CURWENSVILLE — The cold, snow, and rain kept the Curwensville Golden Tide off the baseball diamond all last week. That meant extra practice at the cages, and having more time to come together as a group. Fast forward to Monday, head coach Derek Dixon and his staff were able to bring the team onto the field for competition for the first time this season. In the shadow of the Curwensville High School, the season-opener meant a visit from a familiar rival, the Moshannon Valley Black Knights.
This chilly afternoon felt like early October instead of late March, but both teams took to the diamond ready for action. In the end, Curwensville’s afternoon was highlighted by errors, and opposing pitching that was locked down for seven innings. The Golden Tide would fall in the first game of the year, 10-0.
Moshannon Valley got things going right away. Starting pitcher Logan Kunkle saw a single by Mason Abernathy and a double from Tanner Kephart put runners on second and third. Landyn Evans managed a sacrifice fly to right field, bringing in Abernathy to start the scoring. Rocco Reifer followed with the next at-bat with an RBI-single on a 3-1 pitch that grounded up the center to plate Kephart. Two innings later, Kephart would score again when Evans lined a ball to center field for another RBI-single to make it 3-0. An RBI-double by Chase Mital put Curwensville down four, and they were struggling at the plate.
Evans got the nod on the afternoon to start Moshannon Valley’s season-opener, and he was dealing as if he was a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas, because he was coming up a winner nearly every inning.
The senior pitcher could do no wrong as he would hand out strikeout after strikeout on the afternoon. Evans would toss 13 strikeouts to get the win in a six and a third-inning effort, and half of them were coming while the Curwensville batters watched the ball zip past the plate.
By contrast, Kunkle was having difficulty finding a rhythm, going only three and one-third innings, giving up four earned runs and eight hits.
Kunkle was replaced in the fourth inning by Andrew Pentz, who moved over from second base, while Kunkle moved to third. The change got the Tide out of the inning, but Moshannon Valley would get back on the board to start the fifth. A single from second baseman Brady Kephart brought Valent Cervenak to the plate. Two batters later, Zach Reifer singled up the third base line to bring home Abernathy, making the score 6-0.
The Black Knights would light up the scoreboard in the final inning in a big way, plating the final four runs.
The first came on an error by Cael Butler, one of five from Curwensville on the day, allowing Mital to cross home. An RBI-single by Tanner Kephart brought Abernathy to the plate, putting the score at 8-0. Another RBI-single by Evans brought Zach Reifer to the plate, and then another error by Butler brought home the 10th run on the day.
In the bottom of the seventh, Evans was relieved by Colby Reifer after walking Dante Lezzer. But, much like the the entire game, the Tide were left seeing a pair of strikeouts and a flyout to finish the day.
There is little time to recover for Curwensville (0-1) as they will hit the road on Tuesday afternoon to Juniata Valley.
SCORE BY INNING
Moshannon Valley 202 020 4 – 10 14 0
Curwensville 000 000 0 – 0 4 5
Moshannon Valley – 10
Mason Abernathy-ss 4221, Zach Reifer-1b 4121, Tanner Kephart-cf 5331, Landyn Evans-p 3023, Colby Reifer-p 1100, Rocco Reifer-c 5012, Kendall Woodring-3b 2010, Ian Dunsmore-3b 1000, Valent Cervenak-lf 5110, Chase Mital-rf 3111, Brady Kephart-2b 4111. TOTALS 37 10 14 10.
Curwensville – 0
Cael Butler-ss 4000, Lawson Neiswender-1b 3000, Andrew Pentz-2b/p 3000, Caleb Bloom-p 0000, Tristan Wills-rf 0000, Logan Kunkle-p/3b 2010, Merek Sutika-rf/cf 2010, Hunter Tkacik-lf 2000, Kyler Nelen-lf 1000, Blaine Witherite-dh 2000, Connor Luzier-2b 1000, Lincoln Hoyt-c 2010, Dante Lezzer-c 0000, Gavin McDermott-cf/p 3010. TOTALS 25 0 4 0.
- 2B: T. Kephart, Mital/Hoyt
- SF: Evans
- HBP: Kunkle
- SB: Abernathy, Z. Reifer, T. Kephart, Cervenak, Mital, C. Reifer/Kunkle-2
- CS: Abernathy, Woodring
- E: Luzier-2, Butler-3
PITCHING
- Moshannon Valley: Evans-6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 13 SO, 2 BB; C. Reifer-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB.
- Curwensville: Kunkle-3.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 SO, 3 BB; Pentz-2.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 5 SO, 0 BB; Bloom-0.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB; McDermott-0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 0 BB.
W-Evans (1-0)
L-Kunkle (0-1)