allegany High School in a 2:00 start.

“This (winning the district championship) was one of our preseason goals,” commented Tide head coach Allen Leigey.  “Our seniors worked so hard to get this in single A, but we came up empty.  We felt confident we could get this, and being the first team to win a double A title is something that no one can take away from them.  This was a good win, and I’m very proud of this team.”

“Team” seems to be the key word for the current district champions.  The Lady Tide put together the whole package of pitching, fielding and hitting against the Bulldogs with everyone doing their job in one aspect or another.

Junior pitcher Tierra Shope ruled the circle scattering four hits, walking none and striking out two batters in the shutout.  Sophomore Alaina Stiles slapped out two hits including a double that drove home the eventual winning run.  Junior third-baseman Abby Dugo’s glove accounted for one-third of the outs in the game while several other web gems by the defense kept the hosts off the board.

“Shope was dialed in from the circle today,” Leigey said.  “She painted the corners well with a lot of off-speed pitches that kept them in check.

“It was just Abby Dugo and Alaina’s turn to pick up the slack for us.  Abby ate up everything hit at her and laid down a perfect sacrifice early in the game.  Alaina came up with the clutch hit we needed and really made a great catch in right to deflate their spirit. We had other great efforts in the outfield from Sarah Wriglesworth and Abby Johnson”.

Curwensville put up a textbook run in the second inning that turned out to be the difference in the game.  Johnson led off the frame with a base hit and moved to second on Dugo’s sacrifice bunt.  Stiles promptly drove a 1-and-1 offering deep for the RBI double that scored Johnson.

Redbank Valley’s first real threat came in the fourth inning with back-to-back singles from catcher Kate Brothers and first-baseman Emma Kennemuth.  However, a fly out to Johnson and two ground ball put outs at third by Dugo dashed the Bulldogs’ hopes of a rally.

Again in the fifth, Redbank put two on with no outs.  And again, pitching and fielding saw a fly out to Cheyenne Pentz at short, Wriglesworth’s shoestring catch in center and Dugo to Nikki Harker at first to deny the top seed.

The Lady Tide added an insurance run in the top of the sixth inning.  Catcher Tiffany Carter opened the sixth with a double.  With one out, Carter tagged up on a short pop-up in foul territory behind first.  The out was recorded, but a wild attempt to get Carter at third allowed her to scurry home for the 2-0 advantage.

“I always tell the girls that the first step is getting there; after that anything can happen,” related Leigey.  “The same is true in the PIAA tourney.  We had to win to get there, now it’s one game at a time, and anything can happen.”

A secondary focus on the D-IX title game filtered around revenge.  Redbank Valley handed Curwensville a 4-2 loss earlier in the season, and the Tide had been successful cleaning up previous messes on the year.  The only loss in this campaign for the Black and Gold that can’t be turned around is an 8-2 decision to Punxsutawney, who was only on the schedule once.

“No one beats us twice,” beamed assistant coach Jeff McCartney after the game Friday.  “This team doesn’t take losses well, and will come at you tough the second time around.”

The Golden Tide, who came into districts as the third seed and promptly knocked off number two Moniteau before ousting the top seeded Redbank Valley, is now on a possible five-game schedule.  With 16 teams entered into the Westen bracket of the PIAA State Tournament, it takes four wins to get to the state championship game.  With the short window and a win or go home atmosphere, as coach Liegey preaches, “Anything can happen.”

CURWENSVILLE — 2

Taylor Goodman 2b 4000, Sarah Wriglesworth cf 4010, Cheyenne Pentz ss 3010, Tiffany Carter c 3110, Abby Johnson lf 3110, Abby Dugo 3b 2000, Alaina Stiles rf 3021, Nikki Harker 1b 1000, Tierra Shope p 4131, Kealy Wassil ph 1000, TOTALS – 26 AB 2 R 6 H 1 RBI.

REDBANK VALLEY — 0

Alex Bell cf 4000, Kate Brothers c 3010,Emma Kennemuth 1b 3010, Haley Renrick 2b 3010, Morgan Toth lf 3000, Dariah Gruver 3b 3010, Alaina Kunselman ss 3010, Lyndsey Jones p 3000, Tessa Troup rf 3000, TOTALS – 28 AB 0 R 4 H 0 RBI.

SCORES BY INNINGS – R H E

Curwensville   010 001 0 – 2 6 0

Redbank Valley  000 000 0 – 0 4 2

ERRORS –Kennemuth, Renrick.  LOB – Curwensville 7; Redbank Valley 7.  2B – Stiles, Carter.  SAC – Dugo, Harker.  PB – Carter.

PITCHING

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

Redbank Valley –  Jones 7 IP 6 H 2 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 K 0 HB

WP – Shope (17-5).  LP -Jones.

                                                LADY TIDE SEASON RESULTS