CURWENSVILLE — In the hopes of trying to erase the tough losses from last Thursday’s double-header, the Curwensville Golden Tide had to reset for a battle against the West Branch Warriors in Moshannon Valley League action. The early spring weather was the perfect setup for a game, and both teams came in ready to get to business.
For both squads, most of the game was a battle of trying to one up the other, as neither gave an inch and kept things close. But, much like quicksand, the Tide suddenly found themselves seeing one thing go wrong, and everything fell apart. What was a one-run game ended in six innings as the Warriors handed Curwensville a gut-wrenching 17-3 loss.
It was West Branch getting on the board first in the opening inning, as a sacrifice fly from Luke Liptak allowed Coby Kephart to tag up on third and advance home. One inning later, an RBI-single by Dylan McGonigal plated Matt Eirich to make it 2-0. At the same time, that score kept the Tide within reach, even with Liptak having a solid outing on the hill.
Liptak through three innings was perfect, not giving up a hit until the bottom of the fourth when Chris Fegert connected on an infield single.
That is the inning when Curwensville cut the lead in half as Lawson Neiswender hit a grounder into left field, bringing in his lone RBI hit of the game to make the score 2-1.
On the other side, Tide pitcher Logan Kunkle was having a great outing. The young pitcher would go five innings for Curwensville, yielding six hits with four runs allowed, two earned, and gave up no walks. The final runs for his time on the mound came in the fifth thanks to a fielding error and an RBI-single by Brody Rothrock. The bottom half of the inning saw Curwensville start with three consecutive singles to load the bases. Back-to-back fielder’s choice plays put two outs on the board, but also plated one. An RBI-single by Ayden Sutika brought Curwensville to within one run, 4-3, and with a pair of games still slated in successive days, head coach Derek Dixon decided to make lineup changes entering the sixth inning.
That is when everything went wrong for the Tide.
A pair of singles started the inning, as Merek Sutika took over at pitcher with Kunkle moving to shortstop. The third at bat was Isaac Tiracorda, whose RBI-single made the score 5-3. A sacrifice bunt put one out on the board, but advanced runners to second and third.
At that point, the entire inning went south.
Lukas Colton got struck with a 2-0 pitch to load the bases. Over the next six at-bats, Curwensville would give up six consecutive walks, with two of them happening with four consecutive pitches outside the strike zone, and the others only having one strike on the tally. Three different pitchers came to the mound, and what was a one-run deficit suddenly was 11-3. Tiracorda’s second at-bat of the inning saw him reach base on an error, plating another two runs, making it 13-3.
Another error, plus a pair of RBI-singles added four more runs before Curwensville finally got out of a nightmare of an inning, as 18 players would come to the batter’s box, and four different pitchers would see time on the hill.
Curwensville was unable to add any runs in the sixth, and the game was called by the 10-run rule at that point.
Liptak got the win on the afternoon, with Kunkle taking the loss for the Tide, his second on the season.
Curwensville (2-5) will have to shake off the loss, regroup, and prepare for their next game as it comes on Wednesday afternoon as they go on the road to face Cranberry.
SCORE BY INNING
West Branch 110 02(13) – 17 11 0
Curwensville 000 120 – 3 6 3
West Branch – 17
Isaac Tiracorda-c 3313, Coby Kephart-cf 4100, Lukas Colton-ss 3210, Luke Liptak-p/3b 2302, Tyler Wilson-1b 3101, Noah Emigh-ph 1011, Brody Rothrock-lf/p 4023, Tyler Chilcote-cr 0100, Matt Eirich-rf 2211, Payton Kephart-ph 1000, Nick Parks-DH 3020, Zach Tiracorda-cr 0201, Dylan McGonigal-3b 2011, Easton Emigh-ph 1211. TOTALS 29 17 11 14.
Curwensville – 3
Christian Fegert-cf/p 3120, Andrew Pentz-c 3101, Logan Kunkle-p/ss 2000, Ayden Sutika-3b/p/3b 2011, Nik Fegert-lf 3000, Lawson Neiswender-1b 2011, Tristan Wills-ph 1000, Merek Sutika-rf/p/rf 2000, Caleb Bloom-ph 0000, Aidan Finn-dh 2010, Evan McCartney-cr/p 0100, Cayden Pierce-ss/3b 1000, Cael Butler-2b 2010, Shane Radzieta-ph 1000. TOTALS 24 3 6 3.
- LOB: 8/6
- E: Butler, Kunkle, Pierce
- ROE: Liptak, Wilson, I. Tiracorda
- 2B: Colton
- SAC: Kephart
- SF: Liptak
- FC: Kunkle, Pentz, Pierce
- HBP: Colton-2, I. Tiracorda/Kunkle, Sutika
- SB: Liptak, I. Tiracorda-2, Eirich, Parks
PITCHING
- West Branch: Liptak-5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 5 SO, 0 BB; Rothrock-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB.
- Curwensville: Kunkle-5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 SO, 3 BB; M. Sutika-0.1 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; McCartney-0 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; A. Sutika-0.1 IP, 0 H, 5 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; C. Fegert-0.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB.
W-Liptak (3-2)
L-Kunkle (0-2)
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
3/20 @ Brockway 10 – 9 1 – 0
3/23 JUNIATA VALLEY ppd. 1 – 0
3/28 GLENDALE 2 – 12 1 – 1
3/30 @ Williamsburg 5 – 8 1 – 2
4/04 @ Bellwood Antis 8 – 6 2 – 2
4/06 HARMONY 5 – 7 2 – 3
4/06 HARMONY 4 – 7 2 – 4
4/11 WEST BRANCH 3 – 17 2 – 5
4/12 @ Cranberry
4/13 MT. UNION
4/17 @ Purchase Line
4/18 MO VALLEY
4/20 @ Juniata Valley
4/25 @ Glendale
4/27 WILLIAMSBURG
5/02 BELLWOOD ANTIS
5/04 @ West Branch
5/05 JUNIATA VALLEY
5/08 @ Mo Valley
5/09 @ Mt. Union
5/15 CLEARFIELD