ALEXANDRIA — Fans of the Curwensville Golden Tide certainly got a lot more than they expected when they hit the road for the start of the second half of the baseball season. A trip to face the Juniata Valley Hornets led to a game that saw 35 hits, over 70 batters in the box, and a game that seemed like a marathon.
It seemed to be worth it because the Tide rallied from being down five runs to take home a 14-13 victory, the fifth win on the season.
After scoring two runs in the opening inning, Curwensville struggled to keep the Hornets in check in the bottom half. A lead-off triple from Jacob Rodkey put Juniata Valley right in play to cut the lead in half. Levi Thompson added in one of his four RBI’s on the afternoon right after with a double to center field. A two-run double by Connor Robinson put the Hornets in front, followed by an RBI-single by Jordyn Couch and a fielder’s choice by Zach Dick put the Hornets up, 5-2.
Juniata Valley added a pair of runs in the second before Curwensville answered back in the third on a sacrifice fly from Merek Sutika, allowing brother Ayden to cross home. Curwensville then added two more runs in the fourth, bringing the Tide to within two, 7-5.
The Hornets came back and added three runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a sacrifice fly by Thompson, then a two-RBI double from Couch. Still, Curwensville refused to go quietly, roaring back in the fifth with a four-run tally. It certainly helped when Lawson Neiswender looked at a 1-0 pitch and soared it over the left field wall. Chris Fegert then cut the gap to two runs again thanks to a two-RBI single into left field. Add in an RBI-single by Logan Kunkle, and it was a 10-9 game.
Juniata Valley still had faith in their pitcher, Rodkey, as he would go five innings, and despite giving up 16 hits on the afternoon, the play by the Hornets in the bottom of the inning still gave them confidence that they would win. A three-run inning thanks to a fielding error by Kunkle, one of four errors by the Tide, and another sacrifice fly by Thompson made the score 13-9.
But, those runs would be the last ones the Hornets would score.
In the sixth, an RBI-single by Merek Sutika brought the game to 13-10, with one inning remaining. By now, Rodkey was replaced on the mound by Chris Deihl. On this afternoon, Deihl would be tagged with the loss, and it came in the toughest way possible.
A lead-off double by Chris Fegert put a runner in position. Two batters later, with one out on the tally, Kunkle singled on a grounder to short, bringing in Fegert. The deficit reduced to two runs, but then got cut to one when Ayden Sutika singled on a grounder to left, bringing Kunkle in from second.
Nik Fegert then came to the box, and got to base on an error. Sutika moved to third, and on the same miscue Fegert made it to second. Both the tying and winning runs were on base, with Neiswender coming to bat.
On the 2-0 count, Deihl then made a costly miscue. Already in his wind-up, he went to change direction, and the home plate umpire called a balk. The base runners moved positions, and an unearned run made it home. What was a four-run gap suddenly got erased. Deihl managed to get a strike on the board, but his next pitch went past his catcher, and Fegert hustled home. A second unearned run during the same at-bat put Curwensville in the lead. Back-to-back ground outs finally ended the inning, but it also meant Curwensville had to take to the field to defend the lead, knowing just two runs, no matter how many outs, would be enough for the Hornets to win.
Chris Fegert came in for relief, the fourth pitcher for the Tide on the afternoon, hoping to close it out. A strikeout to Connor Harbst started the inning, then a fly out to short by Rodkey left the Hornets down to their final opportunity. Thompson would try as hard as possible, but he would strike out swinging, giving Curwensville the victory.
Ayden Sutika would get the win for Curwensville in a three-inning effort, giving up four hits and three earned runs. In total, Curwensville walked more batters than they struck out (three walks vs. two strikeouts). Fegert would earn his first save of the season in the victory.
Curwensville (5-6) gets to savor the win for a few days as they will be back on the diamond next Tuesday, April 25, when they travel to Glendale.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 201 241 4 – 14 21 4
Juniata Valley 520 330 0 – 13 14 3
Curwensville – 14
Christian Fegert-cf/p 4443, Andrew Pentz-c 5110, Logan Kunkle-ss 4132, Ayden Sutika-3b/p 5232, Nik Fegert-lf 5110, Lawson Neiswender-1b 5231, Merek Sutika-rf 4123, Aidan Finn-dh/p 3010, Cayden Pierce-3b/ph 0100, Caleb Bloom-cr 0000, Cael Butler-2b 4130. TOTALS 39 14 21 11.
Juniata Valley – 13
Jacob Rodkey-p/cf 4422, Levi Thompson-ss 3224, Mason Buckley-rf 4231, Connor Robinson-1b 4222, Chris Deihl-lf/p 3110, Ross Shea-ph/lf 0000, Jordyn Couch-cf/lf 4032, Zach Dick-c 3001, Carter Rowe-ph 1000, Bo Hoover-2b 2000, Chris Gibson-ph 1100, Connor Harbst-3b 4110. TOTALS 33 13 14 12.
- LOB: 8/4
- E: N. Fegert, Kunkle, Neiswender, Pierce/Thompson, Couch, Hoover
- ROE: N. Fegert, Pentz, M. Sutika/Rodkey, Diehl
- 2B: C. Fegert/Thompson, Robinson, Couch
- 3B: Rodkey, Thompson
- HR: Neiswender
- SF: M. Sutika/Thompson-2
- GIDP: Pentz
- FC: Dick-2
- SB: C. Fegert, Pentz/Rodkey-3, Buckley, Robinson, Dick, Harbst
- PIK: Butler/Deihl
PITCHING
- Curwensville: Neiswender-1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB; A. Sutika-3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; Finn-2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB; C. Fegert-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB.
- Juniata Valley: Rodkey-5 IP, 16 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; Deihl-2 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB.
W-A. Sutika (4-0)
L-Diehl (0-1)
S-C. Fegert (1)