GLENDALE– Momentum is a major factor in baseball because teams can get hot and either stay that way, or the spark suddenly goes away and the struggle to find it again can be challenging. The Curwensville Golden Tide struggled for a while this season in trying to find that momentum, but as the season progressed, it began showing. The last five games for the Tide have only seen two losses, both being shutout losses to West Branch. Hoping to keep a strong pace to the end of the year, Curwensville traveled to Glendale on Wednesday afternoon.
Much like the prior day, one team got out to an early lead, but the opposition came back to secure the victory in the late innings. It is a case of deja vu, but with a slight difference as Glendale got out to the early lead. But, rather than Curwensville come back to tie it and falling late, the Tide rallied off a string of unanswered runs, capturing a 7-3 victory to put them one game below .500.
Glendale got the scoring started in the second inning. With two outs on the tally, the Vikings drew back-to-back walks from starting pitcher Andrew Pentz, then James Shaw ground a single up the gap between first and second, allowing James Jenkins to get across the plate. Frank Visnofsky would reach on an error by Logan Kunkle, which plated Landon McGarvey to make it 2-0.
In the third, a fielder’s choice from James Jenkins put a second out on the board, but did bring Levi Hamilton home to make it 3-0. That was the same score that Curwensville had a day prior against Williamsburg, but it was the Tide that had the lead in that instance.
For the Vikings, those three runs were going to be all that they would get, as Pentz and the Curwensville defense would make plays to ensure no other runs were coming.
An RBI-single by Lawson Neiswender in the fourth would be the first run of a rally that spanned the next three innings.
In the fifth, a fielding error from starting pitcher Troy Misiura allowed Gavin McDermott across home. Neiswender hit a ground ball to third that turned into a fielder’s choice, but Cael Butler made it home to tie up the game. One batter later, designated hitter Hunter Tkacik lived up to his designation as he singled on a grounder to center field, plating both Kunkle and Pentz to give Curwensville the lead.
That would be a lead that Curwensville never surrendered, as Pentz finished out a six and one-third inning performance where he gave up only three runs, while striking out four.
By contrast, Misiura had what could be considered the best pitching performance of the day, as he hurled five innings on the hill for the Vikings, striking out 10 batters. However, it would come in a losing effort as he gave up the five runs to put Curwensville in the lead.
The Tide added two more runs in the sixth, first coming on an RBI-double from Lincoln Hoyt, then Pentz followed it up with an RBI-single into center to bring Hoyt home, setting the final.
Curwensville (9-10) will get a long layoff before they play the regular-season finale, giving a chance to the team to recoup and all the pitchers to have fresh arms. The final game of the slate is next Wednesday when the Tide travel to face the Harmony Owls. It was back on April 26 when the first meeting between these two squads took place, which resulted in a 13-0 victory for the Tide after Curwensville plated 12 runs in one inning.
First pitch will be at 4 p.m. in Harmony.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 000 142 0 – 7 8 2
Glendale 021 000 0 – 3 6 1
Curwensville – 7
Cael Butler-2b 2100, Lincoln Hoyt-c/p 4111, Andrew Pentz-p 4221, Dante Lezzer-c 0000, Logan Kunkle-ss 4111, Lawson Neiswender-1b 3012, Hunter Tkacik-dh 4012, Merek Sutika 3000, Kyler Nelen-rf 4000, Gavin McDermott-lf 4220. TOTALS 32 7 8 7.
Glendale – 3
Brison Davis-cf 3020, Troy Misiura-p/ss 3000, Connor Potutsching-c 4010, Levi Hamilton-ss/p 4110, Devin Kaufmann-3b 3000, James Jenkins-lf 3101, Landon McGarvey-2b 3100, James Shaw-1b-2021, Frank Vesnofsky-dh 3000. TOTALS 28 3 6 2.
- 2B: Pentz, Hoyt
- HBP: Butler/Misiura, Kaufmann
- SB: Potutsching, Hamilton
- CS: Shaw
- E: Kunkle, Luzier/Misiura
PITCHING
- Curwensville: Pentz-6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 4 SO, 4 BB; Hoyt-0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB.
- Glendale: Misiura-5 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 10 SO, 3 BB; Hamilton-2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB.
W-Pentz (6-3)
L-Misiura
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 9 – 2 6 – 9
5/02 @ West Branch 0 – 10 6 – 10
5/03 PURCHASE LINE 5 – 2 7 – 10
5/07 WILLIAMSBURG 5 – 3 8 – 10
5/08 @ Glendale 7 – 3 9 – 10
5/15 @ Harmony
