Golden Tide Rally Falls Flat Late in Loss to Moshannon Valley

CURWENSVILLE — After spending most of the previous two weeks on the road, the Curwensville Golden Tide reached the stretch of their schedule where a majority of their games are played just down the hill at the high school.  Head coach Tom Harzinski was ready to get things going after Friday’s victory, but was looking across the diamond at a very determined Black Knight squad from Moshannon Valley.

Early in the contest, the two squads would duel hard and often, swapping the lead on three occasions.  However, a big fourth inning would make the difference.

The Black Knights took advantage at the plate by going through their entire line-up, and would bring home four runs enroute to the 8-6 victory.

For the visitors, Nick Kitko would take the mound, and it looked as though he would have a strong game, but in the later stages, things began slipping.  At one point, Curwensville found itself down five runs, but were seeing that Kitko was starting to get tired, and his pitches were not going where he intended.

R.J. Olson would start the game for Curwensville, but his first batter would only last one pitch.  A fastball to Jacob Matchock would sail to center field, putting a runner on right away.  Two batters later, Jon Dale would hit a ground ball to move him into second, after Nick’s brother, Alex, flew out to right for the first out.  Nick then took to the plate and connected on a 1-2 pitch that soared to deep center.  The base hit brought Matchock around for the opening run.  After another single by Jacob Ferlitch, Clayton Stewart would fly out to end the inning, but the opening lead would go to the Black Knights.

In the lower half of the inning, Curwensville would answer right back.  Noah Strickland singled to start the inning, then would steal second to put the Tide in scoring position.  After a strike out to Noah VonGunden, Jake Terry came to the plate and the first pitch would get away from Dale at the plate.  Strickland took the gamble and opted to steal third.

Dale’s pitch roared to third base where Owen Campbell waited, and he made the tag…it seemed.  The umpire called him safe, and gave Curwensville a chance to tie it up.

Terry would do that with a ground out to plate the tying run.

Curwensville then got the lead in the next inning.  With the bases loaded, Josh Terry hit into an out, but it was enough to bring Austin Lansberry to the plate, giving the Tide a slim 2-1 advantage.

Not one to be outdone, Moshannon Valley roared back in the top of the third.  A pair of singles by Alex Kitko and Dale put runners on first and second.  Nick Kitko helped his cause despite grounding out, putting the two runners on second and third.  That is when Ferlitch hit the game-changer.  A 2-1 throw by Olson connected, and connected well.  It would sail deep into center field, over the head of Strickland, and was more than enough for a two-RBI double to put the Black Knights ahead, and ultimately kept them ahead.

In the fourth inning, Olson would give up a single to Matt Marinel, and Harzinski then came out to make moves in the field.  Bryce Timko was brought off first to pitch, while Olson then moved to right field, and Zach McClure would move to first base.

The move suddenly became one of turmoil, as that inning spelled doom for Curwensville.

Timko would give up two singles, then misfire on a throw to first, and then walked a batter.  Marinel, Peyton Smith, Matchock, and Nick Kitko would all make it home with only one out.  Timko would give up a single and a walk before getting out of the inning, but not before seeing 10 batters and yielding five hits.  In his first inning of work, he threw 29 pitches, more than Olson had combined in his first two innings of work.

Moshannon Valley added their eighth run in the fifth inning on an RBI-single by Alex Kitko.

Despite that, Curwensville did not give in.  In the bottom of the sixth, the gap shrank to 8-3 thanks to an RBI-single by Josh Terry, so the Tide began feeling they had something going.  Harzinski rallied his team and kept them focused, saying, “Five runs.  We can get five runs.”

It almost did happen.

Jake Terry was walked on four straight pitches to open the last inning, and Curwensville could see that their opposition was considering pulling their pitcher.  Olson then connected on a deep 3-1 pitch to put runners on the corners.  Things then got interesting as Kitko tried to pick off Olson at first, but the pitch went awry.  Terry was able to take advantage, and came home to cut the gap in half.  Timko then connected to left-center, bringing Olson in.

A bit later, Timko would come across the plate, bringing the Tide to within two runs of tying the game.

At that point, Moshannon Valley decided it was time for a change, and Stewart would come in to try and close out the contest.  He got Lansberry to strike out swinging, then walked Lancaster.  A fielder’s choice from Francisco would account for the second out.  Then, Josh Terry would face a strike out, closing out the game and giving Nick Kitko the victory with six innings of work for the Black Knights.

Now at 4-6, Curwensville is back on their home diamond on Wednesday as they host Johnsonburg, whom they defeated this past Friday by a score of 9-3.  First pitch is at 4:15.

SCORE BY INNING

Mo Valley  102 410 0 – 8 12 4
Curwensville  110 001 3 – 6 7 2

Moshannon Valley – 8

Matchock 2B 4210, A. Kitko SS 4122, Dale C 3111, N. Kitko P 4121, Ferlitch 3B 4023, Stewart DH 4021, Campbell 1B 3000, Marinel CF 4110, Smith LF 3210.  TOTALS 32 8 12 8.

Curwensville – 6

Strickland CF 2110, VonGunden 2000, Shaw PH 2000, Ja. Terry SS 3101, Olson P 3110, Bakaysa PR 0000, Timko 1B 4231, Lansberry RF 2100, McClure PH 2000, Lancaster C 2010, Carter PR 0000, Francisco 3B 4001, Jo. Terry 4012.  TOTALS 30 6 7 5.

E:  A. Kitko, Ferlitch (2), Stewart; Strickland, VonGunden.  LOB:  MV-9 CV-9.  2B-Ferlich.  SAC-Matchock, Dale.  SB-A. Kitko, Smith; Strickland (2).  CS-A.Kitko.

Pitching

Mo Valley:  N. Kitko-6 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 3 K, 5 BB; Stewart-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 K, 1 BB.
Curwensville:  Olson-3 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 K, 1 BB; Timko-4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 K, 2 BB.

W-Kitko
L-Olson

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