CURWENSVILLE – The West Branch Lady Warriors softball team dealt Curwensville its first loss of the season on Monday afternoon in a slugfest, 16-9, on the Tide’s home field.
Curwensville killed any chance of winning due to the fact that the Lady Tide defense was, for the most part, missing in action, by committing eight errors.
Curwensville head coach Allen Leigey summed up the lack of defense, saying, “We really need to clean up our defense after this one. They weren’t all tough plays out there today. Those were plays that we normally make on a routine basis.”
Let’s not forget, however, that West Branch starting pitcher Rachel Myers struck out 16 Lady Tide on the way to picking up the win.
The Lady Warriors were in total control after 3 1/2 innings, comfortably ahead 8-1, when the Tide mounted a comeback.
Curwensville picked up six runs in the bottom half of the fourth to rally to within one, 8-7, with still time to pick up the win.
West Branch quickly dashed the Lady Tide’s spirit, scoring three in the top of the sixth inning and then putting the game on ice with five more in the top half of the seventh.
The Lady Tide added two more runs in their final at bat in the bottom of the seventh.
Leigey talked about the comeback in the fourth and how well his squad hit Myers, commenting, “We did make a nice effort in the fourth, scoring six runs to make it close at that time, 8-7. And I was pleased with how well we hit today against a pitcher like Myers who throws really hard. Even though she struck out 16, I still thought we made good contact in a lot of our at bats. How we hit today is how we need to hit all season long.”
The offense for Curwensville was paced by pitcher Rylee Young with three hits and three RBI’s. Kayley Harnett, Nikki Harker, Hannah Dixon and Teghan Jacobson helped out with two hits each.
Young had two doubles for Curwensville, while catcher Alaina Stiles and Harnett also smacked a two bagger.
The Lady Warriors got three hits from center fielder Skylar Ceprish, and first baseman Alaina Speigle, and two each from Myers, Morgan Rackish and Lizzy Scott.
Hitting doubles for West Branch were Myers with two and Jess Milliron and Rackish with one.
The Lady Tide (3-1) are again at home on Tuesday when they host DuBois Central Catholic at 4:15 pm.
West Branch, also 3-1, will return to action on Tuesday, hosting Juniata Valley at 4:30 pm.
WEST BRANCH – 16
Jess Milliron ss 5210, Skylar Ceprish cf 5432, Rachel Myers p 5521, Morgan Rackish 3b 5122, Lizzy Scott 2b 5221, Alaina Speigle 1b 4132, Stasia Laterzo c 5110, Kayleigh MacTavish lf 5000, Dani Zelenky rf 5000, TOTALS – 44 16 14 8.
CURWENSVILLE – 9
Kayley Harnett, 2b 4122, Rylee Young p 4133, Alaina Stiles c 4012, Megan McCartney lf 3000, Dominique Newkirk pr 0100, Nikki Harker 1b 4220, Hannah Dixon ss 4220, Camryn Richards rf 2000, Morgan Ross ph 1000, Teghan Jacobson dp 4222, Jordan Round 3b 3000, Kayli Sedgwick ph 1000, Madison Bumbarger flex/cf 0000, TOTALS – 34 9 12 9.
SCORE BY INNINGS R H E
WEST BRANCH 401 303 5 – 16 14 1
CURWENSVILLE 001 600 2 – 9 12 8
ERRORS – Ceprish, Dixon 3, Harnett 2, Rounds 2; Richards. LOB – WEST BRANCH – 10; CURWENSVILLE – 7. 2B – Milliron, Myers 2, Rackish; Harnett, Young 2, Stiles. SB – Ceprish, Scott.
PITCHING
WEST BRANCH
Myers 7 IP, 14 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 2 BB, 16 K
CURWENSVILLE
Young 7 IP, 12 H, 16 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
WP – Myers. LP – Young (3-1)
UMPIRES: Denny Koppenhaver, Tom Link
Lady Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/24 | BROOKVILLE | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 3/31 | @ Johnsonburg | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 4/01 | ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 4/06 | HARMONY | 6 – 0 | 1 – 0 |
| 4/08 | SHEFFIELD (DH) | ppd. | 1 – 0 |
| 4/09 | SHEFFIELD | 15 – 0 | 2 – 0 |
| 4/09 | SHEFFIELD | 14 – 5 | 3 – 0 |
| 4/10 | KANE | ppd. | 3 – 0 |
| 4/13 | WEST BRANCH | 9 – 16 | 3 – 1 |
| 4/14 | DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH. | ||
| 4/16 | @ Brockway | ||
| 4/17 | BROOKVILLE | ||
| 4/20 | @ Clearfield | ||
| 4/22 | @ Johnsonburg | ||
| 4/23 | ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC | ||
| 4/24 | MO VALLEY | ||
| 4/27 | @ Purchase Line | ||
| 4/28 | @ Elk County Catholic | ||
| 5/01 | @ Glendale | ||
| 5/04 | PURCHASE LINE | ||
| 5/05 | @ Kane | ||
| 5/07 | @ DuBois Central Catholic | ||
| 5/08 | JOHNSONBURG | ||
| 5/12 | BROCKWAY |