The Knights were firing on all cylinders as they headed into their Sunday afternoon contest against the Worcester Bravehearts. The Knights had previously come out on top in their game against the New British Bees, winning by a score of 6-0.
The Knights’ starter in this one was Ethan Hunt out of UMass Boston. Hunt started the game off hot, getting his first nine batters out in order without letting a runner on base. The Hearts’ starter, Jason Potvin, was also great at the start of this one, allowing no runs through his first two innings of work. The Knights, however, got the bats going in the third.
In the top of the inning, the visitors would get Jeremy Ramos and James Benestad on base. Later in the inning, both runs would be driven in on a massive double to the gap by Anthony Grabau. Grabau however would not come around to score as he was left on base to end the
inning. Then in the next inning, the bats kept clicking for the Knights as Patrick Shrake and Jack Balcer both got aboard to start the inning. Shrake would come around to score on Balcer’s double and Balcer would score after a Cole Patterson single making the score 4-0 Knights.
Trouble would come for Hunt in the fourth as the Hearts bats finally awakened. From a walk to a stolen base and then a double by Jack Quick the home side scored their first run of the game. Hunt would be pulled following the inning however he turned out a great start as he only allowed a run on one hit with five strikeouts.
In the fifth, the Knights’ offense would continue to pound their way as River Hart drilled a ball over the fence for the home run. The lead grew even wider in the top of the sixth as Jake Haarde singled to drive in a run and make the score 6-1 in favor of the visitors. The Hearts would get one back in the bottom half of the inning as Jackson Marshall would single in a run against Mike Crowley who came into the game out of the bullpen.
In the eighth, the Hearts kept rallying as Matt Mahoney hopped on the mound for the Knights. The Hearts would rally men on base and with another Quick double they would draw closer as the score was now 6-3 in favor of the Knights. Mahoney would get pulled with the bases loaded and no outs and the Knights would turn to Robby Roth to get out of the jam. Roth came in and did not draw a better result than Mahoney as he allowed a walk and a single which resulted in two runs scored. Then against the next batter, Roth would allow a Grand Slam off the bat of Jake Hajdu which broke the game open in the eighth making the score 9-6 Bravehearts. Rob Gilchrist would sub in for Nashua and he would get the three outs needed to end the inning however the damage was done as the Hearts put up seven runs in the frame.
In the ninth the Knights bats were able to rally to get runners on board however in the end as they left the bases loaded to end the game. The Knights will be back in action on Tuesday.
