WESTOVER — The victory on Tuesday certainly put some good vibes in the dugout of the Curwensville Golden Tide, and the hope was to continue that as the week progressed. The challenge would be, could the squad make the trip to Westover against the Harmony Owls and have some endurance. The bus left Curwensville early on Thursday, because the Tide and Owls were in store for a 14-inning afternoon as the schools were set to play a double-header just before Easter vacation.
Both games, surprisingly, were similar in how they played out. For Curwensville, that was good in that they competed strong for both games. It also was bad since the Tide lost both contests on the afternoon, first 7-5 and then 7-4.
Game one could be classified for the Owls, who were the visiting team despite being on their home field, as early lineup success. For the game, three of the first four batters attributed for five RBI’s, and all the team’s runs.
It started when Anthony Maseto connected on an RBI-single in the top of the first inning, giving the Owls the edge. Curwensville answered back in the bottom half of the second, thanks to a sacrifice fly by Merek Sutika.
Harmony plated three in the top of the third, with the first two on back-to-back singles by Jack Bracken and Lucas Tarnow. The third came via an error by Tide pitcher Lawson Neiswender. The 4-1 score still was not out of reach for Curwensville, as they roared back in the bottom half of the inning.
All of Curwensville’s runs in the inning came with two outs already on the board. Ayden Sutika got it going with a ground ball to short, bringing in Andrew Pentz. Nik Fegert followed it up with his own RBI-single to right field to plate Logan Kunkle. Neiswender then added to his stat line on offense when he took a full-count hurl by JJ Sward to left field to bring in a pair of runs. What was a three-run gap suddenly became a one-run lead.
It was a lead that did not last.
In a case of, “Anything you can do, we can do better” ultimately was the theme of the inning. Once again, just like with Curwensville the inning prior, Harmony had two outs on the board before roaring back. A pair of errors placed runners on second and third, and that was all the motivation Tarnow needed. Despite being behind in the count, the 1-2 pitch would find its way up the left-field line, resulting in a two-RBI single that put the Owls in the lead. One batter later, a fielding error resulted in another run to score, which set the final as the two sides would have a pitching duel to finish the afternoon.
Sward brought home the win with a six-inning performance where he gave up nine hits, but it yielded only five runs. Maseto came in to pitch the seventh, earning the save. Neiswender would get tagged with the loss.
GAME 1
SCORE BY INNING
Harmony 103 300 0 – 7 11 1
Curwensville 014 000 0 – 5 10 4
Harmony – 7
Colton Fry-c 4330, Anthony Maseto-ss/p 3231, Jack Bracken-3b 4121, Lucas Tarnow-cf 3123, JJ Sward-p/ss 4000, Zach Hutton-1b 4010, Owen Bailey-2b 4000, Hunter Pearce-lf 4000, Stephen Perusso-rf 3000. TOTALS 33 7 11 5.
Curwensville – 5
Christian Fegert-cf 4000, Andrew Pentz-c 4120, Logan Kunkle-ss 4120, Ayden Sutika-1b 3111, Nik Fegert-lf 3221, Lawson Neiswender-p 2012, Merek Sutika-rf 2001, Aiden Finn-dh 3010, Cael Butler-2b 3010. TOTALS 28 5 10 5.
- LOB: 7/4
- E: Sward/Butler, Kunkle, Pierce, M. Sutika
- 2B: Maseto
- SF: M. Sutika
- FC: Hutton/Butler, N. Fegert, Pentz
- GIDP: Bracken
- SB: Fry-2, Maseto, Tarnow/Butler, N. Fegert-2
- CS: N. Fegert
PITCHING
- Harmony: Sward-6 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 SO, 1 BB; Maseto-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB.
- Curwensville: Neiswender-7 IP, 11 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 4 SO, 2 BB.
W-Sward (1-0)
L-Neiswender (0-1)
S-Maseto (1)
The first game started at 2 p.m. and ended just over 90 minutes later. Both dugouts got an opportunity to get in a break, rehydrate and get some food, as the second of the two games was set for the usual 4:30 p.m. start. For this game, Harmony then got to be the home squad.
The Tide got the scoring rolling in the first inning with an RBI-single by Ayden Sutika, who got tabbed with the start on the mound. The 1-0 score did not last as Harmony came back in the bottom of the inning when Tarnow grounded out to second, but it was enough to bring in Maseto to tie the game.
Harmony took the lead for the first time two innings later via a throwing error by shortstop Logan Kunkle, but the miscue was quickly forgotten as the Tide got back the lead one inning later. The tying run came as Nik Fegert made a beeline to steal third, and in doing so saw catcher Colton Fry make an errant throw, which led to Fegert making his way home. One batter later, Dante Lezzer made the most of his designated hitter position, grounding into left field to plate Neiswender.
The 3-2 lead boosted the confidence in the dugout. But, that confidence quickly dissolved as the Owls got back into the game in the fifth.
Three consecutive RBI-singles by Bracken, Tarnow, and Sward put the Owls in the lead by three. Another run in the sixth gave them enough cushion to hold on for the win, even with Curwensville trying to rally with one run in the seventh.
In a relief effort, Harmony’s Tarnow got the win, giving up one earned run in two and two-thirds innings of work. For Curwensville, Andrew Pentz had to take the loss, giving up five runs in two innings.
Curwensville (2-4) will try to get back to their winning ways on Tuesday afternoon as they will play host to West Branch starting at 4:30 p.m.
GAME 2
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 100 200 1 – 4 4 4
Harmony 101 041 X – 7 7 1
Curwensville – 4
Christian Fegert-cf 2210, Andrew Pentz-c/p 3000, Logan Kunkle-ss 2000, Ayden Sutika-p/3b 3022, Nik Fegert-lf 3100, Lawson Neiswender-1b 3100, Merek Sutika-rf 2000, Dante Lezzer-dh 3011, Cael Butler-2b 3000. TOTALS 24 4 4 3.
Harmony – 7
Colton Fry-c 2200, Anthony Maseto-p/cf 3310, Jack Bracken-ss 4122, Lucas Tarnow-cf/p 3113, JJ Sward-3b 4011, Zach Hutton-1b 3010, Owen Bailey-2b 2000, Hunter Pearce-lf 3010, Stephen Perusso-rf 3000. TOTALS 27 7 7 6.
- LOB: 8/7
- E: N. Fegert, Kunkle, Neiswender-2/Fry
- ROE: Fry, Maseto, Bracken
- 2B: Maseto
- FC: N. Fegert, Neiswender
- HBP: C. Fegert
- SB: C. Fegert-2, N. Fegert, Kunkle/Fry-2, Bracken, Tarnow-2
- CS: A. Sutika/Fry
PITCHING
- Curwensville: A. Sutika-4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 SO, 2 BB; Pentz-2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 SO, 3 BB.
- Harmony: Maseto-4.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 11 SO, 2 BB; Tarnow-2.2 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 6 SO, 0 BB.
W-Tarnow (1-0)
L-Pentz (0-1)