CURWENSVILLE — After having to wait weeks for the weather to cooperate, and for field conditions to be able to handle the action, the Golden Tide baseball squad finally got to step onto the field for the first time in their 2015 season.
Their opposition that they welcomed to their home field would be the Harmony Owls, and the fans that came out for the season-opener would be treated to an intense back-and-forth contest, one that needed one extra inning to finally decide a winner.
That win would go to the home team, as the Tide would take the walk-off 9-8 victory.
Curwensville held a 6-4 advantage after five innings, but in the top of the sixth, things began going wrong for the Tide. Harmony’s Matt McGarvey and Cody Fritz each would hammer in a pair of RBI’s to bring the game to a tie. The Kurtz brothers, Dylan and Dustin, would draw a pair of bases-loaded walks that gave the Owls an 8-6 advantage.
At that point, Bryce Timko would be called in to pitch, as the first three pitchers for Curwensville would give up nine walks and also nailing two Owl batters, and he would give the Tide defense exactly what they needed. Timko would pitch two and two-thirds innings, yielding no hits or runs with two strikeouts. The Tide offense then would take over.
In the bottom of the seventh, Jake B. Stiles would start the momentum by reaching on an Owl error. A.J. Bloom would follow that up with an RBI double to bring in Stiles, cutting the lead down to one. Trevor Anderson then would bring in Bloom on a two-out single, knotting the game at 8-8. Fans in attendance would be treated to one more inning of play.
Timko would shut down the Owls in the top half of the eighth, giving the home team an opportunity to score and clinch the first win of the season.
It wasn’t a hit that would give the Tide the run needed to win the game, but instead an error. In the bottom of the eighth, the Owls committed their sixth of the game, one that ultimately was the most costly as Jake Terry would cross home plate and give the Tide the victory.
Harmony’s Dylan Kurtz would pitch four and two-thirds innings in the loss, giving up six runs, five of them earned, and six hits. His brother, Dustin Kurtz was saddled with the loss in relief after giving up three runs, none earned, in two in two-thirds innings.
The Tide (1-0) have a couple days to savor the victory as they are back in action, weather permitting, on Wednesday afternoon against Glendale, with first pitch set for 4:15 p.m.
Harmony-8
Dy. Kurtz 3011, Du. Kurtz 3101, Sral 3010, Young 3011, Beck 4210, Watson 5210, Black 4211, McGarvey 4111, Polisky 0000, Fritz 5023. TOTALS 34 8 9 8
Curwensville-9
Strickland cf-lf 5010, Terry ss 2210, Lansberry p-cf 4110, J.B. Stiles 2b-3b-p-3b 4322, Bloom 3b-p-3b-1b 4122, Timko 1b-p 4010, Lancaster c 4021, J.C. Stiles rf 1000, Anderson 2b 2111, Newkirk lf-rf 4111. TOTALS 34 9 13 7
Score by Innings
Harmony 103 004 00 8 9 4
Curwensville 300 210 21 9 13 2
PITCHING
Harmony-Dy. Kurtz 4.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 7 SO; Du. Kurtz 2.2 IP, 5 H 3 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
Curwensville-Lansberry 2.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO; Bloom-2.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO; JB Stiles 0 IP; 0 H, 0 R 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO; Timko 2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
HBP-Du. Kurtz, Lansberry, Bloom
WP-D. Kurtz
W-Timko (1-0); L-D. Kurtz
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/27 | @ Brookville | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 3/31 | @ St. Marys | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 4/01 | ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 4/06 | HARMONY | 9 – 8, 8 inn. | 1 – 0 |
| 4/08 | GLENDALE | ||
| 4/10 | KANE | ||
| 4/11 | JOHNSONBURG | ||
| 4/13 | WEST BRANCH | ||
| 4/14 | @ DuBois Central Catholic | ||
| 4/15 | @ Brookville | ||
| 4/16 | BROCKWAY | ||
| 4/20 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | ||
| 4/22 | @ Johnsonburg | ||
| 4/24 | CLEARFIELD | ||
| 4/27 | ST. MARYS | ||
| 4/28 | @ Elk County Catholic | ||
| 5/01 | @ Mo Valley | ||
| 5/05 | @ Kane | ||
| 5/07 | DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH. | ||
| 5/11 | @ Clearfield | ||
| 5/12 | @ Brockway |