DUBOIS — Despite the weather not being the most pleasant for a majority of the morning, the Curwensville Golden Tide were still playing baseball on Saturday afternoon. The West Branch Warriors were coming in for competition, but rather than be at the Curwensville High School, this game got moved to DuBois to allow play on the turf, no matter the weather.
After having the bats come alive one day earlier, it was a drastic contrast on this day. A close game for a majority of the contest was what fans got, but the Warriors took advantage late to take down Curwensville, 9-0.
Both teams did not have many hits on the day, combining for just five in the field of play. West Branch’s Lukas Colton got the first hit of the day in the first inning, an RBI-single that ground its way to left field to put the Warriors on the board. The second run of the game an inning later came without a hit, as a sacrifice fly by Zach McGonigal brought Coby Kephart to the plate to make it 2-0.
Curwensville tried to keep things close, but could not find a groove the entire afternoon. Starting pitcher Gavin McDermott had a strong day on the hill in one aspect, only giving up the two initial runs. But, the issue for Curwensville was that the Tide could not find the strike zone. Combined, all pitchers for the Tide walked 13 batters on the day, compared to just one for the Warriors.
McDermott ultimately took the loss on the afternoon.
The Warriors opened things up in the fifth inning, starting with an RBI-single by Colton. Three batters later, a second sacrifice fly would make the score 4-0, but with two outs on the tally. That is when the wheels began falling off as a pair of walks to Tyler Wilson and Kephart loaded the bases for relief pitcher Merek Sutika. He then walked Matt Eirich, McGonigal, Isaac Tiracorda, and Colton for a quad of unearned runs. What was a 4-0 gap suddenly doubled as pitching woes continued for the Tide.
For West Branch, Luke Liptak kept his undefeated season intact with a six and one-third inning effort, walking one and striking out eight.
The final run of the day came in the sixth when Kephart struck an RBI-double to center field, allowing Nick Parks to round the bases to set the final.
It will be a few days of rest for Curwensville (5-9) as they are not back on the field until Tuesday afternoon when they make the trip to Moshannon Valley for a battle against the Black Knights.
SCORE BY INNING
West Branch 110 061 0 – 9 3 2
Curwensville 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
West Branch – 9
Isaac Tiracorda-c 1201, Lukas Colton-ss 4123, Luke Liptak-p 4000, Dylan McGonigal-p 0000, Brody Rothrock-lf 4100, Noah Emigh-lf 0000, Nick Parks-1b 1101, Tyler Wilson-3b 2100, Coby Kephart-cf 1211, Matt Eirich-rf 2101, Logan Liptak-rf 0000, Zach McGonigal-2b 2002. TOTALS 21 9 3 9.
Curwensville – 0
Grant Swanson-rf 3000, Tristan Wills-rf 1000, Cael Butler-ss/p 3000, Andrew Pentz-2b/ss 3010, Merek Sutika-cf/p 3000, Lawson Neiswender-1b 3010, Lincoln Hoyt-c 2000, Dante Lezzer-c 0000, Connoer Luzier-3b/p 3000, Kyler Nelen-lf 1000, Cayden Pierce-3b 1000, Gavin McDermott-p/cf 3000. TOTALS 26 0 2 0.
- 2B: Kephart/Neiswender
- HBP: Tiracorda-2/Nelen
- SF: Z. McGonigal, Parks
- SB: Kephart, Rothrock, Parks, Tiracorda, Colton/Pentz
- CS: Wilson
- E: Colton, Lu. Liptak/Pentz, Butler
PITCHING
- West Branch: Lu. Liptak-6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 8 SO, 1 BB; D. McGonigal-0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB.
- Curwensville: McDermott-4 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 SO, 6 BB; Sutika-0.2 IP, 1 H, 6 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 3 BB; Luzier-0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 3 BB; Butler-2.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB.
W-Lu. Liptak (7-0)
L-McDermott (0-1)
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 @ Tourney vs. Altoona 0 – 16 3 – 5
4/19 @ Tourney vs. Tyrone 2 – 4 3 – 6
4/23 JUNIATA VALLEY 11 – 9 4 – 6
4/23 JUNIATA VALLEY 2 – 4 4 – 7
4/25 MT. UNION 0 – 18 4 – 8
4/26 HARMONY 13 – 0 5 – 8
4/27 WEST BRANCH 0 – 9 5 – 9
4/30 @ Mo Valley
5/02 @ West Branch
5/03 PURCHASE LINE
5/07 WILLIAMSBURG
5/08 @ Glendale
5/15 @ Harmony
