Curwensville Capitalizes on Errors to Win Second-Straight Game

FLINTON — Just one day earlier, Tom Harzinski saw his Curwensville Golden Tide break into the win column with the best outing from his team in the early season.  Double-digit runs, plus double-digit hits, and a complete game pitched by one individual gave the team a lot of momentum.  What made it more special is that everyone on the team contributed, both on offense and defense.

There was little time to savor the first win, as the team was ready to go after another.  It meant another road trip because the Glendale Vikings were awaiting their opportunity to take to the diamond under bright skies.

Curwensville did not have as many hits in the game, but in reality didn’t need them.

The Vikings kept the game close after one inning, but then had the game slip out of their hands, all at their own doing.  Four fielding errors along with walked batters brought in six unearned runs that allowed Curwensville to pull out to a big lead, and in the end capture the 13-2 victory in just five innings of work.

It did not take long for Curwensville to get on the board, but Glendale provided the easy way of doing so.  With a runner already on third, Jarod Schultz had a pitch get away from the catcher, and immediately went to cover the plate hoping to prevent any damage.  However, it was too late because the Tide suddenly had the 1-0 lead.

However, the Vikings answered back in a major way in the bottom half of the inning.

With one runner on, Ethan Garcia stepped to the plate to face off with R.J. Olson, who got the starting nod on this day.  It was a bad first outing against Garcia.  The junior’s bat connected on an inside pitch, and it sailed far.  It headed to the fence, and over it went.  The first home run of the season given up by Curwensville saw them go down 2-1 at the end of one inning.

Unfortunately for the Vikings, that would be their highlight of the afternoon.  Curwensville turned on the heat in the second inning, but did so because of Glendale miscues.

It began with a fielding error from Luke Mulhollen that saw both Austin Lansberry and Austin Butlin come home, putting Curwensville back on top 3-2.  At that point, Schultz began seeing trouble.  He would load the bases as Noah VonGunden, Noah Strickland and Garrett Shaw were on the bags.  Jake Terry was at the plate, but Schultz would not get the ball in the strike zone enough, and his walk brought in the third run of the inning.

Schultz only lasted two and two-third’s innings with his four-run stint, despite giving up no hits, and earned the loss.

On the opposite side, after two solid innings of work, Harzinski moved positions around and in came Strickland to pitch.  He did so brilliantly, pitching the final three innings and giving up no hits, no runs, and striking out three to give him the win.

Curwensville’s offense continued in the third, as three more runs would come in, leading off with Austin Lansberry’s RBI-single to bring in Hunter Lancaster.

The other Austin, Butlin, brought home the lone run in the fourth inning with his RBI-single, but the fifth inning is when Curwensville would put an early end to the afternoon.  After Butlin drilled his second RBI-single to make the lead 9-2, a fielding error from Austin Hammerle would bring Garrett Shaw and Terry  in to score.  Then, Zach McClure nailed a strong RBI-double that brought in Bryce Timko, ensuring that unless Glendale scored in the bottom half of the inning, it was two wins in two days for Curwensville.  The Tide added in one more insurance run on the final fielding error of the game, another by Hammerle.

Strickland closed out the game with strong pitching in the fifth, and the umpires would call the game at that point due to the 10-run Mercy Rule.

Curwensville (2-3) has the chance to get to the .500-mark next week, and with nearly a full slate of games the team will be busy.  Monday is the final game of the four-game road trip as the Tide travel to face Harmony.  On Tuesday they return home to host DuBois Central Catholic.  Thursday the Tide then hit the road again to face Brockway, then travel to Johnsonburg on Friday as the make-up game for the rain out on April 4.

All games next week are scheduled for a 4:15 p.m. first-pitch.

SCORE BY INNING

Curwensville  133 15 – 13 7 1
Glendale  200 00 – 2 3 4

Curwensville – 13

Strickland 3100, Shaw 1101, Terry 2112, Timko 4102, Lancaster 3210, Olson 1210, McClure 2011, Lansberry 3311, Butlin 3122, VonGunden 2100, Farley 1000.  TOTALS 25 13 7 9.

Glendale – 2

Okada 3000, Hammerde 3120, Garcia 2112, Schultz 2000, Blake 2000, Mulhollen 2000, Sinclair 2000, Johnson 2000, Kasaback 1000.  TOTALS 19 2 3 2.

ERRORS:  Terry; Okada, Hammerde (2), Mulhollen.  LOB:  CV-9, GL-3.  2B-McClure.  HR-Garcia.  FC-VonGunden, Farley.  HBP-Shaw.  SB-Strickland, Olson, Lansberry. WP – Shultz (2), Blake.

Pitching

Curwensville:  Olson-2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 K, 0 BB; Strickland-3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 K, 1 BB.
Glendale:  Schultz-2 IP, 0 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 2 K, 6 BB; Blake-2.1 IP, 6 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 4 K, 5 BB; Yeckley-0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 K, 0 BB.

W-Strickland
L-Shultz

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