GLENDALE — Come from behind contests are one of the more satisfying wins of any sport. The Curwensville Golden Tide, on the road Tuesday afternoon against the Glendale Vikings, had just that experience. After falling behind early in the contest, a late rally in the sixth inning allowed the Tide to achieve a 5-4 victory to get their season record to the .500-mark.
Starting pitchers Ayden Sutika and Troy Misiura dueled tough through the first two innings, until Curwensville managed to plate the first run of the afternoon in the top of the third when Andrew Pentz placed an RBI-single into left field that brought in Chris Fegert. However, the Vikings would quadruple that output over the next two innings.
A dropped third strike to Bryson Davis in the third led to the first out, but with Jacob Lukehart leading off the inning with a triple into left field, it made for an easy run to tie the game. Three batters later, an RBI-single from Spangle allowed Glendale to take the lead. He would be tagged out as he was trying to grab second, but the lead change gave confidence to the home dugout. One inning later, a groundout from Landen Gallaher allowed a third run to get to home plate. Add in an RBI-single from Lukehart and the Vikings were looking at a 4-1 advantage.
Both Curwensville and Glendale each decided to swap to different pitchers for the fifth inning, but the swap only paid dividends for Curwensville.
Fegert came in from center field to take over on the hill, and did so in fine fashion with a six-strikeout performance, ultimately earning his second win of the 2023 season.
That win came courtesy of a comeback in the sixth inning, as the Tide got to relief pitcher Landen McGarvey.
A pair of singles and a walk loaded the bases with only one out. Pentz came to the plate, and took a bases-loaded hit to the body, bringing in Merek Sutika to cut the lead in half. Logan Kunkle grounded into a fielder’s choice, allowing Aidan Finn to round to home base. Ayden Sutika came to the plate at that point. The first pitch he saw, he hammered, grounding the ball up the gap to center field. The hit would be a two-RBI single to give Curwensville the lead, one that would stick.
McGarvey gave up all four earned runs, taking the loss for the Vikings, as Glendale remained winless at home on the season.
Curwensville (6-6) is back on their home diamond on Thursday afternoon as they host Williamsburg. The two schools faced one another at the end of March, with Williamsburg earning the 8-5 win. The Tide will try to even the series at 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 001 004 0 – 5 7 1
Glendale 002 200 0 – 4 5 1
Curwensville – 5
Chris Fegert-cf/p 4210, Andrew Pentz-c 3112, Logan Kunkle-ss 3011, Ayden Sutika-p/3b 2012, Nik Fegert-lf 4010, Lawson Neiswender-1b 3000, Merek Sutika-rf 3110, Aidan Finn-dh 3110, Shane Radzieta-cr/cf 0000, Cael Butler-2b 4000. TOTALS 29 5 7 5.
Glendale – 4
Bryson Davis-cf 3011, Connor Potutshing-c 3000, Troy Misiura-p/2b 1110, B. Spangle-3b 2011, Tanner Holes-ss 3100, Devin Kaufman-1b 3100, Landen McGarvey-2b/p 4000, Landen Gallaher-lf 4001, Jacob Lukehart-rf 4121. TOTALS 26 4 5 4.
- LOB: 11/11
- E: Kunkle/McGarvey
- ROE: C. Fegert/Holes
- 2B: Misiura
- 3B: Lukehart
- FC: Kunkle
- HBP: Pentz/Spangle
- SB: N. Fegert, C. Fegert, Kunkle-2/Holes-3, Misiura-2
PITCHING
- Curwensville: A. Sutika-4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 5 SO, 2 BB; C. Fegert-3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 SO, 7 BB.
- Glendale: Misiura-4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 8 SO, 4 BB; McGarvey-3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB.
W: C. Fegert (2-1)
L: McGarvey (1-2)
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 14 – 9 3 – 5
4/13 MT. UNION 1 – 15 3 – 6
4/17 @ Purchase Line 16 – 6 4 – 6
4/18 MO VALLEY ppd. 4 – 6
4/20 @ Juniata Valley 14 – 13 5 – 6
4/25 @ Glendale 5 – 4 6 – 6
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