CURWENSVILLE — In the early morning, the weather did not seem to scream the concept “boys of summer” as the skies were filled with clouds, and rain was falling. It appeared the new baseball season for the Curwensville Golden Tide may wait another day to begin. Yet, the skies lightened as the hours passed, and the sun broke through the clouds.
It became perfect baseball weather on a Friday afternoon to begin the 2017 season. The Tide took to the field right down from the Curwensville high school, welcoming in the same team they traveled to a season ago to start the 2016 campaign, the Mounties of Philipsburg-Osceola.
Batting practice concluded, the line-up cards were exchanged, the umpires cleaned off home plate, and it was time to hear those two words that parents and players love to hear…play ball.
After one inning, neither team seemed to have an advantage. One inning later, it all fell apart for one team.
The P-O bats got active in the second inning, scoring 75 percent of their runs in the top half, many coming with just one out on the board. That was more than enough for the Mounties to hold on, cruising to an 8-2 triumph over the Tide.
Starting pitcher for Curwensville, Noah Vongunden, saw his game end early. After throwing 20 pitches in the first inning, including a pair of strikeouts, the second inning saw 44 more pitches on the counter. The Mounties saw their entire line-up come to the plate, starting with Brandon Kephart. He and Keegan Soltis both drew walks to put runners on first and second. Third baseman Landon McDonald came to the plate next, and took a 1-0 pitch to deep left field, almost along the base line. That double brought both Kephart and Soltis to the plate, giving the Mounties the 2-0 advantage.
Hunter Ammerman drew a fielder’s choice to put the first out on the board, but it moved McDonald to third. Logan Williamson was then hit by a 1-1 pitch, putting runners on the corners. Micah Martin then walked to load the bases, and Josh Earnest made Vongunden pay. Another 1-1 pitch found a gap into right-center, bringing home McDonald and Williamson.
Martin then came home on an RBI-single by Gage Coudriet, and Earnest scored on a groundout by Kephart, putting the gap at 6-0. Soltis tried to bring Trey Shaw home with two outs on the board, but a grounder to shortstop Avery Francisco was picked up and thrown to first for the final out.
After the second inning, Vongunden’s day on the mound concluded. His two innings of work garnered him the loss for the game.
On the opposite side of the dugout, the Mounties made sure the lead stuck like glue. Starting pitcher Cam Domblisky made it challenging for the Tide to not just get on the scoreboard, but even on base. He pitched four shutout innings, yielding only one hit, but his right arm also threw 10 strikeouts, six of them looking.
His efforts earned him the first win of the season.
In relief, Coudriet came in from his first-base position, and also pitched a strong effort. In the fifth and sixth innings, Coudriet only saw six batters, and threw two strikeouts.
In the seventh inning, Curwensville sent Bryce Timko to the mound to finish out the game. Following one walk, Timko forced two fly outs, and a called strikeout to move into the bottom half of the inning. Timko’s turn at the plate came after Francisco hammered a single into center field, then Martin mishandled the ball, allowing an extra base for Francisco and a runner in scoring position. Timko then hammered a 1-1 pitch into left field, and that ball was mishandled, allowing Francisco to make it home for the first Tide run of the season.
Timko moved to second on the error, and then Austin Butlin walked to put runners on first and second. Two batters later, Jeremiah Farley forced a second out due to a fielder’s choice, but it brought Timko around the diamond for the second run.
With Farley on first, Ralph Evans took a shot at the first pitch he saw, and flew out to center for the final out of the game.
Curwensville (0-1) does not have long to recoup from the loss, as they are on the road Monday to face the Rovers of Brockway, first pitch slated for 4:15 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Philipsburg-Osceola 060 011 0 – 8 6 3
Curwensville 000 000 2 – 2 4 2
Philipsburg-Osceola – 8
Logan Williamson SS 3110, Micah Martin CF 4111, Josh Earnest 2B 4112, Trey Shaw C 2000, Gage Coudriet 1B/P 4112, Brandon Kephart LF 2100, Keggan Soltis DH 3101, Domblisky P 0000, Landon McDonald 3B 3111, Michael Askey RF 1000, Logan Moore PH/1B 0000, Hunter Ammerman RF 3111, Bubba Slogosky PH/RF 0000. TOTALS 29 8 6 8.
Curwensville – 2
Noah VonGunden R/SS 3000, Josh Terry CF 3000, Avery Francisco SS/P/LF 3100, Bryce Timko LF/P 3130, Austin Butlin C 2001, Zach McClure 1B 3000, Jeremiah Farley 2001, Zach Brewer PH 1000, Ralph Evans 2B 2010, Kunkle 3B 1000, Christian Bakaysa RF 1000, Matt Carter PH 1000. TOTALS 25 2 4 2.
E: Evans, Martin, Kephart; Francisco (2). LOB: PO-10 CV-3. 2B: McDonald. 3B-Williamson. HBP-Williamson (2), Earnest. SB-Williamson, Martin, Ammerman.
PITCHING
P-O: Domblisky-4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 10 K, 0 BB; Coudriet-3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 K, 1 BB.
Curwensville: VonGunden-2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 K, 4 BB; Francisco-4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 K, 1 BB; Timko-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K 1 BB.
W-Domblisky (1-0)
L-Vongunden (0-1)
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 3/24 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 2 – 8 | 0 – 1 |
| 3/27 | @ Brockway | ||
| 3/31 | @ Punxsutawney | ||
| 4/03 | ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC | ||
| 4/05 | JOHNSONBURG | ||
| 4/07 | WEST BRANCH | ||
| 4/11 | @ Clearfield | ||
| 4/13 | @ Johnsonburg | ||
| 4/18 | @ Mo Valley | ||
| 4/21 | @ DuBois Central Catholic | ||
| 4/24 | KANE | ||
| 4/25 | BROCKWAY | ||
| 4/27 | HARMONY | ||
| 5/02 | @ Elk County Catholic | ||
| 5/04 | @ Brookville | ||
| 5/05 | GLENDALE | ||
| 5/09 | CLEARFIELD | ||
| 5/11 | @ Kane | ||
| 5/15 | PUNXSUTAWNEY | ||
| 5/17 | DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH |