Knights Finish Season on a Streak, Sweeping Lakers

By Russell Hodge 

Rosedale, Md.— On Thursday, May 5^th, the 19-15-1 CCBC Essex Knights hosted a double header against the 18-25 Garrett County Lakers for their final regular games of the season. The Knights would sweep the Lakers in this regional conference matchup with the scores being 8-3 for both contests. 

In the first game, Todd Murphy would start on the mound for the Knights while Keelan Hoover would for the Lakers. Both teams would not score in the first inning. In the second inning, Liam Bowers would score from third off of a RBI fielder's choice courtesy of Waskar Vicente Martinez's bat, allowing the Knights to take the lead 1-0 heading into the third inning. 

The Lakers would start the third inning by evening the score at one, but then the Knights' bats would come alive with two outs. Armando Prieto walked and then managed to steal second. Later Eric Elliot would single, allowing Prieto to advance to third. Elliot would then steal second before Alvin Carela walked, making the bases loaded. Martinez would single, giving him his second and third RBI's of the contest as Prieto and Elliot both scored. 

Likeiry Taveras Jimenez would single, allowing Carela to score and Martinez to advance to third. The Lakers were down 4-1 at this point and would try to slow the Knights momentum by switching pitchers, replacing Hoover with Baron Swiger. Try as he did, it came to no avail as the Knights would see the bases loaded again after Luis Marrero was hit by a pitch. Following that, Mitchell Haywood would also be hit by a pitch, allowing Martinez to score. As bases were again loaded, Manuel Jackson would hit a beautiful ball off the fence in right center field, resulting in a 3-RBI triple. The third inning would end with the Knights scoring seven runs on two outs, entering the fourth inning with a 8-1 Knights lead. 

After the game, Jackson would talk about his approach in this at bat. "It was a lefty-lefty matchup, so for me I just had to stay tight, keep my hands through the zone, extend my barrel, and just look for something I could drive. I got a good pitch and I drove it."

The Lakers would answer the Knights with two of their own runs in the fourth, but those would be the last runs of the first game as it would end 8-3 in the Knights favor. Joey Galloway replaced Murphy in the sixth, allowing just one hit, and holding the Lakers scoreless in the final two innings. 

Todd Murphy would receive the win in game one, improving his record to 5-2, and the Knights record to 20-15-1. Murphy faced 20 batters, throwing only 66 pitches, and allowed three runs on five hits, only walking one batter throughout his outing. 

"I was actually a little tight," Murphy said after the game. "Tori did a great job all week. She worked with me, she did everything she possible could to get me out on the field. It was a huge credit to her to get me out there and to get me fresh, as fresh as I could be. We needed these two games and I'm not going to not play. That's just not what I do. I went out and gave everything that I had. It wasn't my best but we won the game. I couldn't care less about anything else."

The second game would start with the Knights putting Harry Fegan on the mound while the Lakers would start with Chancellor Moore. The Lakers would put a run on the board in first inning of this contest, and then be drawn 1-1 as Knights' Jimenez would score off another Luis Marrero RBI. 

In the bottom of the second, the Knights would take a two-run lead as Emmanuel Maldonado and Bowers would both score separate unearned runs.  

Mitchell Haywood broke a 1-17 hitting drought with a solo home run in the third inning, giving the Knights a three-run lead, 4-1. This was the only home run scored on the day by either team.  

The fourth would end scoreless while the fifth inning would see both teams tacking on another run. Marrero would double for the Knights, allowing Jimenez to cross home, bringing the score 5-2, still in the Knights' favor. 

In the sixth inning, Ian Babey would replace Fegan, allowing no runs. On offense, the Knights would see three more runs score. Carela would single to right field, allowing Bowers to score, and then Elliott would score on a RBI from Jimenez. The Knights' final run of the game came from yet another RBI hit by Marrero, scoring Carela, and bringing the score to 8-2 Knights heading into the seventh. 

In the final inning, Reed Adams would close the game for the Knights and allow just one run to be score, ending the contest 8-3 in favor of the Knights. Starting pitcher Harry Fegan improved his undefeated record to 3-0 while the Knights improved their team record to 21-15-1. 

Discussing his multi-RBI day, Marrero said "I was just looking for a great pitch to contribute and score LT. I just made good contact and put the ball in play and just try and score them."

The Knights are headed to the NJCAA Region 20 tournament having won seven games in a row and winning 12 of their last 13 contests. The tournament starts on Tuesday, May 10^th but the schedule won't be released until seeding is confirmed this weekend. The Knights are hoping to be the #2 seed, giving them a first round bye on Tuesday, May 10^th, and advancing straight to the double elimination part of the tournament hosted at CCBC Catonsville May 13-15. Check back for the Knights playoff schedule on Monday, May 9^th to see where the Knights are headed to next.