BUTLER — Being the underdog is both a blessing and a curse, because on the one hand being the team that has nothing to lose means no matter what happens, it all gets left on the field. At the same time, that increases the pressure to be the one to upset what some call the superior opponent. It has happened, considering the Steelers were the only No. 6 seed to win all road games against better opponents to take home the Super Bowl XL win. Entering Tuesday, the Curwensville Golden Tide were the definitive underdog in the second round of the District 9 AA playoffs, as they would take on the No. 1 seed Karns City Gremlins.
Battling at a neutral site, Pullman Park in Butler, Curwensville was up for the task. But, Karns City proved why they were a two-loss team this season, holding the Tide to four hits, and halting their 2024 season with a 6-1 loss.
The Gremlins got on the board quickly as lead-off batter Hobie Bartoe got hit on a full-count pitch by Lawson Neiswender. One batter later, after stealing second, Tyler Kelly loaded the count once again and then blasted a liner into center field. Bartoe made his way around from second to put the opening run on the board, which ultimately would be the lone lead change on the afternoon. Kelly made his way home on a passed ball while Adam Manuel was at the plate, but the two-run inning was enough to have Curwensville have to battle from a deficit.
Karns City added another pair of runs in the second, starting with an RBI-single by Koen Williams. One batter later, a wild pitch by relief pitcher Gavin McDermott allowed Joey O’Donnell to cross home. After two innings, the Tide started to see their season fade away.
Neiswender started the day on the hill, but only lasted one and a third innings, giving up the first four runs of the afternoon, and getting tagged with the loss on the day.
By contrast, starting pitcher Jacob Jones was having himself a solid afternoon on the bump for the Gremlins. He would pitch four innings, striking out six and giving up one hit to earn the victory for Karns City.
The Gremlins would add even more insurance runs in the third and fourth innings. Jones helped his own cause in the third when he looked down a 2-0 pitch, and blasted the ball over the left field wall for a solo home run to bring the Karns City faithful to their feet. One inning later, the theme of an earned run being followed up with a slight miscue continued. A wild pitch by McDermott allowed O’Donnell to cross home, putting the Gremlins at six runs and enough of a gap that the Tide were in a tough position to come back.
The lone run for Curwensville came in the top of the sixth inning, an RBI-single by Hunter Tkacik to plate Cael Butler, which set the final.
Curwensville’s 2024 season saw the team have early success, then struggle, but ultimately finish on a strong run of games to achieve their best record in the last several years. The Tide finish 2024 with an 11-11 record.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 000 001 0 – 1 4 1
Karns City 221 100 X – 6 6 1
Curwensville – 1
Cael Butler-2b/p 4110, Merek Sutika-cf 2000, Andrew Pentz-dh/2b 3000, Logan Kunkle-ss 3020, Lawson Neiswender-p/1b 3000, Hunter Tkacik-1b/lf 2011, Lincoln Hoyt-c 3000, Kyler Nelen-rf 2000, Grant Swanson-rf 1000, Gavin McDermott-lf/p 2000, Blaine Witherite-ph 1000. TOTALS 26 1 4 1.
Karns City – 6
Hobie Bartoe-cf 3110, Tyler Kelly-rf 4111, Jacob Jones-p/lf 2111, Troy Nagel-c 3010, Adam Manuel-1b 2000, Mason Sherwin-ss 2000, Tyson Frasier-dh 1100, Colton Christie-p 1000, Koen Williams-3b 3121, Joey O’donnell-2b 2100. TOTALS 23 6 6 3.
- HR: Jones
- HBP: Bartoe, O’donnell
- SB: Bartoe-2, Jones, Manuel, Williams-2
- E: McDermott/O’donnell
PITCHING
- Curwensville: Neiswender-1.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB; McDermott-3 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 3 BB; Butler-1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB.
- Karns City: Jones-4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 SO, 1 BB; Christie-3 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB.
W-Jones
L-Neiswender
FINAL 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 10 – 6 10 – 10
5 /20 D9 AA Playoffs BROCKWAY 7 – 4 11 – 10
5/21 vs. Karns City @ Pullman Park 1 – 6 11 – 11