BROOKVILLE — It’s hard enough to play back-to-back games on consecutive days for any baseball team, but trying to play three in a span of two days is an even harder challenge at the high school level. The Curwensville Golden Tide did just that, starting with a double-header on Monday against Punxsutawney.
Tuesday afternoon, the Tide made the long trip on I-80 in order to face off with the Brookville Raiders.
The trip, however, was not pleasant once there, nor pleasant on the way home. The Raiders were able to plate runners in every inning, while blasting more than twice the hits put up by Curwensville, to gain the 14-3 victory in five innings.
Curwensville, however, was the first on the scoreboard. Noah VonGunden was batted in thanks to walks to Ralph Evans, Avery Francisco and Bryce Timko, giving Curwensville the early 1-0 lead.
That lead quickly evaporated in the second inning when the Raiders began putting the hits, and runs, on the board. Bryan Dworek, Seth Dunkle and Logan Byerly all managed to get home on RBI-hits, quickly giving the Raiders the lead.
Curwensville decided to start with their ace on the mound, Bryce Timko. After giving up three runs and four hits, along with the fact the Tide coaching staff wanted to keep him fresh for the final game of the season, he was pulled after just one inning of work. Unfortunately for him, on this day he was tagged with the loss.
After yielding the opening run, Brookville’s Aaron Park began settling in, and finding his rhythm on the mound. He would go the entire game, giving up just five hits while striking out three.
Brookville continued the momentum in the second inning, plating another three runs, and then a pair in the third to make the score 8-1.
The bottom of the fourth inning ultimately put the final lid on the contest. All season, Curwensville head coach Tom Harzinski said the one Achilles heel for his team is having one bad inning, where nothing seems to go right. This time, a six-run inning that included an RBI-double by Trenton Gilhousen and an RBI-triple by Ben Caun allowed the run gap to increase to the point where the mercy rule was called by the umpires.
The final eight runs were given up by relief pitcher Broc Heitsenrether, six of them earned. He came in during the second inning after Zach McClure gave up three runs with no outs.
Curwensville was able to add in a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning when Josh Terry and Jeremy Irwin both came to the plate.
One game remains for the Tide (6-13) on the season, that coming Wednesday afternoon for Senior Night at the Curwensville High School against DuBois Central Catholic. First pitch is set for 4:15 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 100 02 – 3 5 3
Brookville 332 6X – 14 13 0
Curwensville – 3
Noah VonGunden 2110, Jeremy Irwin 0100, Ralph Evans 2001, Avery Francisco 3011, Bryce Timko 2021, Zach McClure 3000, Zach Brewer 1000, Broc Heitsenrether 1000, Christian Bakaysa 1000, Matt Carter 1000, Austin Butlin 1000, Devin Barrett 1000, Josh Terry 2110. TOTALS 20 3 5 3.
Brookville – 14
Bryan Dworek 3201, Seth Dunkle 2132, Evan Shields 1000, Tanner LeBenne 3001, Logan Byerly 1011, Aaron Park 3032, Adam Mackins 0200, Ben Reitz 4222, Ben Caun 2112, Dane Lyle 0000, Tyler Park 3111, Trenton Gilhousen 2210, Cole Lebenne 1111, Brady Caylor 2211. TOTALS 27 14 13 14.
E: Bakaysa, Farley, Francisco. LOB: 5/6. ROE: Gilhousen Caylor. 2B: Gilhousen. 3B: Caun. HBP: Dworek, Park, Caun. SB: Dunkle, Caylor.
PITCHING
Curwensville: Timko-1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 K, 0 BB; McClure-0 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 K, 2 BB; Heitsenrether-3 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 2 K, 0 BB.
Brookville: Park-5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 K, 3 BB.
WP-Park. LP-Timko.
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 | 3 – 14 | 6 – 13 |
| 5/17 | DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH |