CURWENSVILE — After again being forced to wait even longer to get back on the diamond due to the cold and wet weather that has plagued the area, finally the Curwensville Golden Tide were able to get on the field and actually play some baseball on a chilly Tuesday afternoon.
Ironically, the game was a make-up contest originally slated for this past Thursday against the Elk County Catholic Crusaders, but this time the chill did not stop the two sides from taking to the field.
Despite the long wait between contests, Curwensville has begun the season strong, having won their last pair of games in strong fashion thanks to timely hitting and some strong performances on the mound. On this afternoon, it was the offense that scored the runs, but the defense that kept them in the hunt and allowed them to hold on to make it a streak of three thanks to a 5-3 triumph over the Crusaders.
It was Elk County Catholic getting on the board first in the third inning. Brennan Klawnun led off with a walk, then advanced to second and third thanks to stolen bases. A sacrifice fly by starting pitcher Hunter Cashmer brought Klawnun in for the first run of the afternoon. Alec Wehler made it to first due to a fielding error by Christian Bakaysa, and two batters later it was Dan Wimer who pulled in the RBI-single to plate Wehler after he stole second during the at-bat. After the top of the third, Elk County Catholic held the early advantage.
Curwensville made sure that advantage didn’t last, as the bottom half of the frame was their answer.
That answer came thanks to Avery Francisco. With runners on first and second, the starting catcher blasted a 1-1 pitch to deep center field, and it was plenty deep enough for Noah VonGunden and Josh Terry to round the bases to pull the score even with just one out on the board.
The next batter, Bryce Timko decided to play the same song, but a second verse. On yet another 1-1 pitch, this time the ball went to right-center field, and brought Francisco to the plate to give the Tide the lead, one they would not yield.
VonGunden then went to work over the next three innings to hold the Crusaders scoreless. He finished the afternoon with just three strikeouts, but the defense allowed him to earn the win on this afternoon, his second of the season.
On the opposite side, Cashmer’s struggles in the third carried over into the fourth as he gave up an RBI-single to VonGunden to make the score 4-2, giving Curwensville a bit of a gap to work with in the later innings. After the fourth, Cashmer was pulled and the Crusaders made personnel shifts, bringing Will Uberti to the mound, then shifting Cashmer to right field, Ryan Fritz shifted to center, and Taylor Boland moved to left field.
Uberti stayed in through the sixth inning, giving up one earned run thanks to an RBI-single by Timko to bring Francisco to the plate and giving Curwensville the three-run advantage heading into the final inning.
VonGunden stayed on the mound, and started strong as he had Bryce O’Leary fly out to right, then Fritz was called out on a fielder’s choice which left Klawnun on first. He would advance to third on a single by Cashmer, and then come home on an error by Terry. One batter later, Wehler advanced to first on an error by Francisco, but in his haste Cashmer tried to score from third. Unfortunately for him, he was not quick enough and was tagged out to close out the game.
Curwensville (3-1) now has a rare double-header slated for Saturday at the Curwensville High School. Due to the weather on Monday, the Tide’s game at Johnsonburg was moved to be played on Saturday since the two squads already had a game scheduled. The first game, with Curwensville as the designated home team, will begin at 11 a.m. The second half of the double-header is slated to begin at approximately 2:30 p.m. The second game is considered the make-up from Monday.
SCORE BY INNING
Elk Co. Catholic 002 000 1 – 3 6 4
Curwensville 003 101 X – 5 8 3
Elk County Catholic – 3
Cashmer P/RF 4010, Wehler SS 4110, Boland RF/LF 3000, Wimer 3B 3032, Scneider 1B 1000, Tylor PH 1000, Uberti CF/P 3010, O’Leary 2B 3000, Fritz LF/CF 2000, Klawnun C 2100, Jordan PR 0100. TOTALS 26 3 6 2.
Curwensville – 5
VonGunden P 4111, Terry SS 3110, Francisco C 3222, Timko 1B 4022, McCracken CF 4000, Brewer DH 3000, Bressler PR 0000, Evans 2B 1110, Heitsenrether RF 2000, Bakaysa LF 3000. TOTALS 27 5 8 5.
LOB: ECC – 5, Cville – 9
E: Cashmer (2), Boland, O’Leary/Bakaysa, Terry (2). 2B: Wimer/Francisco, Timko. SAC: Heitsenrether.
SB: Wehler, Jordan (2)/Francisco, Terry, Timko, VonGunden
CS: Wimer/Evans
PITCHING
Elk Co. Catholic: Cashmer-4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB; Uberti-2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 SO, 1 BB.
Curwensville: VonGunden-7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB.
WP-VonGunden (2-1). LP-Cashmer (0-3)
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
3/23 @ Broadalbin-Perth, NY 1 – 2, 8 inn. 0 – 1
3/24 @ Friends Select School, PA 9 – 2 1 – 1
3/27 BROCKWAY ppd. 1 – 1
3/29 @ Punxsutawney ppd. 1 – 1
4/05 @ Elk County Catholic ppd. 1 – 1
4/06 @ West Branch 3 – 0 2 – 1
4/09 @ Johnsonburg ppd. 2 – 1
4/10 ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 5 – 3 3 – 1
4/14 JOHNSONBURG
4/14 JOHNSONBURG
4/16 @ Glendale
4/17 @ Kane
4/19 DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH
4/20 PUNXSUTAWNEY
4/23 CLEARFIELD
4/24 @ Brockway
4/26 MO VALLEY
4/30 BROCKWAY
5/01 @ Elk County Catholic
5/07 @ Harmony
5/10 KANE
5/15 @ Clearfield
5/16 @ DuBois Central Catholic