CURWENSVILLE-Baseball is a game where one moment can give confidence to every player in the dugout, and just as quickly it can evaporate. That is exactly the kind of game that Golden Tide fans got to witness on Tuesday afternoon when Curwensville played host to the West Branch Warriors. At one point, the game was well in hand for the Tide, with solid pitching and a roster that was connecting on the ball when necessary.
All that momentum nearly blew away much like the wind across the field, as West Branch rallied late to put the Tide in a tough spot. However, the grit and determination the Tide had, and the heart to keep fighting, allowed them to hold onto an 11-9 victory to increase the season record to 4-0.
Head coach Derek Dixon was happy with his team’s effort, as they at one point held a seven-run advantage. He noted how the team, despite having difficulty at certain points, still had trouble closing the game out when needed.
“We just said that in our huddle; when we get a team down like that, we need to put them away,” Dixon said. “It was a fairly tight strike zone throughout the entire game; we just had trouble finding the zone on occasion.”
Lawson Neiswender, the Tide ace, was not at his best to start the game, as he faced a bases-loaded scenario with two outs after a pair of walks and Nick Parks doubling to center. But Dylan McGonigal popped the ball high into foul territory on an 0-2 offering, and with the ball still within the field of play, Dante Lezzer nabbed the third out to swap sides.
Curwensville got the scoring going in the bottom of the inning with a two-RBI double by Gavin McDermott to left field, bringing in Breck Finn and Cooper Haag, who came in as a courtesy runner for Lincoln Hoyt so he can get his catcher’s gear on. Unfortunately, the lead did not last as the Warriors answered right back in the second inning.
A two-RBI double by Kaleb Warren-Rio tied things up, then Caleb Hudson sacrificed an out in order to plate Coby Kephart. Parks then doubled on a liner to left to make it 4-2.
The Tide were struggling to find connection on the ball as Kephart kept them guessing throughout the initial innings, and when they were getting contact, the ball was sailing in a different direction. Dixon noted how a few of those hits would have been able to stay in the field of play to get a hit on any other day, but the wind was pushing many hits away from the line.
It wasn’t until the bottom of the fifth inning when Curwensville suddenly found itself in prime position.
With Cael Butler on second, Neiswender helped his own cause on a grounder to second, but Hansen Lannen misjudged the grab, and the ball went right off his glove. Butler rolled home to cut the lead to one run. Two batters later, Neiswender came home on an RBI-double by McDermott to tie the game. Hudson was then seeing his lead fade as Preston Perks walked to load the bases. He then walked Trenton Best, and Curwensville was back out front.
It went from bad to worse as Kyler Nelen lined to right field to plate a pair of runs to make it 7-4. At that point, Justin Esposti came in to take over pitching duties. In the end, Hudson got dinged with the loss in a four and two-thirds inning outing, giving up seven runs.
It did not go as planned for Esposti, as he gave up a walk, then a two-run fielder’s choice by Finn made it 9-4. Neiswender then in his second time at the plate during the inning ground to left for a pair of runs to score. Nine runs in the inning put Curwensville ahead 11-4, and ignited the entire dugout to do their job in the next inning to close it out.
“When it finally came we were getting the ball down in the grass. We also ran the bases well, getting an extra base every chance we could,” Dixon said.
In the sixth inning, Hunter Passmore came in to take over for Neiswender as he was nearing 100 pitches, and the team did the work to get through the inning with no runs scored.
The seventh inning was a stark contrast.
Finn came in after Passmore saw a walk, a single, and a struck batter load the bases. He gave up a walk to plate Frank Leskovansky, then a two-run single by Lannen cut the lead down to four runs, and still no outs on the board.
An infield fly got the first out, but Hudson managed to get one run in on a single to short, despite Kephart getting tagged out at second. It left runners on the corners, until Parks lined into right field for an RBI-single to cut the lead to two runs, and put the tying run on base.
The coaches came out to settle Finn down, letting him know he was still capable of finishing what they all started. It did not go well as Leskovansky got hit to load the bases.
With McGonigal at the plate, his teammates told him to only focus on the batter, as any base was in play to end the inning. Two balls, and two strikes later, McGonigal connected to short. Best scooped the ball, and instead of risking an errant throw, he ran directly to second base, tagged the bag, and the team celebrated the victory.
Neiswender remains undefeated on the season with his five-inning performance, but Dixon was hinting that there is more depth on his team than people are seeing.
“There’s a couple guys on the roster that haven’t gotten to even throw the ball yet. We want to get Lincoln (Holt) and Colby (Proud) out there, but when you have these breaks here because of the weather, it’s easy to let your main guy rest up,” he said. “We are hoping when we do get those weeks with two or three games, we can get those other guys. We have some great depth on this team at pitcher.
“Even on a day when he maybe didn’t have his best stuff, Lawson will get you a solid four or five innings every time.”
Tentatively, the Tide are back in action at Harmony on Wednesday afternoon, as they just defeated the Owls on Monday in a 14-0 shutout. But, with the weather uncertain, Curwensville could be looking at a week before being back on the field to play, and that’s something that Dixon says is so frustrating when he sees the desire of his team to keep improving and to keep playing.
“It’s tough to just practice. Typically, you’d have a game, then when it gets canceled because of weather, you can’t even practice because the field isn’t usable,” Dixon said. “You have all these things that maybe you want to review and correct from the game before, and you can’t do that when you can’t even get on the field.
“We have the break coming up for Easter, which will let our arms rest up, but when you’re hitting the ball like we are, you want to be out there.”
If Wednesday’s game is postponed, the Tide won’t be back in action until next Tuesday at Williamsburg.
SCORE BY INNING
West Branch 040 000 5 – 9 11 3
Curwensville 200 090 X – 11 6 0
West Branch – 9
Coby Kephart-cf 4110, Kaleb Warren Kio-lf 5112, Caleb Hudson-p/3b 2012, J. Stavola-cr 0100, Nick Parks-c 5042, Cale McDowell-cr 0000, Frank Leskovansky-2b 3120, Dylan McGonigal-ss 4100, Payton Kephart-dh 3000, Justin Esposti-3b 3211, Hansen Lannen-2b 2212. TOTALS 31 9 11 9.
Curwensville – 11
Cael Butler-cf 4210, Breck Finn-2b/p 4212, Lawson Neiswender-p/1b 4112, Colby Proud-cr 0000, Lincoln Hoyt-c 1100, Gavin McDermott-rf 4213, Preston Perks-dh 3100, Trenton Best-ss 1101, Cayden Pierce-3b 3000, Kyler Nelen-lf 4112. TOTALS 28 11 6 10.
2B: Parks-2, Warren-Kio, Esposti/Nelen, McDermott-2
HBP: Leskovansky, McGonigal
SF: Hudson/Butler
E: Esposti, McGonigal, Lannen
Pitching
West Branch: Hudson-4.2 IP, 5 H, 9 R, 1 ER, 5 SO, 6 BB; Esposti-0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; Bickel-0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 SO, 0 BB; Lannen-1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 SO, 1 BB.
Curwensville: Neiswender-5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 6 SO, 4 BB; Passmore-1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 SO, 3 BB; Finn-1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB.
W-Neiswender (3-0)
L-Hudson
Golden Tide Baseball Scoreboard
| DATE & OPPONENT | SCORE | RECORD |
| 3/16 HARMONY | PPD. | 0-0 |
| 3/21 vs. Clarion Limestone (In Dubois) | 10-0 | 1-0 |
| 3/24 MOSHANNON VALLEY | 7-6 | 2-0 |
| 3/27 JOHNSONBURG | PPD. | 2-0 |
| 3/28 HARMONY (1 p.m.) | 14-0 | 3-0 |
| 3/31 WEST BRANCH | 11-9 | 4-0 |
| 4/1 at Harmony | ||
| 4/7 at Williamsburg | ||
| 4/11 at Claysburg-Kimmel (10 a.m.) | ||
| 4/14 GLENDALE | ||
| 4/15 SOUTHERN HUNTINGDON | ||
| 4/17 PURCHASE LINE | ||
| 4/21 JUNIATA VALLEY | ||
| 4/23 vs. Northern Bedford (12 p.m.) Altoona Curve Invitational-PNG Field in Altoona | ||
| 4/24 TBD-Altoona Curve Invitational Altoona Curve Invitational-PNG Field in Altoona | ||
| 4/28 at Moshannon Valley | ||
| 4/30 at West Branch | ||
| 5/2 REDBANK VALLEY | ||
| 5/5 WILLIAMSBURG | ||
| 5/6 at Glendale |
