West Branch Mercy Rules Curwensville, 11-1

CURWENSVILLE — It was early April when the Golden Tide baseball squad last saw their home field. On Tuesday, their return to their home diamond was not delayed, but rather moved to the junior varsity field due to conditions.

But, it was still a home game for fans as the Tide played host to the West Branch Warriors.

The game did not last long, as the Warriors opened up an early lead, and thanks to a monster third inning, cruised to an 11-1 triumph that ended in five innings.

Curwensville (3-12) doesn’t have to wait long to get back to their home field as they get back to action on Tuesday afternoon.  The Tide will host the Kane Wolves with a first pitch at 4:15 p.m.  Curwensville won the first contest back on April 10, 2-1.

Nearly the entire Warrior lineup batted in the first as they scored two runs as Doug Kolesar came home on an RBI single by Cody Cox. The second was a bit easier as Eddie Dale waltzed home on a bases-loaded hit by pitch to make the score 2-0.

The third inning was when things went over the top for the Warriors.

A two-RBI single by Luke Guenot gave West Branch some insurance runs, then Zach Tiracorda, Kolesar and Dale all added in RBI-singles, with Kolesar cashing in two runs, to make it 8-0 after three innings.

Curwensville got its lone run in the bottom of the inning when Broc Heitsenrether stole home for the lone unearned run.

West Branch put things away in the fifth with a two-RBI single by Josh Cantolina, and finally a bases-loaded walk to set the Mercy Rule in motion.

Aiden Gutierrez earned the win for the Warriors, pitching five innings and giving up one hit and eight strikeouts. Christian Bakaysa earned the loss for the Tide, going just two innings and giving up seven earned runs over five hits.

Curwensville (3-12) is home on Tuesday to host the Kane Wolves. The two squads met back on April 10, with Curwensville besting the Wolves, 2-1.

SCORE BY INNING

West Branch  206 03 – 11 11 0
Curwensville  001 00 – 1 1 1

West Branch – 11

Kolesar 2211, Dale 4132, Gutierrez 2110, Cantolina 4122, Cox 3121, Guenot 2114, Milliron 3100, Buck 3000, Tiracorda 3111, Gugliami 0100, Fester 0100.  TOTALS 26 11 11 11.

Curwensville – 1

Von Gunden 2010, Evans 1000, McCracken 2000, Sunderlin 2000, Francisco 2000, Heitsenrether 0100, Mullins 2000, Irwin 1000, Bakaysa 1000, Bressler 1000, Wilson 1000.  TOTALS 15 1 1 0.

2B:  Dale, Cantolina, HBP:  Guenot/Heitsenrether, SB:  Gutierrez/Heitsenrether, CS:  Guenot/Von Gunden
E:  Von Gunden, WB – 8, Cville – 2

PITCHING

West Branch:  Gutierrez-5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 8 SO, 2 BB.

Curwensville:  Bakaysa-2 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 0 SO, 4 BB; McCracken-2.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 SO, 2 BB; Francisco-0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB.

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 1 – 3 3 – 8
4/23 @ DuBois Central Catholic 0 – 13 3 – 9
4/25 @ Brockway 1 – 2 3 – 10
5/03 MO VALLEY 1 – 5 3 – 11
5/06 WEST BRANCH 1 – 11 3 – 12
5/07 KANE
5/09 GLENDALE
5/13 CLEARFIELD
5/14 @ West Branch
5/15 JOHNSONBURG