BELLWOOd — Three days earlier, the Curwensville Golden Tide played host to the Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils, and the crowd got a treat as the Tide had to rally in the sixth inning to take the come-from-behind win. Thursday afternoon, the two teams would face one another one more time, with the Blue Devils now playing the host.
Same teams, and same result. But, instead of rallying, Curwensville jumped out to a fast start once again, and never let up. Thanks to strong hitting, including multiple extra-base swings, the Tide took a 10-6 triumph that pushed their record to 11-1 on the year.
Jake Mullins led off the game with a single, and moved to second on a balk by starting pitcher Matt Berkowitz. Then, Shane Sunderlin started what would be his biggest day at the plate this season with a liner into left field for an RBI-double to get the first score of the afternoon. Two batters later, Jayson Rowles matched his teammate with his own RBI-double to bring Sunderlin home, giving the visitors a two-run advantage after one.
The game opened up quickly in the second inning. Despite a double play to give a bit of momentum to Bellwood-Antis, Berkowitz walked a pair of batters and gave up a single to load the bases. Spencer Hoover then had to wear a 1-1 pitch, moving all the bases and making the score 3-0. Curwensville added another three runs on a fielder’s choice from Rowles then an RBI-single from Sutika to take a 6-0 lead, where it remained as the Blue Devils failed to put another run on the board in the bottom of the inning.
Bellwood decided to make a pitching change in the second after Berkowitz gave up six runs, sending Nicholas Kost to the hill. Berkowitz pitched 1.2 innings, and struck out no one, getting tagged with the loss.
Curwensville added in two more runs in the third on another RBI-double by Sunderlin, plating both Mullins and Thad Butler. Sunderlin repeated that performance in the final inning right down to who he plated, finishing out a five-RBI performance on the afternoon in the win.
The Blue Devils did not go away easy, as they scored five runs between the third and fifth innings, pulling to within three runs, but those would be the only runs given up by Mullins on the afternoon. He got the win in a five-strikeout performance that saw him throw five innings, and in doing so gets a week of rest as he tossed 102 pitches.
Curwensville is slated to be back on the diamond on Friday, hosting a double-header against the Harmony Owls, beginning at 3:30 p.m. However, the weather for Friday is not looking promising.
If the double-header is postponed, the next scheduled game for the Tide will be Tuesday, May 10, when they host the West Branch Warriors.
SCORE BY INNING
Curwensville 242 000 2 – 10 10 0
Bellwood-Antis 003 110 1 – 6 11 1
Curwensville – 10
Jake Mullins-P/LF 4420, Thad Butler-SS 3320, Shane Sunderlin-1B 4235, Spencer Hoover-C 2011, Jayson Rowles-RF 5012, Ayden Sutika-3B 4012, Tyler Lee-2B/P 2000, Nik Fegert-CR 0100, Logan Kunkle-DH 2000, Chris Fegert-CF 4000, Grant Swanson-CR 0000. TOTALS 30 10 10 10.
Bellwood-Antis – 6
Nicholas Kost-SS/P 4110, Nate Rabenstein-CR 0000, Josh Dorminy-LF/CF 3111, Cooper Guyer-DH 3111, Jack Luensmann-1B 3121, Zach Pier-2B 4000, Alex Kovac-3B 4133, Connor Cobaugh-CR/3B 0000, Tanner Swogger-LF 1000, Gaven Ridgway-PH 1000, Andrew Nycum-PH 1000, Ethan Johnson-RF 1000, Matt Berkowitz-P/SS 3010, Connor Gibbons-CF/LF 3120. TOTALS 31 6 11 6.
- LOB: 9/9
- E: Berkowitz
- ROE: Mullins
- 2B: Rowles, Sunderlin-3/Luensmann-2, Guyer
- HR: Kovac
- FC: Rowles, Kunkle/Johnson
- HBP: Hoover-2, Kunkle
- SF: Guyer
- SB: Butler, Mullins
- DP: Kovac-2, Luensmann, Kost-2
- GIDP: C. Fegert
PITCHING
Curwensville: Mullins-5 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 SO, 1 BB; Lee-2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 SO, 1 BB.
Bellwood-Antis: Berkowitz-1.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 SO, 2 BB; Kost-1.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB; Walls-4 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 SO, 5 BB.
W-Mullins
L-Berkowitz
