Six-Run Fourth Inning Propels Elk County Catholic Past Curwensville

St. Marys — Back-to-back games are difficult enough for any team, but when trying to break out of a slide it is all the more challenging.  There’s no time to practice, or work on things that need to be adjusted.  That is what the Curwensville Golden Tide baseball team is in the midst of currently.

After falling Monday afternoon to St. Mary’s, the Tide had to hit the road to face off against the Elk County Catholic Crusaders on Tuesday, hoping to break out of the nine-game skid they’ve had since their season-opening victory.

Unfortunately, the Crusaders had other ideas.  A monster fourth inning would spell doom for the visitors as Elk County Catholic would cruise to the 11-1 victory in six innings.

Brad Dippold opened the scoring with a two-RBI single in the first, plating Mitchell Struble and Wehler.  Two innings later, a ground-out by Dan Singer would help bring in Stauffer.

Curwensville would get on the board at the top of the fourth when R.J. Olson brought in A.J. Bloom on an RBI-single.  But after that, things would go downhill.

Tide starting pitcher Noah Strickland held his own through the first three innings, but immediately after that, things went downhill.  After a ground out to open the fourth frame, Heary and Brennen would each score on a fielding error.  Seelyer would fly out for the second out of the inning.  After that, the bats would come out for the Crusaders.

Struble would single, then move to second on an error.  Wehler would plate two runs with a double, and then Singer would plate him in the same fashion.  A single by Dippold would bring in Singer.  Finally Zelinski would ground out to end the inning, but not after six runs would be added to the tally to make it a 9-1 game.

Strickland would not return in the fifth inning.  After giving up 10 hits and nine runs, he would be stuck with the loss.

On the opposite side, Struble was having an excellent time on the mound, pitching five flawless innings, and only giving up the one earned run and yielding only four hits in the victory.

The final two runs would be scored on a two-RBI single by Heary, making it 11-1.  With just two outs on the board, the 10-run rule went into effect and the game would come to a conclusion.

On Wednesday, Curwensville returns home to host Glendale with the first pitch slated for 4:15.

SCORE BY INNING

Curwensville  000 100 – 1 4 3
Elk County      201 602 – 11 13 1

Curwensville-1

Strickland 2000, Terry 3010, J.B. Stiles 3000, Bloom 3110, Lancaster 2000, Olson 2011, Timko 2000, Butlin 2000, Shaw 2010.  TOTALS 21 1 4 1.

E. C. Catholic-11

Struble 3110, Williams 1000, Stauffer 2310, Wehler 4342, Singer 3112, Dippold 3122, Zelinski 3000, Heary 4112, Brennen 3120, Seelyer 3010.  TOTALS 29 11 13 8.

Pitching

Curwensville:  Strickland-4 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO; Timko-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO; J. B. Stiles-0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO.
E. C. Catholic:  Struble-5 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO; Nason-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO.

WP-Struble. LP-Strickland.

Golden Tide Scoreboard: