GLENDALE — Having the covid postpone Monday’s scheduled game for the Curwensville Golden Tide certainly changed the week of activities. It seemed to do them good as when Wednesday’s contest with the Glendale Vikings came up, they were more than prepared. It was an afternoon that didn’t even go the full distance, as the Tide got their bats working early, often, and didn’t look back.
At the end of a short four-inning contest, the Golden Tide were celebrating a 16-0 annihilation of the home squad.
Curwensville got on the board in the second inning when Tyler Lee rounded both third and home on passed balls by the Vikings. Starting Tide pitcher Jake Mullins ensured that lead stayed in the bottom half of the inning as the three batters he faced would either ground out or strike out. Little did Mullins know his teammates were about to get to work quickly when the two squads swapped places on the field.
Spencer Hoover started the inning with a single, then stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Shane Sunderlin managed to reach first on an error, bringing Hoover to the plate. The next two batters for Curwensville would be outs, but with those two outs on the board, things drastically changed.
Matt Brown was hit by a pitch, and with Sunderlin already at second, Garrett Misiura was facing Chase Graham, who then lined the ball into left field for a two-RBI single to make it 4-0. Chris Fegert then plated two runs when he drilled a fly ball to the same area of the field. He would then reach home on a passed ball after advancing to second on a stolen base, then to third on another passed ball. All of a sudden, a 1-0 game became 7-0.
Curwensville then scored four more runs on the next four at-bats; an RBI-double by Hoover, then an unearned run when Sunderlin reached on an error, then a two-RBI double by Jake McCracken made it 11-0.
Two batters later, after a pair of walks, the bases were loaded for pitcher Mason St. Clair, and Graham connected on a single that got past shortstop Troy Misiura, allowing two runs in. Thad Butler then made it home on the throw to the plate. Two batters later, a lineout into center field finally ended the inning, but not before the 14-0 score all but put the victory in the hands of Curwensville.
Mullins went three innings in his victory, locking down seven strikeouts but no hits. Garrett Misiura would get tagged with the loss in a 2.2-inning effort, giving up eight runs and striking out four.
Curwensville plated two more runs in the fourth when Josh Shaffer, in a pinch-hitter role, singled up the third base line to plate both Danny McGarry, who was in as a courtesy runner, and Jake McCracken. At that point, in came Graham in the bottom of the fourth to close out the game. After giving up the only hit by the Vikings in the entire game, a pop out, fielder’s choice, and a groundout finished both the inning, and the game as the umpires officially declared the contest over.
The Tide (2-2) are back on their home diamond on Friday when they host Karns City.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 01(13) 2 – 16 10 0
Glendale 000 0 – 0 1 2
Curwensville – 16
Jake Mullins 3100, Spencer Hoover 2221, Danny McGarry 0100, Shane Sunderlin 3101, Aiden Sutika 1010, Matt Brown 2200, Jake McCracken 4312, Tyler Lee 1200, Jayson Rowles 0000, Thad Butler 1200, Josh Shaffer 1012, Chase Graham 4135, Chris Fegert 2122. TOTALS 24 16 10 13.
Glendale – 0
Troy Misiura 1000, Bryson Davis 2010, Britton Spangle 2000, Garrett Misiura 2000, Brady Vereshack 1000, Mason St. Clair 1000, Conner Poutschnig 1000, Ruffaner 1000, Zach Bennett 0000, Tanner Holes 1000, Jacob Lukehart 1000. TOTALS 13 0 1 0.
LOB: 7/2
E: T. Misiura, Bennett
ROE: Sunderlin-2
2B: Hoover, McCracken
FC: McCracken-2/G. Misiura
HBP: Brown
SB: Fegert, Graham, Hoover-3, McCracken, Mullins
Pitching
Curwensville: Mullins-3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 7 SO, 0 BB; Graham-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB.
Glendale: G. Misiura-2.2 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 2 ER, 4 SO, 4 BB; St. Clair-1.1 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 2 ER, 1 SO, 6 BB.
W-Mullins
L-G. Misiura