PUNXSUTAWNEY — With little time left in the school year, and teams anxiously awaiting the playoffs to begin, the Curwensville Golden Tide knew the final week of the year was going to be critical, and difficult. Things were a challenge right away on Monday as Tom Harzinski and his team made the trip up to Punxsutawney for not one, but two games.
With each of the games against the Chucks postponed earlier this year, including the home game having been dealt two rain outs, it was decided to have the two teams play a double header in Punxsutawney to make up both contests.
In the end, both games went the way of the Chucks, as they completed the sweep with finals of 10-0, in five innings, and 7-3.
Game one did not get off to the start the Tide wanted. In the first inning, starting pitcher Avery Francisco yielded the first run of the game on a walk of Joey Dipietro, which scored Brandon Matthews.
The second inning, however, was the one that put the game out of reach quickly for Curwensville.
A fielding error by Josh Terry plated the first run. A two-RBI single by Issac Stouffer made the score 4-0, then Tyler Richardson put in another two-RBI single to increase the lead once again. With the lead already at 6-0, a pair of walks by Jacob Weaver and Caleb Smith ended the seven-run inning.
Starting pitcher Avery Francisco struggled, only lasting 1.2 innings, giving up eight runs, half being earned, striking out one and walking four in the loss for the Tide
Game one starter Stouffer kept his efforts to a minimum, going three innings and giving up just five hits to Curwensville, but yielding no runs.
Stouffer and Dipietro added in a pair of runs in the bottom of the third to put the mercy rule in effect for the first game, and Weaver came in to ensure the first game was kept a shut out.
GAME 1
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 000 00 – 0 6 2
Punxsutawney 172 0X – 10 10 0
Curwensville – 0
Noah VonGunden 3010, Ralph Evans 2000, Avery Francisco 3010, Bryce Timko 2000, Zach Brewer 2000, Zach McClure 2020, Austin Butlin 2000, Christian Bakaysa 2010, Josh Terry 2010. TOTALS 20 0 6 0.
Punxsutawney – 10
Brandon Matthews 4212, Lucas Burkett 4220, Issac Stouffer 3112, Joey Dipietro 1211, Logan Johnston 3010, Tyler Richardson 2111, Daren Byers 2121, Jacob Weaver 1001, Caleb Smith 2111. TOTALS 22 10 10 9.
E: McClure, Terry. LOB: 5/7. 2B: Francisco, McClure/Matthews. SAC: Weaver. ROE: Matthew. DP: Matthews. HBP: Dipietro, Stouffer. SB: Burkett (2), Smith.
PITCHING
Curwensville: Francisco-1.2 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 4 ER, 1 K, 4 BB; Butlin-2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 K, 1 BB.
Punxsutawney: Stouffer-3 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 K, 1 BB; Weaver-2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 K, 0 BB.
W-Stouffer. L-Francisco.
The second game had a little different feel, especially since despite it being a double header, the Chucks were considered the road team.
It also had a different feel as it took longer for the score to change. It wasn’t till the top of the third inning when Punxsutawney got on the board when Brandon Matthews came home. But, two innings later, the Chucks came out with another big inning to give themselves a cushion.
A walk to Matthews brought Richardson across home to make the score 2-0. A few batters later, Burkett hammered a single to bring in Caleb Smith. Logan Johnson and Richardson each managed to score in the inning to increase the lead to 5-0 with two innings remaining.
The top of the sixth inning saw Alec Greenblat and Weaver score to make it 7-0.
Curwensville managed to score its lone runs of the entire afternoon when Jeremy Irwin, Broc Heitsenrether and Josh Terry all managed to reach home on a fielder’s choice and a pair of fielding errors. Still, it was far too late to make up the gap.
Cuwensville (6-12) is back on the road Tuesday afternoon for a 4:15 p.m. start against Brookville.
GAME 2
SCORE BY INNING
Punxsutawney 001 042 0 – 7 9 4
Curwensville 000 000 3 – 3 6 1
Punxsutawney – 7
Brandon Matthews 5002, Lucas Burkett 4022, Issac Stouffer 5030, Joey Dipietro 3000, Logan Johnston 2110, Trevor Stouffer 2000, Tyler Richardson 4110, Alec Greenblat 0100, Daren Byers 3221, Dylan Ishman 1000, Jacob Weaver 0100, Caleb Smith 1101. TOTALS 30 7 9 6.
Curwensville – 3
Noah VonGunden 4000, Ralph Evans 4000, Avery Francisco 4010, Bryce Timko 4010, Zach McClure 4000, Zach Brewer 3010, Jeremy Irwin 0100, Austin Butlin 0000, Devin Barrett 0000, Matt Carter 1000, Broc Heitsenrether 1110, Christian Bakaysa 3000, Josh Terry 2120. TOTALS 30 3 6 0
E: Matthews, Burkett, Neil (2)/Farley. LOB: 15/8. HBP: Richardson, Dipietro, Smith SB: I. Stouffer, Weaver, Smith. CS: Neal.
PITCHING
Punxsutawney: Matthews-2.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 K, 1 BB; Richardson-4.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 2 K, 1 BB.
Curwensville: VonGunden-4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 K, 5 BB; Francisco-0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 K, 1 BB; Bakaysa-0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 K, 2 BB; McClure-2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 K, 1 BB.
W-Matthews. L-VonGunden.
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
3/24 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | 2 – 8 | 0 – 1 |
3/27 | @ Brockway | ppd. | 0 – 1 |
3/30 | @ Punxsutawney | ppd. | 0 – 1 |
4/03 | ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC | 2 – 6 | 0 – 2 |
4/05 | JOHNSONBURG | 5 – 8 | 0 – 3 |
4/07 | WEST BRANCH | ppd. | 0 – 3 |
4/10 | @ Brockway | 8 – 7 | 1 – 3 |
4/11 | @ Clearfield | 2 – 10 | 1 – 4 |
4/13 | @ Johnsonburg | 3 – 8 | 1 – 5 |
4/17 | WEST BRANCH | 7 – 2 | 2 – 5 |
4/18 | @ Mo Valley | 0 – 2 | 2 – 6 |
4/21 | @ DuBois Central Catholic | 0 – 10 | 2 – 7 |
4/24 | KANE | 16 – 6 | 3 – 7 |
4/25 | BROCKWAY | 11 – 13 | 3 – 8 |
4/27 | HARMONY | 6 – 0 | 4 – 8 |
5/01 | @ Punxsutawney | ppd. | 4 – 8 |
5/02 | @ Elk County Catholic | ppd. | 4 – 8 |
5/04 | @ Brookville | ppd. | 4 – 8 |
5/05 | GLENDALE | ppd. | 4 – 8 |
5/08 | @ Elk County Catholic | 3 – 6 | 4 – 9 |
5/09 | CLEARFIELD | 0 – 13 | 4 – 10 |
5/11 | @ Kane | 4 – 1 | 5 – 10 |
5/13 | GLENDALE | 7 – 2 | 6 – 10 |
5/15 | @ Punxsutawney | 0 – 10 | 6 – 11 |
5/15 | @ Pinxsutawney | 3 – 7 | 6 – 12 |
5/16 | @ Brookville | ||
5/17 | DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH |