DUBOIS — Entering Friday afternoon at Shower’s Field, the Curwensville Golden Tide had been aching to be on the baseball field in some aspect. It was May 12 when they last competed in a game. Weather has not been kind to anyone this season when it came to baseball, but when it mattered, the Tide came onto the field. In doing so, they had a major battle on their hands, entering into the District IX playoffs as the No. 4 seed in Class 2A. Their opposition in DuBois would be the No. 1 seed Moniteau Warriors.
It seemed like with how Curwensville was not on the field for so long, and the strength of the Warriors, it would be an uphill battle. But, in the words of ESPN’s Chris Berman, “that’s why they play the game.” Curwensville lit up the afternoon in a big way, finding a way to get runners not only on base, but also across the plate. The Tide got the lead early, and never let up, rolling on like a loaded locomotive to a 19-2 win that lasted only three innings.
“That was awesome. We were taking advantage of every walk, every hit batter, and then were coming up with a big, clutch hit. It seemed like every time we hit the ball, we were scoring a couple runs,” Tide head coach Derek Dixon said afterwards.
He was not wrong, because Curwensville found out that in the first inning, deuces were wild.
Cael Butler started the game as he reached on an error, then Andrew Pentz would get struck by the second pitch thrown. Lawson Neiswender, who also started the game on the bump for the Tide, cashed in following a passed ball that moved both runners. The 2-0 pitch would be grounded hard into right field to plate both runners and give Curwensville the early 2-0 lead. A pair of walks, and a pair of outs, would follow to have runners on first and second. That’s when Cayden Pierce lined into right field to plate another pair of runners.
The Tide would go through the entire lineup and went back to Butler, who launched a 2-1 pitch into left field to score another pair of runs. The Warrior faithful that came out to watch were in disbelief, and saw starting pitcher Connor Ealy be pulled after just two-thirds of an inning. Two batters later, after Dawson Cook took over pitching duties, a two-RBI single by Neiswender would make it 8-0 before finally the first strikeout was recorded, and the teams swapped sides.
Neiswender managed to see his teammates record a pair of outs early on, but when center fielder Merek Sutika dropped a fly ball by Kayne Scott, a pair of runs would cross home to cut the lead down to 8-2. But, Neiswender settled in and put on a strong run afterwards.
He would pitch the entire afternoon to get his sixth win of the season, and offensively he would have the best performance of any Tide player this season. Neiswender would record four hits in his four plate appearances, and contributed a season-high 10 RBI’s in one game.
“He was hyped up, but then got himself dialed in,” Dixon said of his pitcher. “I actually told him we were only one or two defensive plays away from getting any runs on the board.”
Curwensville would get rolling early in the second when Lincoln Hoyt singled into left to plate Hunter Tkacik, then Butler ground to third and reached on an error that allowed courtesy runner Cooper Haag to cross home. Two batters later, Neiswender decided to make the game truly out of reach.
Bases loaded, and only one ball to his tally, Neiswender went opposite field to right and cleared everyone off the bag, a three-run doublt that put the 10-run rule into effect in a big way. At the midway point in the second, the 13-2 score meant that a short game was already shaping up, and Moniteau was still searching for answers.
“It’s hard to simulate game-style pitching when you’re at the cages, but we’ve been doing nothing but hitting the last two days with this weather,” Dixon said. “We said before the game, if we were going to win, we needed to score a pile of runs. It’s clear we did that.”
It kept getting worse for the Warriors as they faced loaded bases in the top of the third, and Kyler Nelen managed to get a run in as he reached on an error when Ian Ross not only couldn’t get a quick grip on the ball, but also seemed indecisive as to what base to throw to. A bases-loaded walk to Pentz plated the 15th run, and that brought Neiswender back up with bases still loaded.
He would not disappoint, driving a 2-0 pitch to deep center that cleared the bases for another three-run double to make it 18-2. An RBI-single by Logan Kunkle would bring courtesy runner Trenton Best home for the 19th run on the afternoon, forcing Moniteau to find a way to plate two runs of its own in one inning just to keep the game moving.
A pop out by Ealy put the first out on the tally, then Cook ground into a fielder’s choice for the second out. With runners on first and second, Scott took a shot at the first pitch he saw, sending the ball straight up. A trio of Tide players were in the area, but Tkacik waved them off and hauled in the final out, almost colliding with Hoyt, who came over from his catcher position to go for the catch. The catch closed out an unprecedented game that moves Curwensville into the Class 2A championship.
At the time, Dixon did not know who his team would be facing as the other semi-final was to follow the Tide-Warriors contest. But, he did know of the location, and was happy that his team did not have to make a long haul compared to a year ago.
“DuBois is certainly a lot closer than Butler, since it’s just a 20-minute bus ride. We’re just excited to be playing. That’s one thing we said from the get-go; we want to be playing on Memorial Day,” Dixon said.
Curwensville (10-9) will play at Showers Field on Monday afternoon, on Memorial Day, against the No. 2-seeded Redbank Valley Bulldogs. The Bulldogs made the championship game in walk-off fashion against the Kane Wolves, 1-0. These two teams have met once before on the year, with the Tide falling to the Bulldogs, 6-2, back on April 4.
First pitch will be at 12 Noon at Showers Field in Dubois.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 856 – 19 10 2
Moniteau 200 – 2 1 5
Curwensville – 19
Cael Butler-2b 4313, Andrew Pentz-rf 1201, Lawson Neiswender-p 414(10), Trenton Best-cr 0100, Logan Kunkle-ss 3111, Hunter Tkacik-1b 3210, Merek Sutika-cf 2200, Lincoln Hoyt-c 2011, Cooper Haag-cr 0200, Cayden Pierce-3b 2212, Kyler Nelen-lf 2311. TOTALS 23 19 10 19.
Moniteau – 2
Connor Ealy-p/1b 1100, Ian Ross-2b/ss 2010, Dawson Cook-ss/p 2100, Weston Cook-c 1000, Carson Minnear-cr 0000, Kayne Scott-1b/p/2b 2000, Alex James-cf 1000, Derrik Creedon Moyer-3b 1000, Kameron Hershey-rf 1000, Brennan Kelly-lf 1000. TOTALS 12 2 1 0.
2B: Neiswender-2, Butler, Pierce
HBP: Pentz, Tkacik, Pierce/W. Cook
SB: Tkacik
E: Sutika, Kunkle/Ross-2, Kelly, Creedon Moyer-2
Pitching
- Curwensville: Neiswender-3 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB.
- Moniteau: Ealy-0.2 IP, 3 H, 8 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 3 BB; D. Cook-1.1 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 3 BB; Scott-1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB.
W-Neiswender (6-3)
L-Ealy
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 cancelled 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 ppd. 6 – 9
05/06: at Williamsburg 14 – 1, 7 – 9
05/07: GLENDALE 7 – 3, 8 – 9
05/12: WILLIAMSBURG 4 – 1, 9 – 9
05/14: at Harmony cancelled, 9 – 9
05/23: vs. Moniteau 19 – 2, 10 – 9
District IX Class 2A Semi-Final (in Dubois)
05/26: vs. Redbank Valley
District IX Class 2A Championship (in Dubois)
