WILLIAMSBURG — After being shut down to start the week by Glendale, the Curwensville Golden Tide loaded up the bus for a bit of a drive in the hopes to get the bats going. The trip to face the Williamsburg Blue Pirates had the makings of just that, as the Curwensville bats came alive for an 11-hit contest.
The bats came alive, but the hits were not enough, as the Blue Pirates handed the Tide their second consecutive loss, an 8-5 final that dropped the Tide’s early season record to 1-2.
Following a scoreless first inning, Curwensville got on the board first when Nik Fegert managed a stolen base, moving to third on a fly out, then tagging up on a sacrifice fly by Merek Sutika. However, the lead only lasted through the top half of the inning as Williamsburg answered right back in the bottom. After a lead-off double, Colton Verbonitz connected with a full count to left field for an RBI-single to tie the game. The second run came two batters later, albeit via a wild pitch from starter Chris Fegert. After a flyout on the same at-bat, Williamsburg held a 2-1 lead that they would not relinquish.
The Blue Pirates added a pair of runs in the third. Luke Uplinger added the first one in the inning courtesy of an RBI-single from Preston Long, which came after an error by Chris Fegert allowed Uplinger to advance all the way to third. In a frustrating twist for the Tide, Rowan Gorsuch then loaded the count as Long managed to steal second, which was then followed up by another throwing error by Fegert, allowing Long to round home to make the score a 4-1 advantage.
After giving up a single and a double right after, Fegert was pulled in favor of Ayden Sutika. Fegert would get tagged with the loss after pitching two and one-third innings, giving up four runs, with three of them earned.
Curwensville pulled to within one run in the fourth, a two-RBI single from Lawson Neiswender on a 2-2 pitch that lined into left field did the damage.
That would be as close as Curwensville got, as Long would continue on at the hill for nearly two more innings, gaining the win for the Blue Pirates in an eight-strikeout effort.
Williamsburg added four runs between the fourth and fifth innings, as Uplinger connected on an RBI-double then Long followed up with an RBI-single to put the lead back to a three-run cushion. Gorsuch added an RBI to his stat line despite grounding out at the next at-bat, but the 8-3 lead would hold until the final inning. Curwensville rallied to get a pair of runs across home plate as Ayden Sutika hammered a two-RBI single up the gap into center field to cut the lead to three.
Nik Fegert singled right after to put two runs in scoring position, but Tristan Wills would strike out, and despite dropping the ball, Alex Brantner managed to pick up the loose ball and toss him out at first, ending the game.
Curwensville (1-2) has a pair of games next week, both on the road, starting with a trip to Bellwood-Antis on Tuesday to face the Blue Devils.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 010 200 2 – 5 11 3
Williamsburg 022 310 X – 8 9 0
Curwensville – 5
Christian Fegert-p/3b 4110, Andrew Pentz-c 3010, Dante Lezzer-ph 1000, Logan Kunkle-ss 4230, Ayden Sutika-3b/p 4022, Nik Fegert-cf 4220, Lawson Neiswender-1b 2012, Tristan Wills-ph 1000, Merek Sutika-rf 2011, Cael Butler-2b 3000, Evan McCartney-lf 1000, Caden Pierce-ph 1000, Aiden Finn-p 1000. TOTALS 31 5 11 5.
Williamsburg – 8
Luke Uplinger-ss 4231, Preston Long-p/1b 4222, Rowan Gorsuch-1b/p 4001, Alex Brantner-c 3010, Logan Brantner-cf 4120, Colton Verbonitz-2b 1211, Coltyn Wagner-3b 2000, Sam Parks-dh 3000, Cadynce Hughes-lf 2101. TOTALS 27 8 9 6.
- LOB: 7/6
- E: C. Fegert-2, Kunkle
- ROE: Hughes
- 2B: Uplinger, L. Brantner-2
- SAC: Hughes
- SF: M. Sutika
- FC: Butler, N. Fegert, Kunkle, M. Sutika/Wagner
- HBP: Verbonitz, A. Brantner
- SB: C. Fegert, N. Fegert-2, Kunkle/Verbonitz-2, Long-3, A. Brantner-3, Wagner
PITCHING
- Curwensville: C. Fegert-2.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB; A. Sutika-1.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB; Finn-2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB.
- Williamsburg: Long-5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 8 SO, 1 BB; Gorsuch-1.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 SO, 0 BB.
W-Long (1-0)
L-C. Fegert (0-1)
