KANE — Two days, 10 innings, and 35 runs. Those are the statistics that the Curwensville Golden Tide had achieved in their last two games. Both victories showcased that the bats of the team were waiting for the right moment to come out and showcase what they can do.
Riding that kind of momentum is enormous late in the season, and the Tide were ready to continue that ride as they made the trip to Kane for not one, but two, contests on Wednesday afternoon. Originally set to have back-to-back games in the course of two days, the schools agreed it would be more beneficial to have a double-header with games still slated for early next week.
Curwensville locked in their cleats and came out swinging, only to falter late in the evening.
The afternoon was both triumphant and heartbreaking for the Tide, as their night ended with them splitting the series with the Wolves in a 12-2 victory, followed by a 6-5 stunning loss.
After starting on Monday, Bryce Timko again got the nod to head onto the mound for the start in game one. His opposition, Robert Rumcik. Timko was looking to continue his undefeated season, while Rumcik hoped to get his first win on the season.
For Timko, just like on Monday, he was dealing like he was at the blackjack tables and every time coming up with the right hand. In just five innings, the length the game ultimately went, Timko faced just 16 batters. Of those at the plate, 13 of them went down on strikes. The only two runs he gave up came in the third inning, only one of which was earned.
Curwensville got on the board in the first thanks to an RBI-single by Avery Francisco. In the second inning, things fell the way of the Tide in a big way.
Six runs came across the plate in the inning. An RBI-single by Noah VonGunden got things started, then thanks to a sacrifice fly by Ralph Evans, Christian Bakaysa got to the plate to increase the lead to three runs. Francisco got his second RBI of the game with a single to left field, giving Josh Terry the easy run to home. Jake McCracken then gave VonGunden his first run of the game on a long RBI-single into left field.
With the score 5-0, the final two runs of the inning came on a fielding error and a wild pitch.
The Wolves got the two runs in the third to pull within five, but Curwensville added three in the fourth. An RBI-single by McCracken, a sacrifice fly from Zach Brewer, and an unearned run by McCracken on an error increased the lead to 10-2.
The game was called in the fifth inning thanks to the Mercy Rule when both Timko and McCracken belted in RBI-singles with zero outs on the board. When Timko came across the plate for the 12th run, umpires called the game done, and with one more game remaining, that allowed both teams to recoup and get set for game two.
Game two of the double header was a lot different than the first.
VonGunden got the nod in the second contest. The Wolves went with Austin Jordan on the mound. Both were having strong games through the first six innings.
Curwensville got on the board first when a ground out by Evans brought in VonGunden, as he reached base on a walk, then stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
The Wolves answered back in the third as Dominic Cartwright got the first run of the game in unearned fashion thanks to a fielding error by Curwensville. One inning later, Kane took the lead thanks to an RBI-double by Zach Duck.
Yet Curwensville was not going away, as in the top of the fourth, things evened back out when Timko reached home on a tag up that caught the home team off-guard.
The score remained 2-2 entering the final inning, and that is where things got exciting on both sides of the dugouts.
An RBI-single by VonGunden brought Terry home to give the Tide the lead. Two batters later, things went extremely into the Tide’s favor. After winning the pitching battle in game one, Timko stepped to the plate with VonGunden on third, staring at a 1-0 pitch. Just like the day before against Glendale, the senior connected, and went deep…very deep in fact. The ball soared over the wall between right and center field. Curwensville’s third home run of the season became the second in two days, this one accounting for two runs, giving the Tide a 5-2 lead entering the bottom of the seventh.
In the final inning, Farley took over pitching duties after a solid outing from VonGunden. His first batter, Caleb Holt, walked to first, then stole second to immediately put a runner in scoring position. Jake Alcorn then hammered a single into center field, bringing Holt to the plate and cutting the lead down to two runs. After Austin Eschrich struck out, Angelo Costanzo then singled just beyond the infield. Then a wild pitch advanced both Alcorn and Costanzo a base.
Austin Jordan then reached first base on an error, but that brought Alcorn in to score, cutting the lead to 5-4.
A wild pitch then brought Costanzo home, and suddenly the game was tied.
Ethan Anderson then came to bat following a walk of Duck. He hammered the 0-1 pitch into left field, where Bakaysa scooped it up and hurled the throw to home to rob Jordan of the winning run, and putting the second out on the board. Duck advanced to second, and Anderson stood on first.
Christopher Park came in as the pinch hitter, hoping to be the hero on this afternoon.
On the 0-1 pitch from Farley, Park connected to the gap between first and second. Duck saw the hit, and when it went through the infield, he sprinted. He touched third, and was motioned to make the run to make it home to beat the throw. He did just that, sliding into home plate, as Park got credit for the walk-off single to end the night on a great note for the Wolves, while also ending the night in a tough fashion for the Tide.
Curwensville (10-7) has two games next week to close out the regular season, one on the road, and one at home. The road contest comes on Tuesday as they make the short trip up the road to face off with Clearfield, the same team they lost to on April 23, 7-2.
First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING-Game 1
Kane 002 00 – 2 3 2
Curwensville 160 32 – 12 12 1
Kane – 2
Alcorn CF 1100, Costanzo 2B 3110, Jordan SS 3000, Duck C 2021, Anderson 3B 2000, Rumcik P 0000, Park 1B/P 1000, Novosel DH/LF 2000, Holt RF 2000. TOTALS 16 2 3 1.
Curwensville – 12
VonGunden SS 3211, Evans 2B 3001, Francisco C 3332, Timko P 3221, McCracken LF 4233, Brewer 1B 1001, Farley 3B 1110, Bakaysa RF 1100, Terry CF 3120. TOTALS 22 12 12 9.
LOB: Kane – 4, Cville -7. E: Jordan, Young/Farley. 2B: Duck. SF: Brewer, Evans. HBP: Bakaysa, Timko.
SB: Alcorn (3), Costanzo/Francisco, Timko, VonGunden. CS: Duck, Brewer.
PITCHING
Kane: Rumcik-4 IP, 9 H, 10 R, 8 ER, 2 SO, 6 BB; Park-0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB.
Curwensville: Timko-5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 13 SO, 5 BB.
WP-Timko (7-0). LP-Rumcik (0-1)
SCORE BY INNING-Game 2
Curwensville 100 001 3 – 5 6 3
Kane 001 100 4 – 6 7 3
Curwensville – 5
VonGunden 3221, Evans 2001, Francisco 4000, Timko 4222, McCracken 4000, Bakaysa 2010, Farley 1000, Brewer 1001, Bressler 2000, Heitsenrether 1000, Terry 3110. TOTALS 27 5 6 5.
Kane – 6
Alcorn 4111, Costanzo 3110, Jordan 4111, Duck 3111, Anderson 4000, Park 3021, Geer 0000, Cartwright 2100, Holt 2110, Eschrich 3000. TOTALS 28 6 7 4.
LOB: Cville – 6, Kane – 5. E: McCracken (2), Terry/Alcorn, Andeson, Holt. 2B: VonGunden/Duck. 3B: Jordan.
HR: Timko. SAC: Evans, Farley. SB: Bakaysa, McCracken, Terry (2), Timko, VonGunden. CS: Eschrich.
PITCHING
Curwensville: VonGunden-6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 5 SO, 3 BB; Farley-0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB.
Kane: Jordan-7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB.
WP-Jordan (3-2). LP-Farley (0-2).
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 2 – 5 3 – 2
4/14 JOHNSONBURG 5 – 0 4 – 2
4/16 @ Glendale ppd. 4 – 2
4/17 @ Kane ppd. 4 – 2
4/19 @ DuBois Central Catholic 3 – 0 5 – 2
4/20 PUNXSUTAWNEY 1 – 2 5 – 3
4/23 CLEARFIELD 2 – 7 5 – 4
4/24 @ Brockway 3 – 7 5 – 5
4/26 MO VALLEY 1 – 0 6 – 5
4/30 BROCKWAY 3 – 1 7 – 5
5/01 @ Elk County Catholic 6 – 12 7 – 6
5/07 @ Harmony 18 – 0 8 – 6
5/08 @ Glendale 17 – 2 9 – 6
5/09 @ Kane 12 – 2 10 – 6
5/09 @ Kane 5 – 6 10 – 7
5/15 @ Clearfield
5/16 DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH.