ALEXANDRIA — The trip south for the Curwensville Golden Tide to hit the baseball diamond to face off with Juniata Valley ended with unanswered questions. The Hornets and Golden Tide went seven innings, battling to a 9-9 score.
At that point, the coaching staff on each side got together to discuss the best option for the two teams considering the time, and visibility. In the end, the staff elected that the game would be completed, but not for another month. The two teams will finish the game prior to the second meeting between the two on April 23 at Curwensville. The first meeting will pick up at the top of the eighth inning with Merek Sutika at the plate.
Curwensville was down 4-0 after two innings before Lawson Neiswender grounded out to allow Gavin McDermott to score. The Tide added two more runs in the fourth to shrink the lead down to a single run. The Tide took the lead in the fifth when Neiswender took a 3-1 pitch and blasted a line drive over the left field wall. Andrew Pentz then tripled before Logan Kunkle’s RBI-single brought him home. The Hornets got the run back in the bottom half of the inning, but the Tide answered right back when Blaine Witherite, pinch hitting for Kyler Nelen, hit the second homer of the afternoon over the left field wall. Pentz hit an RBI-single to make it 7-5.
Juniata Valley got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on a bases-loaded hit by pitch.
The seventh inning is when it got interesting as Curwensville looked to put the game away as daylight was beginning to fade. A fielder’s choice by McDermott brought in one run, and a bases-loaded walk made the score 9-6.
Juniata Valley would get back on the board with its own bases-loaded walk to make it 9-7. A hit batsman then made it 9-8 with only one out on the board. A bases loaded walk there after made it 9-9 before Curwensville got out of the inning on a pop fly and a strikeout.
Curwensville (0-1) will finish out the first week of the season with a second road trip, this time to face Claysburg-Kimmel on Thursday. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.
