ALTOONA — A rather unique afternoon first-pitch welcomed the Curwensville Golden Tide on Thursday. Very unique for a school day to have a game in the early afternoon, but The Curve Classic was on tap for the Tide as they made the hour-long drive into Altoona for a battle against the Mountain Lions.
This game was over early, quickly, and in frustrating fashion as Curwensville was held scoreless, while one inning was enough to ensure an early finish as Altoona took the contest, 16-0.
Everything went downhill in the opening inning as Curwensville, designated in the tournament as the home team, struggled mightily. Starting pitcher Logan Kunkle gave up an opening walk on four consecutive pitches. The next at bat saw Breenan Freiwald hit a single to right field to bring Dante LaRocco, who had stolen second base, home for the opening run. A pair of singles would load the bases, but Lawson Neiswender would stop a run from scoring when Nick Kraft grounded into a fielder’s choice as Neisewender hurled the ball to the plate for Lincoln Holt, getting the out, but leaving the bases still loaded. Unfortunately, the next at-bat for Caleb Sanders would be tough for the Tide as an error by third baseman Caleb Pierce would result in a pair of runs crossing the plate.
Four more runs followed with a quad of RBI-singles from Aaron Spearman, Will Sankey, Connor Sanders and LaRocco, who returned to the plate after the entire lineup would be ran through. Two more runs came on another error as Tanner Stroup made it to first while both LaRocco and Caleb Sanders each came home. A sacrifice fly by Kraft would allow Stroup to make it home for the tenth run of the inning.
On the opposite side of the ball, Altoona was dealing on defense as Gavin Albright was having a day on the hill. He pitched all five innings, striking out seven and only giving up a pair of hits, earning the win on the afternoon.
After securing another run in the second inning, the Mountain Lions added three more in the fourth. Another sacrifice fly allowed Smearman to score. Two batters latter, Sam Royer had the biggest hit of the day, blasting a 2-1 pitch on a line into left field that made it all the way to the wall. The ball didn’t go over, but the play resulted in a two-RBI triple to make it 14-0.
The final two runs of the day came in the fifth inning, both on bases-loaded walks, to set the final.
Kunkle took the loss on the day, dropping his season record to 1-2, as he only went two innings, giving up 10 hits and the first 11 runs.
Curwensville (3-5) is slated to play the Tyrone Golden Eagles in the consolation game on Friday. First pitch is set for 12:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Altoona (10)10 32 – 16 13 0
Curwensville 000 00 – 0 2 3
Altoona – 10
Dante LaRocco-cf 1211, Riley Wilson-cf 1002, Brennan Freiwald-2b 2121, Blake Nicolini-2b 1002, Tanner Stroup-1b 2212, Sam Royer-1b 3012, Eric McAllister-rf 3121, Nick Craft-dh 2101, Nick Boslet-ph 1110, Caleb Sanders-3b 3202, Joseph Speece-3b 0000, Aaron Smearman-ss 3221, Logan Meyers-ss 1100, Will Sankey-lf 2121, Ryan McConnell-lf 1100, Connor Sanders-c 1211, Trenton Freidenberger-c/rf 1000, Caleb Gibson-c 1000. TOTALS 29 16 13 17.
Curwensville – 0
Logan Kunkle-p/ss 1000, Cael Butler-ss/rf 2000, Grant Swanson-rf 0000, Andrew Pentz-2b 2000, Merek Sutika-rf/cf 1000, Hunter Tkacik-dh 2010, Lincoln Hoyt-c 2000, Dante Lezzer-c 0000, Lawson Neiswender-1b 2000, Kyler Nelen-lf 2000, Gavin McDermott-cf/p 1010, Caleb Bloom-p 1000, Blaine Witherite ph 1000. TOTALS 16 0 2 0.
- 2B: McAllister
- 3B: Moyer
- HBP: Ca. Sanders
- SF: Kraft, Wilson
- SB: LaRocco, Smearman, Sankey
- E: Kunkle, Butler, Pierce
PITCHING
- Altoona: Albright-5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 7 SO, 2 BB.
- Curwensville: Kunkle-2 IP, 10 H, 11 R, 6 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; McDermott-2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB; Bloom-1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 SO, 4 BB.
W-Albright (1-0)
L-Kunkle (1-2)
GOLDEN TIDE SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
3/18 BROCKWAY ppd. 0 – 0
3/21 @ Juniata Valley ppd. 0 – 0
3/25 MO VALLEY 0 – 10 0 – 1
3/26 @ Juniata Valley 9 – 9, susp. 0 – 1
3/28 @ Claysburg-Kimmel 1 – 5 0 – 2
4/02 BROCKWAY ppd. 0 – 2
4/04 WEST BRANCH ppd. 0 – 2
4/06 @ Union 0 – 13 0 – 3
4/09 @ Wiliamsburg 4 – 1 1 – 3
4/11 @ Brockway 3 – 2, susp. 1 – 3
4/13 @ Harmony ppd. 1 – 3
4/15 @ Brockway 10 – 2 2 – 3
4/15 BROCKWAY 8 – 2 3 – 3
4/16 GLENDALE 7 – 14 3 – 4
4/18 @ Curve Classic Tourney vs. Altoona 0 – 16 3 – 5
4/19 @ Curve Classic Tourney – TBD
4/23 JUNIATA VALLEY
4/25 MT. UNION
4/26 HARMONY
4/27 WEST BRANCH
4/30 @ Mo Valley
5/02 @ West Branch
5/03 PURCHASE LINE
5/07 WILLIAMSBURG
5/08 @ Glendale