MOUNT UNION — The late season struggles for the Curwensville Golden Tide have been hard to overcome in every aspect of baseball. The struggles to hit and field the ball reared their heads again on Tuesday as the Tide traveled to Mount Union for a battle with the Trojans.
Although the fielding miscues stayed low, the visitors could not get the bats going, falling 11-1 in six innings.
Taking on a one-loss team is difficult for any school, but one that is trying to get back on the winning track made it almost impossible. The Trojans got things started in the opening inning. With the bases loaded, Tide pitcher Evan McCartney faced Ryan Plank, who took the very first pitch he saw up the left field line, yielding a two-RBI single to start the scoring. Two batters later, Ryan Scott did the same thing, this time on a grounder into right field, making the score 4-0 at the end of one.
Curwensville failed to score in the second, as the Trojans continued the double-up effect when Blaine Hunsinger added his own two-RBI single with a line drive to center field.
While the bats were roaring, pitcher Cameron Donaldson was dealing. On an afternoon where he gave up one walk and struck out six, he would earn the win with the stellar five-inning performance. By contrast, McCartney only went two innings before being pulled after giving up six earned runs.
The 6-0 deficit got larger in the third as back-to-back RBI-singles from Donaldson and Braylan Knable, followed by yet another two-RBI single by Hunsinger, put the 10-run rule into effect for Curwensville. Needing a run to ensure the game had the opportunity to go past five innings, Curwensville’s Nik Fegert ground into a fielder’s choice, which allowed Christian Fegert to make it across home.
The 10-1 score lasted into the sixth inning, and with two outs on the tally it seemed Curwensville was slowing down the momentum.
That is until Cainen Atherton came to the plate. After three balls outside the zone, he stared down the fourth pitch from Lawson Neiswender, who was the third pitcher for the Tide on the afternoon. Atherton took one look at that pitch and swung for the fences. The ball sailed back all the way to the left field wall, escaping the playing area for a solo home run that was a walk-off in a different way. The 11th run of the afternoon would bring the game back to a 10-run gap, and the moment he crossed home plate, the umpires officially called the game over.
Curwensville’s loss is their fifth in a row, dropping their season record to 6-11. The advantage now is the Tide do not play again until next week. The road schedule is over, as they will finish the season with back-to-back home games starting on Monday afternoon when they play host to their up-the-road rival Clearfield Bison. First pitch is slated for 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 000 100 – 1 2 1
Mount Union 424 001 – 11 8 1
Curwensville – 1
Christian Fegert-cf 3100, Andrew Pentz-c 2000, Dante Lezzer-ph 0000, Logan Kunkle-ss 2010, Ayden Sutika-3b 3010, Nik Fegert-lf 3001, Lawson Neiswender-1b/p 2000, Merek Sutika-rf 2000, Aidan Finn-dh/p/1b 2000, Cael Butler-2b 1000, Cayden Pierce-ph 1000. TOTALS 21 1 2 1.
Mount Union – 11
Cameron Donaldson-p 2321, Cody McClain-ph/p 1000, Braylan Knable-dh 2211, Brady Bilger-ph 1000, Blaine Hunsinger-3b 2124, Davin Yocum-ph 1000, Cainen Atherton-ss 4111, Ryan Plank-lf 3112, Bryce Danish-c 3000, Ryan Scott-1b 3112, Landon Chrisemer-2b 3000, Wyatt Chrisemer-rf 1200. TOTALS 26 11 8 11.
- LOB: 4/3
- E: Neiswender/Atherton
- ROE: C. Fegert/Scott
- HR: Atherton
- FC: N. Fegert
- HBP: Knable
- SB: C. Fegert/Donaldson, Hunsinger
PITCHING
- Curwensville: McCartney-2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 SO, 3 BB; Finn-3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB; Neiswender-0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB.
- Mount Union: Donaldson-5 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 6 SO, 1 BB; McClain-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB.
W-Donaldson (1-0)
L-McCartney (0-1)