DUBOIS – In many other sports, Wednesday’s District IX Class AA Semifinal could be described as a tale of two halves. However, Curwensville was able to hold off Karns City’s late push for the 12-11 victory to put them in the championship game on Monday.
The Lady Tide raced off to a 7-1 lead after four innings but were outscored 10-5 over the last three innings to keep everyone guessing about the outcome until the last out was recorded. The Gremlins tallied four runs in the bottom of the seventh and had the tying run on second when a soft liner to second baseman Addison Warren ended the contest.
“It got dicey there at the finish, but we kept competing to the end,” Tide Coach Allen Leigey stated. “We made it to the finish line. That goal was met.”
Curwensville, as the third seed, came prepared to put the ball in-play as all nine spots in the line-up recorded at least one hit. Addison Siple finished the day with a 4-for-5 mark at the plate with a double and three RBI, and Natalie Wischuck pounded out three doubles and drove in four runs. Addison Butler (with a triple), Warren, Ava Hainsey, Sydney Simcox (with a double), Briah Peoples and Jenna McCartney all had two hits. Ava Olosky’s single was one of five first inning hits that accounted for a 2-0 lead from the start.
3-for-3 offensive performance in the D-IX semifinal game. All three hits in
the 12-11 win over Karns City were doubles. Gremlin catcher Jada Polczynski
and umpire Colleen Shannon had the best view of the hits.
“I told the girls to look at the scoreboard after the game,” Leigey said. “It was the 20 hits that won the game, and we could have had more if not for a couple of mistakes.”
The Gremlins were able to slap out 12 hits, many in a small-ball capacity via the bunt. However, they were able to drive out five hits in the fifth inning to pile up five runs to set the score at 7-6 in favor of the Tide.
“I asked the girls to get me a couple runs back in the sixth and they got me four,” Leigey pointed out. “I can’t take anything away from Karns City. They battled down to the last out.”
Karns City used just three hits in the final two frames to score five runs as Curwensville committed four errors in that span.
“We just seemed unwilling to take the easy outs in that last inning,” Leigey noted. “Fortunately, we pushed the runs across that we needed to get the win.”
In the top of the seventh, McCartney opened with a single. McCartney was able to move to second with two outs before Siple drove her home with her fourth hit of the day to set the score at 12-8 at the time.
Curwensville (16-5) will play at 11 AM on Monday at Heindl Field in DuBois for the Class AA Championship. The Tide will play either Cranberry or Moniteau, pending the outcome of Thursday’s other semifinal match-up.
Score by Innings R H E
Curwensville – 230 204 1 12 19 5
Karns City – 001 051 4 11 12 2
CURWENSVILLE – 12
(C) Addison Butler 5220, (2B) Addison Warren 5221, (P) Siple 5443, (RF) Natalie Wischuck 4234, (CF) Ava Olosky 4010, (3B) Ava Hainsey 4122, (LF) Sydney Simcox 4022, (SS) Briah Peoples 4020, (1B) Jenna McCartney 3120, TOTALS: AB 38, R 12, H 20, RBI 12.
KARNS CITY – 11
(2B) Lyrik Reed 5223, (P) Addison Burrows 4121, (C) Jada Polczynski 4101, (1B) Aubrey Taylor 4110, (3B) Nichole Taylor 4131, (SS) Nichole Huff 4101, (DP) Emily Sherman 1010, (DP) Ronni Radaker 2321, (LF) Haley Sherman 4110, (CF) Addison Fox 3000, (Flex/RF) Maddison Gibson 0000, TOTALS: AB 35, R 11, H 12, RBI 8.
Pitching IP H R ER SO BB WP
Curwensville – W – Siple 7 12 11 7 8 2 1
Karns City – L – Burrows 7 20 12 10 0 2 0
Batting
3B – Curwensville: Butler; Karns City: N. Taylor, A. Burrows. 2B – Curwensville: Wishchuck 3, Siple, Simcox; Karns City: A. Taylor. SB – Curwensville: Wischuck, Butler, Olosky, Siple; Karns City: Radaker, Polczynski, N, Taylor, Reed 2, H, Sherman, Huff. E – Curwensville: Siple, Hainsey, McCartney, Peoples, Butler; Karns City: Gibson, H, Sherman, DP – Karns City 2.
SCHEDULE
MARCH Score W-L
25 @Moshannon Valley 9 – 0 1-0
26 Juniata Valley 7 – 6 2-0
APRIL
9 Williamsburg 5 – 0 3-0
15 Purchase Line 11 – 1 4-0
16 @Glendale 5 – 4 5-0
18 @Claysburg-Kimmel 0 – 6 5-1
20 Glendale 2 – 0 6-1
22 @Juniata Valley 3 – 7 6-2
23 Brockway 17 – 1 7-2
Brockway 12 – 0 8-2
25 @Mount Union 5 -11 8-3
27 North Star 16 – 1 9-3
North Star 15 – 0 10-3
29 @Purchase Line 12 – 0 11-3
30 Moshannon Valley 15 – 0 12-3
MAY
2 West Branch 0 – 8 12-4
6 @ Union/Allegheny-
Clarion Valley 12 – 3 13-4
7 @Williamsburg 7 – 2 14-4
13 @West Branch 0 – 6 14-5
14 Redbank Valley 1 – 0 15-5
District IX Class AA Semi-final Game @Heindl Field, Dubois
22 Karns City 12-11 16-5