CURWENSVILLE — The entire Curwensville Golden Tide team has been having success on both sides of the ball. In the last three games, the pitchers have given up four hits, and zero runs. At the same time, the offense has been lighting up the board, putting them on a four-game winning streak that has been nearly impossible to slow down. Thursday afternoon, the Glendale Vikings came in hoping to get revenge after falling 12-0 in a shortened game on their field.
This game would not only be shorter, but the Tide would get some unexpected help. Curwensville only had six hits on the afternoon, but got an early lead, and then saw miscues lead to opportunities. Umpires officially stopped the game once the Tide had a 15-0 lead, ending the afternoon with two outs in the bottom of the third inning.
Head coach Tom Harzinski was at a loss for words, because over the last four games, it’s been a similar result with his team.
“We had a solid game on the field today. Our defense has been ready and has been very sharp, and I just cannot say enough about our pitching staff,” Harzinski said. “They have been spectacular this year. That’s the second shutout win for Jayson (Rowles), and then offensively we have been getting on the ball. We got some help today with some walks, but we were getting after the ball.”
Neither team got things going in the opening inning, as Tanner Holes singled to lead off the Vikings. But, that would be as far as he would go as despite stealing second and then advancing to third on a put out, Glendale ended the opening inning with a runner in scoring position but no runs.
Curwensville got the scoring going in the bottom of the second as Ayden Sutika led off with a single into shallow center. A sacrifice bunt by Logan Kunkle moved Sutika to second, and then a walk to Chris Fegert put runners on first and second. A pair of stolen bases while Jake Mullins was at the plate moved things closer as the starting shortstop took a full-count pitch into right field for a two-RBI single to put the Tide into the lead. That would be the only lead change of the afternoon.
Rowles would put down all three batters in the third inning, finishing the afternoon with only allowing one hit, striking out four, and no walks.
The bottom of the third, the Tide opened the game up as if it were a crater.
Spencer Hoover started the inning with a lead-off double, then Rowles singled to put runners on the corners. He then stole second, while Tyler Lee walked to load the bases. Sutika would be put out at first, but not before bringing one run to the plate to increase the lead to 3-0. At that moment, things went downhill for the Vikings.
An error by Holes would allow a pair of runs to cross the plate, making it 5-0. Fegert then singled to bring in his lone RBI of the afternoon. Mullins and Thad Butler each took walks to make it 8-0, and then Shane Sunderlin looked down a 2-2 pitch and swung to left-center field for a two-RBI single that made the score 10-0.
Glendale then opted for a pitching change, as Landen McGarvey was pulled in favor of Holes. McGarvey got tagged with the loss with 2.1 innings of work, giving up 10 runs, seven of them earned, and walking six.
Holes came in for relief, but he was having just as much trouble on the hill, and the defense was not having much success either.
After a put out at first by Hoover, his second time at the plate in the inning, three consecutive walks then loaded the bases. Kunkle’s third at bat in the game resulted him being struck by a pitch, and increased the lead to 13-0. Two errors then followed to load the bases once again, then Butler singled to increase the lead to 14-0. With two outs on the board, Sunderlin came to the plate as the 18th batter in the inning, and watched four consecutive pitches go outside the zone, resulting in a bases-loaded walk that brought in the 13th run of the inning, and at that point the umpires raised their hands to call the game due to the 15-run rule.
Curwensville has outscored their last four opponents by a combined 43-0, not giving up a run since the fifth inning on April 12 against West Branch, a span of 17 innings that include three games of five innings or less.
Even so, Harzinski couldn’t rest on his laurels, even with the success his team has seen this season.
“This is a special team, but we also want it to be a special season. We have to constantly get better, which is why we nit-pick after each game to improve just that much more,” Harzinski said. “We have to come out and be ready tomorrow, and again on Saturday.”
Curwensville (6-1) is back on their home diamond on Friday for a 4:30 p.m. start against Brockway, whom they just beat on Monday in a 10-0 rout that only went five innings at the Rovers’ home field.
SCORE BY INNING
Glendale 000 – 0 1 5
Curwensville 02(13) – 15 6 0
Glendale – 0
Tanner Holes-SS/P 2010, Potutshing-3B/SS 1000, Troy Misiura-1B 1000, Bryson Davis-CF 1000, Logan Ruffaner-C 1000, Landen McGarvey-P/3B 1000, Jacob Lukehart-LF 1000, Frank Visnofsky-RF 1000, Jim Sutton-2B 1000. TOTALS 10 0 1 0.
Curwensville – 15
Jake Mullins-SS 3112, Thad Butler-LF 3101, Shane Sunderlin-1B 3113, Spencer Hoover-C 2110, Jayson Rowles-P 1110, Nik Fegert-CR 0100, Tyler Lee-2B 1201, Ayden Sutika 2212, Logan Kunkle-DH 1202, Chris Fegert-CF 2311. TOTALS 18 15 6 12.
- LOB: 1/4
- E: Sutton, Holes, Visnofsky, Gallaher, McGarvey
- ROE: C. Fegert, Butler, Mullins-2, Sunderlin-3, Sutika-2, Lee, Kunkle-2
- 2B: Hoover
- SAC: Kunkle
- HBP: Kunkle
- SB: Holes/Hoover, C. Fegert, Mullins-2, Sunderlin, Kunkle
PITCHING
Glendale: McGarvey-2.1 IP, 6 H, 10 R, 7 ER, 2 SO, 6 BB; Holes-0.1 IP, 0 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 4 BB.
Curwensville: Rowles-3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 SO, 0 BB.