Golden Tide Baseball Routed by Johnsonburg 11-0

CURWENSVILLE — On Monday, the Curwensville Golden Tide were finally able to take to the baseball field and showcase what all the practice had done during the rainy start to the season.  It took an extra inning and a walk-off hit to secure the first win of the year.

Mother Nature then plagued the rest of the week, postponing games on Wednesday and Friday.  Finally, the weather opened up to let the blue skies shine down on the field, and even with the wind howling and making it difficult on occasion, baseball was happening.  The Tide were looking for their second win of the year, while the visiting Johnsonburg Rams were finally beginning their season after they experienced the same delays.

The visitors were certainly ready for the challenge, and answered it in a big way.

Johnsonburg would go lights-out in the afternoon game, putting in a shutout performance in just six innings, and handing Curwensville its first loss of the year in an 11-0 rout.

Curwensville found itself in a tight situation right away in the first inning, as Neil MacDonald would get the first hit of the game with a single, and then steal second while Tide pitcher James B. Stiles was focused on his second Ram batter, Johnny Mitchell.  Stiles would walk Mitchell, and both advanced a base on a wild pitch.

Ben MacDonald would single to center, bringing in both runners for the early 2-0 lead.

It would be four innings later when the Ram bats would get back to work, as Neil MacDonald got a hit on a bunt, followed by Mitchell on a double to center.  The strong winds played havoc in the outfield as the Tide seemed to have a good eye on the ball to get the fly out, but with how the gusts were coming across the field, it made each catch a challenge.  Travis Lansberry nearly had the out, but the gusts pushed it out of reach.  Stiles would walk Josh Raubenstrauch to load the bases.

Although the Tide would get out of the jam on the next at bat, MacDonald would come in for the next run to extend the lead to 3-0, and Raubenstrauch would come in when Mike Covac singled just over second base to extend the lead to 4-0.

The sixth inning would be the doom for the Tide as the runs would come too easy for Johnsonburg.

Dave Salack and Mike Sorge would be walked to start the inning as pinch hitters, and then Neil MacDonald was walked to load the bases.  Mitchell was then walked, sending Salack to the plate, and then Sorge came in on a single to shallow center from Raubenstrauch.  Terry would try and play Ben MacDonald’s check-swing, but it turned into a hit that brought in Neil, making it 7-0 at that point.

Covac hit a grounder to third, but Bloom had trouble handling the ball, which brought Mitchell in.  Justin Kasmierski would be walked two batters later, bringing in Raubenstrauch, and two batters after that Ben MacDonald would cross home on a walk by Ben Ames.  The final run would come on a Neil MacDonald walk, which brought in Covac to make it 11-0.

Ben MacDonald would take the mound in the bottom of the sixth to close out the victory.

Curwensville (1-1) continues their long stretch of home games on Monday as they host West Branch.

Johnsonburg-11

N. MacDonald CF 3321, Mitchell RF 3211, Raubenstrauch LF 3211, B. MacDonald C 3124, Covac 2B 4121, Amacher P 4010, Kasmierski 1B 3001, Brier 1B 3000, Sallack PH 01000, Ames SS 2011, Sorge PH 0100.  Totals:  28-11-10-10.

Curwensville-0

Strickland LF 3000, Terry SS 2000, Lansberry CF 2000, J.B. Stiles P 2000, Bloom 3B 2020, Lancaster PR 0000, Timko 1B 2000, J.C. Stiles 2B 1000, Newkirk LF 1000, Shaw RF 2000.  Totals 19-0-2-0.

SCORE BY INNING

Johnsonburg  200 027 – 11 10 0

Curwensville  000 000 – 0 2 2

PITCHING

Johnsonburg:  Amacher-5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 SO; B. MacDonald 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO.
Curwensville:  J.B. Stiles-5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 7 SO; Lansberry-1 IP, 2 H, 7 R, 5 ER, 7 BB, 2 SO.

WP-Amacher (1-0).  LP-Stiles (0-1)

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