Story by Rusty McCracken
CURWENSVILLE – In a game that had both teams looking for that one play to make a difference, Juniata Valley found a way to upend Curwensville in Thursday afternoon softball action at Coach Andy Evanko Stadium. A late run in the sixth inning lifted the Green Hornets to a 2-1 victory.
The Lady Tide put the first run on the board in the second inning as Teagan Harzinski led off with a single to left. She then moved to second when Shyanne Rudy beat out her sacrifice attempt for an infield hit. After two outs a grounder off the bat of Ava Hainsey was misplayed at short to allow Harzinski to score on a close play at the plate.
In the top of the fourth Ava Allison set the table for the Hornets with a lead off triple. With one out Katelyn Payne slapped a grounder to second that plated Allison to knot the score at 1-1.
In the Juniata Valley sixth inning pitcher Taryn Stewart launched a triple to right. It was the first time in the game that Tide Coach Allen Leigey allowed her to swing the bat after three intentional walks. That decision proved costly for the hosts. Carly Rowe’s bunt attempt was fielded cleanly by Tide pitcher Addison Siple. However, with Stewart in a run-down, the relay throw to the plate hit the runner and allowed the eventual winning run to score.
The Lady Tide did put a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth and had a base runner on in the seventh, but the crucial hit in both innings didn’t materialize. In the sixth inning, the final out was recorded at the plate as Addison Warren was caught trying to score from second. Ava Hainsey had lined to center, but a strong throw by Haylie Thompson to catcher Ava Allison was just in time to erase the threat.
In the circle on the evening, Siple struck out 10 Hornets and scattered six hits while walking three. Stewat struck out six Tide batters and allowed seven hits and a walk in the victory. Curwensville falls to 5-4 on the season and stands at 2-3 in the ICC-North division while Juniata Valley is 3-3 overall and 3-1 in league play.
The Lady Tide will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Glendale.
Score by Innings
R H E
Juniata Valley 000 101 0 2 6 3
Curwensville 010 000 0 1 7 0
JUNIATA VALLEY – 2
(CF) Haylie Thompson 4 0 2 0, (SS) Zoe Walters 4 0 0 0, (P) Taryn Stewart 1 1 1 0, (1B) Carly Rowe 4 0 0 1, (C) Kassidy Watson 1 0 0 0, (C) Ava Allison 2 1 1 0, (3B) MaKenna Hartman 3 0 2 0, (PH) Katelyn Payne 2 0 0 1, Natalie Morgan 1 0 0 0, (RF) Kenzie Coffman 3 0 1 0, (LF) Haylie Brown 3 0 0 0, TOTALS: AB 28, R 2, H 6, RBI 2.
CURWENSVILLE – 1
(C) Addison Butler 4 0 2 0, (P) Addison Siple 4 0 1 0, (SS) Natalie Wischuck 4 0 0 0 , (1B) Teagan Harzinski 2 1 1 0, (PR) Jenna McCartney 0 0 0 0, (2B) Shyanne Rudy 3 0 2 0, (RF) Addison Warren 3 0 0 0, (CF) Ava Olosky 3 0 0 0, (3B) Ava Hainsey 3 0 1 0, (DP) Alaina Reitz 1 0 0 0, (DP) Sydney Simcox 2 0 0 0, (LF/Flex) Kaylie Shaw 0 0 0 0, TOTALS: AB 29, R 1, H 7, RBI 0.
Pitching IP H R ER SO BB WP
Juniata Valley – W – Stewart 7 7 1 0 6 1 0
Curwensville – L – Siple 7 6 2 2 10 3 2
Batting
3B – Juniata Valley – Stewart, Hartman, Allison. SB – Juniata Valley: Thompson. E – Juniata Valey: Thompson, Walters 2.
2023 Schedule final overall ICC
March score record record
20 W @ Brockway 21-0 1-0
28 L @GLENDALE 2-1 1-1 0-1
30 W WILLIAMSBURG 7-0 2-1 1-1
April
4 W BELLWOOD-ANTIS 6-4 3-1 2-1
6 W @ Penns Manor 9-1 4-1
11 L @ West Branch 9-3 4-2 2-2
13 L @ Mount Union 5-3 4-3 2-3
17 W @ Purchase Line 17-1 5-3
18 PPD
20 L JUNIATA VALLEY 2-1 5-4 2-4
25 GLENDALE
27 @Williamsburg
28 PENNS MANOR
29 @ North Star 11:00 (DH)
May
2 @ Bellwood-Antis
4 WEST BRANCH
8 MOSHANNON VALLEY
9 MOUNT UNION
15 @ Juniata Valley
All game-times 4:30 unless otherwise noted.