The 2018 season for the Curwensville Golden Tide baseball squad had a little different way of starting than many are used to. Rather than take on a familiar foe at the Curwensville High School, or a short road trip to a nearby location, this year the road trip began on a Wednesday morning. But, the first game of the season was not until Friday.
So why exactly would such a road trip begin two days ahead of the season?
The reason being the Tide were starting the 2018 season with a special invite to compete in South Carolina against a pair of teams from out of the county, including one out of state team.
Friday’s game would be against Broadalbin Perth High School, out of New York, and the team from the Empire State gave everything they had against a very strong Curwensville squad. It took one extra inning to decide the opener of the Tide’s season, but unfortunately they were the ones who faltered in the end of a 2-1 final.
Broadalbin Perth got the scoring going in the bottom of the second inning when Justin Hertin hit an RBI-single deep in to center field to put the designated home team ahead.
Curwensville pulled even in the top of the fourth inning when Jake McCracken singled to right field to bring in Bryce Timko.
Once the score evened up, it was a pitching duel between Timko, who made his first start of his senior year one to remember. After a stellar season a year ago, the lefty ace for the Tide started the season with a seven-inning performance where he gave up only eight hits and the lone earned run in the second inning. His strong start only saw four walks, but included eight strikeouts, all but one of them swinging.
Brodryk Benton was the opposition on the mound for Broadbalbin Perth, who pitched an eight-inning performance almost mirroring what Timko did, allowing one earned run on eight hits, with five strikeouts. Benton’s effort came in a winning effort as he held the Tide in check in the top of the eighth, only yielding a single to Avery Francisco but watched Noah VonGunden, Josh Terry and Timko each fly out.
VonGunden took over on the mound in the final inning as Timko had surpassed the 100-pitch mark, meaning he won’t be available to start for seven days. His time at the mound was fast, and costly.
It started out well as Benton flew out to left field, but then Jack Szumowski walked to first, putting the tying run in position. Alex Gardner then singled to center field. VonGunden suddenly found himself in a major jam when Jack Marsden reached first on an error, loading up the bases.
Jake Galarneau would have the easiest time of all as VonGunden walked him on four pitches, bringing in Szumowski for the walk-off, literally, victory, and handing VonGunden the loss.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 000 100 00 – 1 8 1
Broadalbin Perth 010 000 01 – 2 9 0
Curwensville – 1
VonGunden SS/P 4010, Terry CF 4010, Francisco C 3020, Timko P/LF 4130, McCracken LF/CF 3011, Evans 2B 3000, Heitsenrether DH 3000, Brewer 1B 3000, Bakaysa RF 3000. TOTALS 30 1 8 1.
Broadalbin Perth – 2
Hinderliter LF 4000, Myers SS 4020, Benton P 4020, Szumowski 1B 3110, Gardner CF 4120, Marsden 3B 3000, Galarneau C 2001, Hertin RF 2011, Lipp DH 2010. TOTALS 28 2 9 2.
LOB- Cville-6; Broadalbin Pert – 7; 2B-Benton; 3B-Timko; SB-Gardner; CS-McCracken, VonGunden/Szumowski
PITCHING
Curwensville: Timko-7 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 SO, 4 BB; VonGunden-0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB.
Broadalbin Perth: Benton-8 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 SO, 1 BB.
WP-Benton (1-0); LP-VonGunden (0-1)
Cruwensville had little time to regroup and come back for the next game on their South Carolina trip as come Saturday, they had another game on the diamond, this time against Friends Select, who made the trip out of Philadelphia to compete.
This time, the Tide found their stride early when at the plate, and on defense they could not do wrong as they held on to get their first win of the season in a 9-2 triumph.
Friends Select did not do themselves any favors as the team committed seven errors in the contest, putting them in a hole they could not escape.
They did, however, get on the board first in the top of the first inning thanks to a wild pitch by Noah VonGunden, bringing Jacob Taranta to home plate. But, a pair of strikeouts after the wild pitch ended the inning.
Curwensville then took the lead in the bottom of the third. Following two ground outs, Avery Francisco hammered a double into deep right field, then advanced home on the first error of the game. Bryce Timko then scored on an RBI-single by Josh McCracken, making the score 2-1, ultimately the lone lead change of the game.
Friends Select pulled even in the top of the fourth inning on an RBI-single.
VonGunden then had a lights-out performance on the mound, going 5.2 innings and striking out eight while only giving up one hit in his winning performance.
Losing pitcher Adrian Dougherty, however, did not have as great a time. He only went four innings, but started the fifth inning, and that was the one that was the disaster for the team out of Philadelphia.
Christian Bakaysa started things off with a single into left field, and moved to third when VonGunden reached base on an error. He came home on an RBI-single by Terry to make the score 3-1. Francisco then turned up the heat with his second double of the night to nearly the same location in right field, plating both VonGunden and Terry, giving Curwensville a four-run advantage. A ground out by Bryce Timko put Francisco to third, and he would scoot home when McCracken reached on an error.
At that point, Dougherty was relieved of his duties after giving up six runs.
Curwensville added one more run in the inning when McCracken came home on an error. A ground out and a strikeout ended the inning, but not before the 7-2 gap was established.
VonGunden was relieved with one out remaining in the fifth inning by McCracken, who held on by pitching a shut out in his relief appearance.
The Tide added the final pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, each unearned, to make the final score 9-2, and giving Curwensville its first win of the season.
Curwensville (1-1) will find itself in more familiar surroundings, and will be facing a familiar foe, as they begin league play on Tuesday afternoon as they will host the Brockway Rovers at the Curwensville High School. First pitch is set for 4:15 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Friends Select 100 100 0 – 2 1 7
Curwensville 002 052 X – 9 8 1
Friends Select – 2
Ja. Taranta 3100, Burt 3000 ,Gontowski 1000, Widdicombe 2000, Mohr 2100, Dougherty 3000, Semel 3011, Kane 2000, Hurwitz 0000, Eckert 2000, Jo. Taranta 1000. TOTALS 22 2 1 1.
Curwensville – 9
VonGunden 3200, Terry 3111, Francisco 4224, Timko 3100, McCracken 4111, Evans 3000, Stiles 1000, Heitsenrether 3010, Brewer 3010, Bakaysa 3220. TOTALS 30 9 8 6.
LOB- Friends Select – 4; Cville – 6
E-Ja. Taranta (2), Burt (2), Dougherty, Eckert (2)/Evans; 2B-Brewer, Francisco (2); SAC-Terry; SB-Ja. Taranta, Gontowski/Francisco, McCracken, Terry, Timko
PITCHING
Friends Select: Dougherty-4 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 2 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB; Semel-2 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 3 SO, 2 BB.
Curwensville: VonGunden-5.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 8 SO, 6 BB; McCracken-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB; Terry-0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB.
WP-VonGunden (1-1). LP-Dougherty