Baseball: Knights Clip Raptors 9-6, Advance in Region XX Tournament

Rosedale, Md. -- The Knights advanced today in the Region XX Division II Baseball Tournament, defeating Montgomery 9-6 at CCBC Essex Field. They meet Garrett next for a chance to go to their seventh straight double-elimination semifinal. 

Max Jinjika (Glastonbury, Conn.) scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI single by Emmanuel Maldonado (Palm Beach, Fla.).

Essex would go on to score two more times in the seventh and the three-run lead would prove plenty.

Jinjika finished the game 2-for-3 with two runs scored and the game-winning RBI. 

The Knights (18-18, 11-10 vs. Region XX Division II) jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the first and increased the lead to 5-1 after two. 

All of Essex's first inning runs came with two outs. 

Sammy Canela (Brookly, N.Y.) struck out on a ball in the dirt, which should have ended the inning, but the Raptors catcher threw high to complete the play at first and Canela beat it. Jinjika scored on the play. 

Canela stole second and with Maldonado already on third, Nick Hemstreet (Leesburg, Va.) delivered a two-out, two-run single to left to give Essex a four-run lead.

It stayed that way until the fourth when the Raptors put four on the scoreboard against Knights starter Jeffrey Young (Rosedale, Md.).

Young threw a scoreless fifth and sixth, before Montgomery took  the lead 6-5 in the seventh.

After the Knights battled to take a 9-6 lead, Young closed the door on the Raptors, retiring the last eight batters of the game.

The sophomore southpaw pitched a complete game, despite allowing five earned on eight hits. Young also had 11 strikeouts, his second consecutive start with 10 or more strikeouts, both against Montgomery. 

Including Jinjika, the Knights had four finish with multi-hit games.

Hemstreet went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. 

Maldonado was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and Luis Gonzalez (Dundalk, Md.) went 2-for-3 with a run scored. 

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