Season Finale Ends for Curwensville in Heartbreaking Loss to Brockway

BROCKWAY — After a long season that saw heartache, triumph and just as much wonder, the Curwensville Golden Tide reached the final game of the season on Tuesday.  Head coach Tom Harzinski was ready to lead his squad into battle one last time, as they made the drive along I-80 to go against the Brockway Rovers.

Nearly a month ago, the Rovers barely got away with a 6-5 victory when Curwensville was the host team.

In an ironic twist, this game would be even closer.  It wouldn’t take seven innings to decide, but rather nearly went the distance of those in the major leagues.  In the end, it was the home squad that managed to walk away with the win as Brockway handed Curwensville a heartbreaking defeat in their final game of the season, taking the 3-2 contest in nine innings.

On the mound, both teams were excellent.

Corey Carr would have an incredible afternoon on the hill for the Rovers, pitching eight innings and only yielding two runs.  But, in the time he was letting his left arm do the work, he would strike out 14 batters.  He would not earn the win with his efforts, that went to Alex Lindemuth, who piched a scoreless ninth inning in relief.

For Curwensville, A.J. Bloom went five innings and only give up five hits.  His backup, Jake B. Stiles, went the next 3.2 innings on the mound, but gave up three hits and the game-winning run, and ultimately was tagged with the loss.

The Tide got things going right away in the opening frame.  An RBI-single by A.J. Bloom brought in Garrett Shaw.  Two batters later, Jake Terry would come home on a fielder’s choice from Hunter Lancaster.  Terry went go 1-for-4 at the plate, with his lone hit coming in the first inning on a single to shallow center.  A balk by Carr in the inning advanced him to second, and then Bloom’s single put him in at third base for the fielder’s choice.

The 2-0 score held until the bottom of the fourth.  Anthony Isabella provided the score as he singled to deep right and made his way around to third on an error.  Shortly after, he would reach home on a sacrifice fly to cut the lead by one.

Two innings later, Brockway tied the game.

Michael Martino started the inning off with a walk, and then Andrew Serafini singled to left.  A sacrifice bunt by Braden Martini would put two runners in scoring position.  When Bo Boyle hit a ground ball in the gap between first and second, he would be thrown out at first, but Martino would make it home to make it 2-2.

That score held through the end of the seventh inning, and the squads each began to prepare for extra innings of work.

Carr and Lindemuth did their jobs in the top half of the eighth and ninth inning, as did Stiles in the bottom half of the eighth.  In the ninth inning, it all started out well as Martini flew out to center field to get the first out.

Boyle then stepped to the plate, and managed a shallow single into right field to get the potential winning run on base.  With Jarrett Esposito batting, Boyle would manage to steal second.  Esposito then knew one strong hit to the outfield would end the game.  He didn’t get that hit, but his single into shallow left put runners on the corners, and Stiles in a bind.  With Lindemuth at the plate, Boyle then stole second, adding even more pressure to Curwensville.

Lindemuth flew out into right field, but Esposito stayed in position at third, knowing he likely wouldn’t beat the throw.

Carr then stepped to the plate, having done his job already at the mound.  After two balls and one strike, he found the right pitch.  A swing of the bat blasted the ball into center field, and Esposito charged home.  The walk-off RBI-single would be the deciding hit, and gave Brockway the victory.

Curwensville’s season comes to a close with a final record of 3-17.

SCORE BY INNING

Curwensville  200 000 000 – 2 6 4
Brockway  000 101 001 – 3 8 0

Curwensville-2

Shaw 3100, Terry 3110, J.B. Stiles 3000, Bloom 4021, Olson 4010, Lancaster 4001, Timko 3000, Lansberry 1010, J.C. Stiles 3000, Butlin 0000, Strickland 4010.  TOTALS 32 2 6 2.

Brockway-3

Carr 5011, Hatfield 1000, Antonuccio 3000, Isabella 4110, Martino 3101, Serafini 3020, Inzana 1010, Martini 2000, Boyle 4111, Esposito 2000, Perrin 2010, Lindemuth 3010.  TOTALS 33 3 8 3.

RBI-Bloom, Lancaster/Boyle, Martino, Carr
SB-Lancaster/Boyle, Carr, Serafini, Isabella, Lindemuth, Perrin
LOB-9/6

Pitching

Curwensville:  Bloom-5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO; J.B. Stiles-3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO.
Brockway:  Carr-8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 14 SO; Lindemuth-1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO.

WP- Lindemuth.  LP-Stiles.

Final Golden Tide Scoreboard: