DUBOIS, Pa-The postseason for local teams continued on the baseball diamond Thursday afternoon, with Showers Field in Dubois playing host to multiple games over an afternoon. The Curwensville Golden Tide, fresh off their opening round victory on Monday, stepped onto the turf for the semi-final matchup in the 2A bracket in District IX. Opposing them were the Moniteau Warriors, a familiar foe over the last couple years in postseason play.
All year, the Tide showed when they were on target, they were victorious. When they struggled, the losses were by a big margin. It has been a see-saw season, and in a way Thursday combined both. Struggles on the mound were evident, but very little mistakes from the defense were seen. On offense, they got hits, but not timely enough for runs. After seven innings, despite a late charge, Curwensville’s season came to a conclusion, falling 5-3.
“Story of the season. Every game we’ve lost, it’s been six or more walks. Tonight we had eight, plus a hit batter,” a dejected Derek Dixon said of his team. “You can’t defense a walk. That’s a good pitcher, and when you get yourself behind, it’s hard to beat.”
“He didn’t give us any breaks all night. We got to him late, and some guys were a little late to the party. I told the team just now if we had one more inning, we would’ve got him.”
Dixon was speaking of starting pitcher Dawson Cook, who ultimately put on a clinic on the hill as he was dealing fast balls all night in the 80 MPH range, ultimately going the entire distance against Curwensville. He accounted for 11 strikeouts on the night, while walking no batters, and the Warrior defense never gave up an error.
Moniteau got on the board in the second when a wild pitch by starting pitcher, Gavin McDermott, allowed James Gillen to make it home. One inning later, a sacrifice fly from Weston Cook, followed by an RBI-single courtesy of Kayne Scott made it 3-0.
It wasn’t until the fifth when Moniteau added a pair of insurance runs after Aidan Shakley brought in Gillen with a line drive to left. Scott would later score when an error by Trenton Best at short forced a difficult play at any base. The 5-0 lead for the Warriors seemed to be on the way to an easy victory.”
“We’ve beaten ourselves this year more than I think we’ve been beaten,” Dixon said. “We’ve had a couple games where we faced good teams, and they outright beat us, and tonight it was a bit of both.”
Curwensville was not yet willing to give in and throw in the towel.
A pair of singles started the sixth inning, and then Lawson Neiswender found his bat once more. After already having a pair of hits, he would blast a ball all the way to the center field wall that was deep enough for a two-RBI double to cut the lead to 5-2. One batter later, after already advancing on a wild pitch, Neiswender crossed home on Breck Finn’s ground out to make it 5-3.
The rally got Curwensville excited, and after seeing Cook go beyond 90 pitches through the inning, they were hoping to get a few more battles at the plate so the Warrior staff needed to pull their starter.
That hope did not happen.
Lincoln Hoyt flew out to second on the first pitch offered, then Kyler Nelen ground to short for out number two.
Best battled hard in the final at-bat, and pitch 100 from Cook then was hit hard to the gap in between first and second. Carson Minnear managed to grab the ball, tossed it to first for the final out, and at that moment, the season came to a conclusion.
After taking a long post-game conversation with the entire team, then even longer to gather himself while looking at the outfield and the Showers Field logo, Dixon reflected on the season and the senior class that he got to coach for a majority of his career.
“These seniors put more effort into the program than some will do in any sport, and I appreciate that so much,” Dixon said. “They have righted the ship, earning three straight 10-win seasons, plus a couple playoff wins. They are disappointed, and I am too, as the outcome wasn’t ideal, but I’m so glad to have coached that group of kids.”
Curwensville’s baseball program has changed drastically since Dixon took over following the removal of the school’s prior head coach, but he was quick to point out the team itself dictates how he coaches, and how they perform.
“I appreciate hearing that, and the kids also appreciate it because they put a lot of time rehabilitating this program,” he said. “I always say we run the program from the players’ view. I take opinions from the players and how we do things, and that’s the way we do things.
“I hate to see these seniors go, but the next group of guys now have to step up and do the job.”
Moniteau moves into the District 2A championship on Monday afternoon. Curwensville’s 2026 season concludes with a final record of 11-9.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 000 003 0 – 3 6 1
Moniteau 012 020 X – 5 5 0
Curwensville – 3
Cael Butler-2b 3110, Gavin McDermott-p/dh 3000, Hunter Passmore-p 0000, Lawson Neiswender-1b 3132, Breck Finn-lf 3001, Peyton Perks-rf 3000, Lincoln Hoyt-c 3000, Kyler Nelen-cf 3000, Trenton Best-ss 3000, Cayden Pierce-3b 2120. TOTALS 26 3 6 3.
Moniteau – 5
Ian Ross-ss 3010, Carson Minnear-2b 2100, Dawson Cook-p 4110, Weston Cook-c 3001, James Gillen-dh 2210, Kayne Scott-3b 2111, Aidan Shakley-lf 3011, Blaine Jamison-cf 1000, Kam Hershey-1b 2001. TOTALS 22 5 5 4.
2B: Neiswender/Ross
HBP: Minnear, Scott
DP: Best-Neiswender/Shakley-Ross
E: Best
Pitching
Curwensville: McDermott-1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 4 BB; Passmore-2.2 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 SO, 3 BB; Proud-2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 SO, 1 BB.
Moniteau: D. Cook-7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 11 SO, 0 BB.
W-D. Cook
L-McDermott (2-4)
Final 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 | PPD. | 4-0 |
| 4/7 at Williamsburg | 11-5 | 5-0 |
| 4/9 at Juniata Valley | 3-14 | 5-1 |
| 4/11 at Claysburg-Kimmel (10 a.m.) | 1-16 | 5-2 |
| 4/14 GLENDALE | 17-1 | 6-2 |
| 4/15 SOUTHERN HUNTINGDON | 8-13 | 6-3 |
| 4/17 PURCHASE LINE | 11-0 | 7-3 |
| 4/21 JUNIATA VALLEY | 3-4 | 7-4 |
| 4/23 vs. Northern Bedford Altoona Curve Invitational-PNG Field in Altoona | 3-13 | 7-5 |
| 4/24 vs. Williamsburg Altoona Curve Invitational-PNG Field in Altoona | 11-14 | 7-6 |
| 4/28 at Moshannon Valley | 5-8 | 7-7 |
| 4/30 at West Branch | PPD. | 7-7 |
| 5/5 WILLIAMSBURG | 11-1 | 8-7 |
| 5/6 at Glendale | PPD. | 8-7 |
| 5/7 at Harmony | 11-0 | 9-7 |
| 5/11 at West Branch | 1-2 | 9-8 |
| 5/12 at Glendale | 20-5 | 10-8 |
| 5/19 CRANBERRY District IX 2A Quarterfinal | 14-4 | 11-8 |
| 5/21 vs. Moniteau, in Dubois District IX 2A Semi-Final | 3-5 | 11-9 |
