CURWENSVILLE — The sunny skies on Thursday afternoon welcomed fans to the Curwensville Area High School and it was a welcome sight for all as the Tide were back on the baseball diamond. In the midst of a four-game homestand, the Golden Tide welcomed in the Mount Union Trojans for a battle under the bright blue skies above.
The game that ensued did not last long as the Tide were held in check for the entire contest. At the same time, the Trojans were on a tear as if they were in battle with shields and swords instead of gloves and bats. In the end, the visitors only needed three innings to get the job done, handing Curwensville an 18-0 shutout loss that stung extremely hard for all in attendance.
Mount Union started the afternoon with a quick score in the opening inning. Cainen Atherton blasted a 2-1 shot on a liner into left field. The blast allowed Landon Chrisemer to round his own way from second to the plate, allowing an RBI-double to get the Trojans on the board. A walk by Blaine Hunsinger and a single by Dylan Shawver loaded the bases against starting pitcher Logan Kunkle. Bryce Danish took advantage as he took the first pitch up the third base line for a two-RBI double that brought in a pair of runs. With runners on the corners, Cody McClain decided to have a similar scenario, as he had a two-RBI double into center field, making it 5-0 after one inning.
The visitors continued their scoring ways in the second inning, first scoring on an error by Cael Butler. Two batters later, a ground out did put the second out on the board, but Atherton managed to cross home.
Danish was next to bat, and he would make the biggest hit of the afternoon. On an 0-1 pitch, he took the swing and the ball sailed all the way to the center field wall, making its way over the fence and up the hill. The two-run blast made the score 9-0, and Mount Union was not letting up. The bats for the Trojans led to 13 hits on the afternoon.
Curwensville, by contrast, never could get things going at the plate. The lone hit for the Tide on the afternoon came in the second inning from Lawson Neiswender, but he would not make it to second as next batter Grant Swanson would hit the ball up the middle, however shortstop Jamon Ranck scooped it up for a 6-4-3 double play. That was the only hit on the stat line for McClain, who pitched all three innings and struck out three.
The third inning would put the mercy rule into effect on both levels as Mount Union plated nine.
An error by Butler, one of three on the day, allowed Ranck to reach first to start the inning. Ranck stole second during the next at-bat, then a balk by relief pitcher Lincoln Hoyt moved him to third. Atherton then singled to right field for the RBI to make it 10-0. Back-to-back struck batters loaded the bases, and that let Danish get a pair of RBI’s thanks to a blast into left field. A bases-loaded walk to Wyatt Chrisemer made it 13-0. The next at-bat was Levi Hunsinger, and he would make another big play.
The 1-2 pitch would get ground into left field, and a pair of runs crossed home plate to make the score 15-0. Two consecutive hit batsmen with the bases loaded, then an RBI-single by Davin Yocum set the final.
The bottom of the inning saw three straight outs, and at that point the game was called based on the 15-run after three innings Mercy Rule..
For the Tide, Logan Kunkle got tagged with the loss, pitching one and two-thirds innings, but yielded nine runs, five of them earned, while walking two batters and no strikeouts.
Curwensville’s week is packed with games, as they will take a 4-8 record into Friday when they play host to Harmony. First pitch is set for 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Mount Union 549 – 18 13 0
Curwensville 000 – 0 1 3
Mount Union – 18
Jamon Ranck-ss 3220, Brady Bilger-cr 0100, Landon Chrisemer-cf 3100, Julian Weirich-rf 0001, Cainen Atherton-dh 3322, Abe Weirich-c 0001, Blaine Hunsinger-3b 1310, Davin Yocum-ph 1011, Caleb Whitsel-3b/cr 0000, Dylan Shawver-2b 2211, Lhaden Brown-2b 1000, Bryce Danish-lf 3336, Zane Chrisemer-lf 1000, Cody McClain-p 3122, Wyatt Chrisemer-rf 1101, Nasir Collins-cf 0000, George Bilger-1b 2000, Levi Hunsinger-1b 1112. TOTALS 25 18 13 17.
Curwensville – 0
Logan Kunkle-p/ss 1000, Lincoln Hoyt-p 0000, Cael Butler-ss/p 1000, Andrew Pentz-dh 1000, Merek Sutika-lf 1000, Lawson Neiswender-1b 1010, Grant Swanson-rf 1000, Connor Luzier-2b 1000, Caleb Pierce-3b 1000, Gavin McDermott-cf 1000. TOTALS 9 0 1 0.
- 2B: Atherton, Danish, McClain, L. Hunsinger
- HR: Danish
- HBP: J. Weirich, Shawver, A. Weirich, B. Hunsinger, Bilger
- SB: Atherton, C. Chrisemer, B. Hunsinger, Ranck-2
- E: Butler-3
PITCHING
- Mount Union: McClain-3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 SO, 0 BB.
- Curwensville: Kunkle-1.2 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 5 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; Hoyt-0.2 IP, 3 H, 9 R, 2 ER, 1 SO 1 BB; Butler-0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB.
W-McClain (3-2)
L-Kunkle (1-3)