MARION CENTER-With the risk of rain still in the forecast, baseball was on the docket on Friday as Curwensville once again hit the road, something they got very used to over the last several weeks. This time, the trip out to Marion Center meant a dual against the Stingers. What fans got that came out showed emotions from all over the board.
From joy, to anguish, sadness to triumph, both sides were feeling it. At the end of the afternoon, the happiness that the Golden Tide did not feel the day before had returned with a lot of passion. After falling behind midway through, they would rally to their highest run total of the year, taking the sting out of Marion Center in a 20-9 final.
The first few innings between the two squads was low scoring, and still feeling one another out. Curwensville drew the first runs in the opening inning, first on an RBI-double by Lawson Neiswender, who later in the inning then scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0. The Stingers got one of those runs back in the bottom of the second thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Cole Adamson.
Both sides scored one run each in the third, before Curwensville added to its lead in the fourth thanks to an RBI-single to center field by Cayden Pierce to make it 4-2.
Up to that point, starting pitcher, Pentz, was having himself a solid time on the hill. But, that would all change in the bottom half of the inning.
With two outs on the board, Troy Slovinsky grounded to short to plate Adamson. One batter latter, the tying and leading runs came across when Trey Slovinsky lined into right field to make it 5-4 in favor of the Stingers. Noah McCoy then doubled into right to add another run to the tally, then both McCoy and Camden Rising each crossed home when right fielder Hunter Tkacik lost the handle on a fly ball. A 4-2 Tide lead suddenly became an 8-4 deficit rather quick.
The coaching staff gathered the Tide together, reminding them of the game one day prior, and how they came back against West Branch. The talk worked as Cael Butler managed to cross home on a wild pitch to open the scoring in the fifth, then a fielder’s choice by Tkacik let Pentz cross home. Kunkle then scored on a wild pitch, and Lincoln Hoyt managed a sacrifice fly to bring Tkacik home.
The four-run rally tied the game, and Pentz did his duty in the bottom half of the inning to keep the game tied at eight.
By the end of the fifth inning, Marion Center was already looking to go to a third pitcher, while Curwensville still trusted Pentz to continue. But, Curwensville was feeling it, and felt ready to get things going once again. In the sixth inning, they did just that in a big way.
Kunkle started it off with an RBI-double to give them the lead, then Tkacik grounded up the left field line to bring home a pair of runners, giving Curwensville a bit of a cushion. After Sutika reached on an error to put runners on first and second, Hoyt put the game practically on ice.
Looking at an 0-1 pitch from Adamson, who started the inning, Hoyt blasted the ball over the left field wall for a three-run homer that gave plenty of cushion for Curwensville to play their game the remainder of the afternoon. Adamson took the loss on the day, pitching only a third of an inning but gave up six runs. By contrast, Pentz kept hurling hard as he continued through the sixth inning, and appeared ready to go the entire distance.
Before he got that opportunity, Curwensville added another six runs in the seventh, as Neiswender blasted a two-run double to center, then Hoyt hammered a two-run single into left field a few batters later. Butler kept the same theme going with his own two-run single to left, giving Curwensville their highest run total of the season, and the highest runs scored in head coach Derek Dixon’s tenure leading the Tide.
Pentz would give up one more run in the seventh due to a fielding error by Kunkle, but at that point, he also eclipsed the 100-pitch mark on the day, so Coach Dixon came out and did some rotating to finish the afternoon out.
Butler would move over from second to close it out, and thanks to a strikeout and a pop out right back to him, he gave Curwensville the win. Pentz earned his third win of the year despite giving up nine hits and nine runs, six of them earned.
Curwensville (6-9) has four games remaining on the season, and will have back-to-back days of baseball next week, as they will be back on their home field on Monday afternoon. The Tide will look to pull the sweep of the Glendale Vikings, whom they defeated in a 12-0 contest back on April 14. First pitch is tentatively set for 4:30 p.m.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 201 146 6 – 20 12 2
Marion Center 011 600 1 – 9 9 2
Curwensville – 20
Cael Butler-2b/p 3322, Connor Haag-cr 0200, Andrew Pentz-p/2b 3311, Blaine Larson-p 1000, Lawson Neiswender-1b 4333, Logan Kunkle-ss 4311, Hunter Tkacik-rf 4323, Merek Sutika-cf 4200, Lincoln Hoyt-c 4126, Cayden Pierce-3b 4011, Dante Lezzer-3b 0000, Kyler Nelen-lf 3000. TOTALS 34 20 12 17.
Marion Center – 9
Troy Slovinsky-ss 4221, Clark McKee-ph 1000, Trey Slovinsky-cf/p 3112, Noah McCoy-3b 4111, Camden Rising-rf/p 2221, Trent Slovinsky-p/rf 2000, Ethan Wells-rf 2000, Brady Haggerty-2b 3010, Cole Adamson-c/p/lf 2111, Blake Gatskie-ph 1100, Drew Runk-lf 3111, Liam Roach-p 3000, Mike Gatskie-p 0000, Isaac Reaugh-1b 0000, Trey Lewis-c 1000. TOTALS 31 9 9 7.
2B: Kunkle, Neiswender-2/Troy Slovinsky, McCoy-Rising
HR: Hoyt
HBP: Rising
SF: Pentz, Hoyt
SB: Sutika-2, Pentz-2, Kunkle-2, Tkacik, Butler-3/Trey Slovinsky, Gatskie
E: Kunkle, Tkacik/Troy Slovinsky-2
Pitching
- Curwensville: Pentz-6.1 IP, 9 H, 9 R, 6 ER, 3 SO, 3 BB; Butler-0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 BB.
- Marion Center: Trent Slovinsky-3 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; Rising-2 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 SO, 4 BB; Adamson-0.1 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; Roach-0.2 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 1 SO, 2 BB; Gatskie-0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB; Trey Slovinsky-0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB.
W-Pentz (3-3)
L-Adamson
Curwensville Golden Tide Scoreboard
03/17: HARMONY ppd. 0 – 0
03/18: at Mount Union 2 – 12, 0 – 1
03/19: HARMONY 12 – 2, 1 – 1
03/20: JUNIATA VALLEY 4 – 3, 2 – 1
03/25: at Moshannon Valley 8 – 9, 2 – 2
03/28: at Johnsonburg ppd. 2 – 2
03/29: at Johnsonburg 16 – 0, 3 – 2
03/31: REDBANK VALLEY ppd. 3 – 2
04/01: at West Branch 2 – 14, 3 – 3
04/04: REDBANK VALLEY 2 – 6, 3 – 4
04/08: WILLIAMSBURG ppd. 3 – 4
04/10: at Harmony ppd. 3 – 4
04/11: at Purchase Line ppd. 3 – 4
04/14: at Glendale 12 – 0, 4 – 4
04/16: at Claysburg-Kimmel 2 – 5, 4 – 5
04/21: at Marion Center ppd. 4 – 5
04/22: at Juniata Valley 6 – 8, 4 – 6
04/24: vs. Williamsburg 2 – 12, 4 – 7
Altoona Curve Invitational
04/25: vs. Mifflin County 0 – 13, 4 – 8
Altoona Curve Invitational
04/29: MOSHANNON VALLEY 5 – 2, 5 – 8
05/01: WEST BRANCH 9 – 18, 5 – 9
05/02: at Marion Center 20 – 9, 6 – 9
05/05: GLENDALE
05/06: at Williamsburg
05/12: WILLIAMSBURG
05/14: at Harmony
