CURWENSVILLE — After Monday’s shutout victory, the Curwensville Golden Tide baseball squad hit double digits in wins for the season, and already were feeling like they were playoff ready. Yet, one thing still has eluded them for a few years, which is being able to say no matter how the season concluded, it will end with a winning record. That opportunity to check the final box on the regular season came on Wednesday when the Kane Wolves made the trip to the Curwensville high school on a warm afternoon.
Early on, the Wolves had control, and the Tide were doubting themselves. As the innings continued, the Tide kept it close, creeping back into it. Then, in one inning, they blew the score wide open, fueling a defensive stand and finished off an 11-3 triumph for their 10th win of the season, and ensuring a winning record for the first time in several years.
“This feels good. We’ve been building to this moment the last few years, and the kids have been playing so hard,” head coach Tom Harzinski said afterwards. “Kane is a really good ball club, and they got out on us early. But these kids are resilient. It is a good win.”
Things did not start off well for Curwensville. On the very first pitch of the afternoon, Harley Morris connected on an immediate double into center field. The next batter, Andrew Jekielek, almost did the exact same thing, this time into left field. His double would yield the first run of the day to put the Wolves in the lead. Two batters later, a sacrifice fly from Justin Peterson brought in Jekielek. The 2-0 lead would hold until the fourth inning when Luke Ely singled out to Jake McCracken in center field, which allowed Shane Ackley to come home. Reese Novosel was hustling around, trying to increase the lead, but McCracken’s throw was direct and to the point, as Spencer Hoover grabbed it for the tag at the plate for the third out, keeping Curwensville within striking distance.
That out seemed to breathe some life into the Golden Tide as they entered the bottom of the fourth with energy, ready to get a rally going. Jake Mullins walked to start the inning on four consecutive balls, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Matt Brown then connected on a line drive into center field, and Mullins put on the speed as he beat the throw home to get Curwensville on the board. Although that would be the only run scored, it proved to be bigger than just a tally on the stat sheet.
“The fourth inning was huge for us, both defensively and on offense,” Harzinski said. “Spencer (Hoover) had that big out at the plate, then Matt (Brown) getting us on the board really made us feel good. You could see it.”
Pitcher Shane Sunderlin settled down after giving up the pair of runs in the first inning, and kept his pitch count down in the early innings. In one inning alone, the first three batters took a swing at the opening pitch, two of them resulting in pop outs, and the other a strike. He would average just over 10 pitches in an inning, going the entire seven inning contest, and yielding just those three earned runs.
He would get a lot of help from his teammates in the fifth inning, because the Tide rose to the occasion, and scored runs in nearly every way possible.
Kane started the inning with a pitching change, bringing Morris from his position at shortstop. It did not start well, as a 3-1 pitch would sail into left field for a quick single. Thad Butler then got hit on the shoulder, and Keegan Wilson would walk, even after having some knee pain following a high pitch that he was avoiding. Nick Fegert came in as a pinch runner so Wilson could get some attention in the dugout, but suddenly the bases were loaded and no outs were on the board.
McCracken lined into center field for an RBI-single, bringing in Spencer Hoover for the second run, and closing the gap even more. The next two runs came in the simplest way possible, when Mullins and Brown each received bases-loaded walks, putting Curwensville up, 4-3. Sunderlin helped his own cause after that, hammering a two RBI-single into right field. Chase Graham did the exact same thing, this time into left field, and making it 8-3.
Kane finally got out of the inning, grounding out three of the next four batters, but Curwensville had the lead and it felt as if they had new life.
“That was a great inning for us. Everyone contributed, and backed one another up,” Harzinski said.
Sunderlin settled down and kept going hard, earning his first complete-game victory of the season, yielding only six hits in the outing.
Curwensville added another three runs in the bottom of the sixth when Sunderlin’s fielder’s choice brought in McCracken, Graham’s ground out allowed Mullins to cross home, and Tyler Lee added in his own RBI-single.
Sunderlin’s final inning proved to be a challenge as Landon Darr struck out, but with Hoover mishandling the catch, he tried to sprint to first to get a runner on, ultimately being short. Morris managed to get one runner in position of scoring as Lee couldn’t pull in a liner up the line. But, he settled down and managed to get Andrew Jekielek and Isaac Smith striking out swinging, concluding a game that officially gave Curwensville a winning season.
“We are peaking at the right time for playoffs, and this team has certainly gone through a lot to get here,” Harzinski said. “We have one more to go before the post season.”
Harzinski spoke of the newly added game to finish out the regular season on Friday when they host Clarion-Limestone. The game will not change the playoff ranking for the Tide, but will be a game they hope to continue their hot streak of five wins in the last seven games. First pitch will be at 4:15 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Kane 200 100 0 – 3 6 0
Curwensville 000 173 X – 11 9 1
Kane – 3
Harley Morris-SS/P 4110, Andrew Jekielek-2B/P 3111, Carson Whiteman-DH 2000, Isaac Smith-PH 1000, Justin Peterson-3B 2001, Shane Ackley-2B/SS 3110, Reese Novosel-1B 2010, Luke Ely-RF 3011, Bobby Rumcik-C 2010, Jacob Costanzo-LF 1000, Landon Darr-PH 1000. TOTALS 24 3 6 3.
Curwensville – 11
Spencer Hoover-C 5110, Thad Butler-3B 2100, Keegan Wilson-1B 2010, Nick Fegert-PH 1100, Jake McCracken-CF 4231, Jake Mullins-SS 1301, Matt Brown-DH 2112, Shane Sunderlin-P 3013, Jayson Rowles-CR 0200, Chase Graham-RF 4013, Tyler Lee-2B 3011. TOTALS 27 11 9 11.
LOB: 6/7
E: Butler
ROE: Morris
2B: Morris, Jekielek
SAC: Costanzo
SF: Peterson
FC: Hoover, McCracken, Sunderlin-2
HBP: Brown, Butler-2
SB: Novosel-2/Hoover
CS: Rumcik
Pitching
Kane: Costanzo-4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; Morris-0 IP, 2 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 SO, 3 BB; Jekielek-2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB.
Curwensville: Sunderlin-7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 SO, 4 BB.
W-Sunderlin
L-Morris
