JOHNSONBURG — Three postponements in four days is tough on any team, especially one trying to get back to winning. Curwensville saw a rain out on Friday for their scheduled game against Moshannon Valley, then both Monday and Wednesday saw the slated game at West Branch get postponed due to field conditions. Finally, the Golden Tide got to hit the diamond on Thursday, traveling to face the Rams of Johnsonburg.
The ride home was a tough one as the Golden Tide failed to score a single run in an 8-0 shutout loss, their seventh loss, against three wins, on the season.
Starting pitcher Jeremiah Farley for Curwensville saw his day start extremely tough.
With one out on the board in the bottom of the first, and one runner already on second, Farley was looking at the third batter in the lineup for the Rams, Austin Green. On a 1-1 pitch, Green let the bat do the work, as he caught the ball right on the sweet spot as the crowd heard a perfect smack on the metal. Despite the effort of the Tide outfield, the ball traveled over the wall in left-center field, a two-run home run to start the scoring, which were the only two runs scored in the inning.
Farley gave up one more run in the bottom of the second, one that came quickly.
Lead-off batter Paul Gresco took an 0-1 pitch and nailed it over the wall in nearly the exact same spot as Green, a solo shot that increased the lead to 3-0. At that point, the Curwensville coaching staff made some moves, taking Farley out after just 21 pitches and bringing in Noah Von Gunden to take over.
A pair of errors and a wild pitch put Dom Allegretto in prime scoring position at third, and did just that with a fielder’s choice ground out by Gavin Elmquist to increase the score to 4-0.
The final runs of the inning came courtesy of an RBI-double by Ethan Wells, and then an RBI-single by Green.
While the offense was scoring, the defense was doing its job for the Rams as they committed zero errors on the afternoon, while Elmquist made sure the Tide were kept in check on the mound. His four and two-thirds innings saw him strike out eight, give up five hits, and walk just two. He ultimately earned the win on the afternoon, while Farley was tagged with the loss.
Johnsonburg earned its seventh run in the bottom of the third, but did so in an unearned fashion. With runners on the corners, the home plate umpire called Von Gunden for a balk, allowing Gresco to waltz home and head to the dugout.
The final run on the afternoon came in the bottom of the fifth. At this point, it was Jake McCracken now on the mound, and with one out on the board he gave up his lone earned run on an RBI-single to Camron Marciniak, allowing pinch-hitter Garrett Gregori to the plate to set the final.
Curwensville (3-7) will have a chance to recover as they will be back in action on Monday as they will again be on the road, this time against the Elk County Catholic Crusaders. The two teams faced off earlier this month, with the Crusaders taking the 8-2 victory. First pitch is set for 4:15 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 000 000 0 – 0 6 3
Johnsonburg 241 010 X – 8 8 0
Curwensville – 0
Von Gunden SS/P 3000, Mullins 2B/SS 2020, Stiles PH 1000, Franciso RF/CF 4010, McCracken CF/P 3000, Evans 1B 2000, Wilson PH 1000, Heitsenrether DH/RF 3010, Brown 3B 1000, Vance PH 1000, Bakaysa LF 2010, Graham C 2010, Bressler 1000. TOTALS 26 0 6 0.
Johnsonburg – 8
Marciniak CF 1211, Wells C 3111, Green SS/P 3123, Zameroski 3B/SS 3010, Stahli 2B 3010, Freeburg 2B 1000, Gresco 1B 3221, Do. Allegretto RF 4100, Elmquist P 2001, Gregori 3B 1100, Da. Allegretto LF 2000, Steis LF 1000. TOTALS 27 8 8 7.
2B: Walls, HR: Green, Gresco, HBP: Bakaysa/Marciniak-2, SB: Marciniak-3, Green, CS: Mullins
E: Mullins-2, Von Gunden, DP: Evans
LOB: Cville – 9, Jburg – 10
PITCHING
Curwensville: Farley-1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB; Von Gunden-2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 4 BB; McCracken-3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB.
Johnsonburg: Elmquist-4.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 8 SO, 2 BB; Green-2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 SO, 1 BB.
WP-Elmquist
LP-Farley (1-3)
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
3/22 Deer Lakes @ S. Carolina 5 – 9 0 – 1
3/23 Lakeview @ S. Carolina 4 – 9 0 – 2
3/26 DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH. 2 – 8 0 – 3
3/28 BROCKWAY 5-2, 10 inn. 1 – 3
4/02 HARMONY 11 – 1 2 – 3
4/04 @ Clearfield 2 – 5 2 – 4
4/08 ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC 4 – 5 2 – 5
4/10 @ Kane 2 – 1 3 – 5
4/12 @ Mo Valley ppd. 3 – 5
4/15 @ West Branch ppd. 3 – 5
4/16 @ Punxsutawney 4 – 14 3 – 6
4/17 @ West Branch ppd. 3 – 6
4/18 @ Johnsonburg 0 – 8 3 – 7
4/22 @ Elk County Catholic
4/23 @ DuBois Central Catholic
4/25 @ Brockway
5/06 WEST BRANCH
5/07 KANE
5/09 GLENDALE
5/13 CLEARFIELD
5/15 JOHNSONBURG