Early Runs Hold as Curwensville Falls to DuBois Central Catholic

DUBOIS — On a day where the weather was unpredictable, seeing overcast skies, then sun, and even heavy rain, the question of whether a game on the baseball diamond was to be played still wasn’t answered.  Despite a heavy storm passing right through DuBois in the late afternoon, the Curwensville Golden Tide and the DuBois Central Catholic Cardinals took to the field.  The game, luckily, was to be a late start, and the weather cleared out to let the teams go to work.

In the end, the host Cardinals cleaned up early in the contest and cruised to the 7-3 victory.

It would be a tough outing for the Tide when on defense.  Noah VonGunden was given the start on the hill Thursday, and it was an evening he and his Curwensville teammates would rather forget.  His night would only last one and two-thirds innings, thanks in part to giving up four hits and two walks.

The first inning was the beginning of the end for the Tide.  After an initial run on an error by Avery Francisco, and with one runner remaining on base, Ty Bittner came to the plate.  He would connect for the Cardinals, and connected in a big way.  The ball hit the sweet spot on the bat, and into the sky the ball went, over the fence and handing Bittner a two-run home run to increase the lead to 3-0.

Things only got worse for the Tide in the second, as following a sacrifice fly from Nick Szczerba, Bittner tried to go for an encore.  This time, his hit was only for a single, but in doing so he cleared the bases by bringing in the brothers Miknis of Justin and Jake.

When VonGunden was pulled from the mound and Francisco brought in, the 6-0 lead was seemingly already too much to overcome.  VonGunden was tagged with the loss.

On the opposite side, the Cardinals were having a strong game on the mound.  Jake Miknis would pitch three no-hit innings, along with six strikeouts. Relief pitcher Dom Torretti pitched the final four innings, allowing only one earned run, to pick up the win.

Curwensville cut the lead in half at the top of the sixth.  An RBI-double from Hunter Lancaster, then an RBI-single by R.J. Olson set forth the possible comeback. An error plated the Tide’s final tally.

A final insurance run in the bottom half of the inning ensured the Cardinals the victory.

At 6-11, the Tide still have some playoff hopes.  Next week is the final week of the regular season, and there is a three-game slate on the schedule.  Monday, the Tide are on the road to face Elk County Catholic, then play their final home game on Tuesday when they host Brockway.  The season finale is set for Thursday on the road at Clearfield.

SCORE BY INNING

Curwensville  000 003 0 – 3 4 2
D.C. Catholic  330 001 X – 7 8 3

Curwensville – 3

Strickland 4010, VonGunden 4000, Timko 2110, Terry 3100, Lancaster 3111, Olson 3011, Butlin 3000, Francisco 2000, Shaw 1000, McClure 1000.  TOTALS 26 3 4 2.

Dubois Central Catholic – 7

Ju. Miknis 3100, Frank 4021, Ja. Miknis 1210, Torretti 2000, Bitner 2124, Grecco 3110, Walker 3000, Cogley 3000, Szczerba 2110, Misiewicz 2111.  TOTALS 25 7 8 6.

E:  Timko, Francisco; Szczerba (2), Cogley.  LOB:  CV-7, DCC-5.  2B:  Lancaster; Frank, Grecco, Szczerba.  3B:  Miknis.  HR:  Bittner.  SF-Misiewicz.  HBP:  Francisco.  SB:  Ju. Miknis, Ja. Miknis.  CS:  Szczerba.

Pitching

Curwensville:  VonGunden-1.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 K, 2 BB; Francisco-2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 1 BB; Olson-2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 K, 1 BB.
Dubois Central Catholic:  Ja. Miknis-3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 K, 1 BB; Torretti-4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 K, 2 BB.

W: Torretti. L:  VonGunden.

Golden Tide Scoreboard: