Knights Blast Bullpen Baseball to advance in Season Ending AAA Comebacker Classic

George Krivsky picked up the Win on the hill against Bullpen Baseball and delivered a
whopping 8 RBI's on the weekend.

The Marietta Knights closed out a successful 2015 at the USSSA AAA Comebacker Classic at the Thompson Field of Dreams in Conyers, Ga. In a stunning upset, the Knights knocked off McDonough's Bullpen Baseball to advance to the Semifinals. After close losses to the DSA Diablos and JC Force, the Knights showed up Sunday with nothing to lose against favored Bullpen Baseball. Marietta started George Krivsky on the mound. George has turned in several great starts recently and with the Knights' offense clicking they knew George could keep them in the game and give them a chance to win it.

The Knights went down 1-2-3 in the first. They got 2 quick outs on Bullpen with a runner on 1st in the bottom of the inning, but an error extended the inning and allowed Bullpen to pick up an RBI single and a 1-0 lead after 1.

Bullpen ended up setting down the first 4 Knights' batters of the game until Luke Martin ripped a single into LF. 2 walks followed to load the bases and it looked like the Knights were in business. But two pop outs in the infield and the Knights still had a goose egg on the scoreboard. George went back to work in the bottom of the 2nd with a 1-3 putout and he bracketed a walk with 2 strikeouts to keep the game 1-0.

Jackson's RBI Double gave the Knights the their first lead. Jackson batted
.500 with 5 runs and 5 RBI's on the weekend.  

The Knights finally broke the seal in the top of the 3rd. Jackson Tysinger reached on an error, advanced on a walk and scored on George's RBI single to tie it up 1-1. Although Bullpen retook the lead in the bottom of the inning, the Defensive Play of the Game turned the tide in Marietta's favor. After a leadoff walk, Bullpen's #2 hitter hit a blast to the LCF wall. The baserunner got a good jump and rounded third knowing it would take a perfect throw to get him. Centerfielder Jack Vargo threw a dart from the fence to Jackson at the edge of the OF grass. Jackson made a great turn and threw a strike to Luke at the plate who put down the tag for the exciting 8-6-2 putout at the plate. Bullpen took a 2-1 lead on the next batter when Jackson smartly opted to throw to Gil Hastings for an out at 1B but the Knights were fired up and ready to take control. Another 2 batters later Jackson finished the inning with another nice grab at SS and flip to Hunter Williamson at 2B for the final out of the 3rd.

Alex Beaullieu came up with a big hit and scored to give the
Knights the lead against Bullpen.

Garrett Wells and Alex Beaullieu opened the 4th with back to back singles. Jack brought Garrett home with an RBI ground out to SS to tie things back up at 2-2. Next up, Jackson dropped the hammer with a deep double to straight away CF that scored Alex and gave Marietta their first lead at 3-2. George followed with his 2nd RBI single of the game to score Jackson and the Knights led 4-2 going into the bottom of the 4th.

Bullpen drew back within a run quickly when their Frank Thomas look-a-like (and hit-a-like) first baseman launched a fastball over the RF fence and deep into the woods for a homerun. At that point, George did the best thing he could do on the mound. He knew the pitch was supposed to be off the plate but that it drifted back to the inside half. As the big player touched home to the high fives of his teammates, George took a new ball from blue, grinned and said, "Well, that was a mistake." The perfect reaction in a tight game summed up the team's year long motto "So what? Next pitch." With 2 outs and runners on 1B and 2B, Bullpen's lead off hitter hit a high shallow flyball. Hunter made the call and covered a lot ground from his 2B position and hauled in the final out on the RF line to maintain the 4-3 lead going into the 5th.

 



Hunter delivered a huge 2 out, 2 run double to extend
the Knights lead. He had 4 RBI's and scored 4 times in
the tournament.

Bullpen converted a HBP into a well executed double play to start the 5th and it looked like they had regained the momentum with 2 outs and no one on in a very close game. But Bullpen walked the next 4 batters to push the Knights lead to 5-3. Still with 2 outs, Big Game Hunter came up and bombed a drive down the LF line for a 2 run double and a commanding 7-3 Knights' lead going into the bottom of the 5th.

A walk and a should-be-easy fly ball got lost in the sun and Bullpen had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. George's day on the hill was done and he left to a big ovation from the Marietta faithful. In came Cody Hahn to shut the door. Cody drew an easy grounder to SS that Jackson flipped to Hunter at 2nd for out #1. He then got a high fly ball out to Jackson at SS and another to George in RF and the inning was over. There were 20 seconds left in the time limit so Bullpen would get one more chance but not until after the Knights got an opportunity to expand the lead. 
And boy, did they expand it. Luke led off with his second single of the game. After Gil walked, Austin Hansell singled to load the bases. Garrett drew a walk on 4 pitches to push in Luke. Cody followed with a ground out to the right side to score Gil and the lead grew to 9-3. Jack took a fast ball directly in the ribs and took his base to reload the bases. When Coach Rob asked Jack if he was ok he replied cooly, "I'm fine, I've been hit plenty of times." Then Jackson delivered another big 2 RBI single and the rout was on. Hunter walked and George hit a 2 RBI single to score Jack and Jackson and when Bullpen tried to throw Hunter out advancing to 3rd he came home on a throwing error. Later Garrett drew his second bases loaded walk of the inning and all in attendance were stunned to look up at the scoreboard and see the Knights leading 15-3.

Jack Vargo rounds third and scores for Marietta.

Bullpen managed to load the bases in the bottom of the 6th, but the Knights called on Austin Hansell to close it down. Austin delivered a strikeout, a pop fly to Hunter at 2B and another strikeout. Final Score: Marietta Knights 15 Bullpen Baseball 3. It was the Knights most complete win of the season and it came over a very strong AAA opponent.

The win set up a rematch with the JC Force. The Force topped the Knights in the semifinals and went on to defeat the Georgia Tarheels for the tournament championship. This did not dampen the Knights' enthusiasm as they knew the played good baseball all weekend and picked up a big win on the final day of their season.

The Knights' 2,3 and 4 hitters, Jackson, Hunter and George, anchored the strong offense on the weekend. Jackson hit .500 with 5 runs and 5 RBI's, Hunter hit .444 with 4 runs and 4 RBI's and George hit .583 with a run and 8 RBI's. Congratulations to all the Knights and their families on a big victory and a great 2015 season.


Jackson goes head first into 3rd base.

 


Hunter slides safely into 3B.



Luke Martin had another multi-hit game.

Big Game Hunter and Coach Rob share a moment after the Knights' final game.

Exciting Comeback Win Against Cambridge Highlights Knights' Trip to Legion Field



The Knights take in the action from the top step of the Legion Field dugout in Alpharetta.

 

The Marietta Knights returned to their favorite venue, Legion Field in Alpharetta, for the Hopewell Invitational and earned an exciting 7-6 win against the Cambridge Bears. Legion Field is a great park that brings out the best in the players. The brick wall surrounding the field, the rows of real seats and most of all the big league style dugouts make this a special place to play. It's like a mini-minor league park and the playing surface is kept in top shape by the American Legion grounds crew.



Special guest coach Sara Tysinger helped in the
dugout on Father's Day. 

The Knights opened the tournament against the host Hopewell Hawks. The Hawks snapped their 2 game losing streak against Marietta with a solid 13-5 win. Gil Hastings led the Knights offense with a double and an RBI.

Next up were the Cambridge Bears who jumped out to a 6-1 lead and it looked like it would not be the Knights' day. Jack Vargo scored the Knights' first run, as usual, when he walked, stole 2nd & 3rd and came home on an error. Marietta closed the gap in the bottom of the 3rd. Alex Beaullieu and Cody Hahn each walked and advanced on a single by Jack. Hunter Williamson singled in Alex and George brought Cody in with a ground out to cut the score to 6-3.


Austin Hansell turned a double play and knocked in the
game winner against Cambridge

Hunter took the hill in the 4th and stopped the bleeding thanks in part to the Defensive Play of the game by Austin Hansell. With runners on 1st and 2nd, the Bears' # 3 hitter drove a hard grounder down the 3B line. Austin snagged it on a bounce, tagged 3B for 1 and threw a laser to Gil at 1B for a huge double play. Jackson handled the next batter's grounder to SS and the Knights held Cambridge scoreless for the 1st time of the game.

In the 4th, the offense went to work. Gil, Austin, Nathan Brooks and Alex hit 4 straight singles. Gil came home on Nathan's single and Austin scored when the Bears turned a 6-4-3 double play. Now trailing just 6-5, Jack picked up his 3rd hit of the day to score Nathan and tie the game. The Knights faithful was cheering loudly as their boys came back. Jackson Tysinger came up and drove a single up the middle to bring in Jack and the Knights finally held the lead 7-6.

Luke and Brook Martin enjoy Father's Day at the ballpark.

Cambridge tied things back up in the 5th at 7 but great defense kept them from taking the lead. Nathan Brooks picked up an OF assist when he threw out a runner at 3rd from LF and Austin fielded a grounder at 3B and threw out a runner at home to preserve the tie. Gil came in a struck out the final batter and the Knights had a chance to walk off for a win as the clock was winding down.

George led off the final inning with a single and advanced on Luke's single and Gil's FC. Austin Hansell solidified his Player of the Game stature when he drove a single into LF that scored George for the game winner. There was still time on the clock so Gil was able to steal home before time expired for the final score of Knights 9 Bears 7.



Nathan Brooks continued his hot hitting including
a 2 run triple against the Raiders.

The Knights came back on Father's Day for another exciting, close game with the Coal Mountain Raiders. The day started early for Coach Rob when Hunter presented him with an awesome New York Knights shirt (Roy Hobbs' team from "The Natural") complete with a Wonder Boy lightning bolt on the sleeve. Unfortunately, this close game didn't go the Knights way as Coal Mountain won it 10-9 in extra innings. Despite the loss, all the Dads and Granddads had a great day watching their boys play a great competitive game. Jack, Hunter, Austin, Luke and Nathan all had 2 hits. Hunter and Austin each doubled and Nathan hit a huge 2 run triple that sent the game to extra innings. Gil struck out 5 and only gave up 1 ER in 4 innings on the mound and George struck out 2 in 2 2/3.

Gil Hastings slides in safely in a close play at the plate against the Hawks.

Knights Take Care of Business against West Cobb Royals with 9-1 Win.

The Marietta Knights and West Cobb Royals congratulate each other on a well played game at Mt. Paran North Park

The Marietta Knights used a business like performance to get past the West Cobb Royals 9-1 at Mt. Paran North Park Tuesday night. It was a great all around game by the Knights with dominant pitching, big hitting and solid defense. Austin Hansell (aka Seven) got the start and the win on the mound. Austin threw 2 shutout innings, struck out 2 and helped himself with good defense. He picked off a runner at 2B and he stabbed a hot shot to the right of the mound that looked to be headed for CF and threw the batter out at 1B. Gil Hastings came on and picked up the save with 3 innings, 1 unearned run and 2 strike outs. Austin and Gil gave up just 1 hit each.

Jackson Tysinger put on a clinic at SS and had
2 hits and scored twice.

And the Marietta defense took good care of their pitchers. The 2 best defensive plays of the night were both great athletic plays that the players made look easy. Jackson Tysinger broke on a hard grounder from his SS position and coolly tracked it as it took a series of bad hops. He moved through the ball and made a text book throw to 1B for a big out. The next play came from Catcher Luke Martin. After a Royal squared to bunt, Luke sprung out of his crouch ready to charge. But the ball went straight up and Luke snatched it out of the air for another huge out.

The Knights were also excited to see Alex Beaullieu back in the infield after battling an arm injury for several weeks. Alex played several innings at 2B and had 2 putouts and turned an awesome 1-4-3 double play to end a Royals' threat.

The Knights' coaching staff was most excited about the team's communication. On the pick off at 2B, Gil let Austin know the runner was going so Austin could step off and throw out the runner. Right before the popped bunt Hunter called out that the batter had squared on his previous at bat. And on the double play the entire infield called 2 as Gil fielded the ball at the mound to let him know he had time to get the lead runner and ultimately the double play. This team has a great baseball IQ and they displayed it Tuesday night for sure.

Luke Martin had another great outing behind the plate
including getting 2 Royals out on bunts.

Offensively, Marietta took control early and kept the pressure on. After Austin shut out West Cobb in the top of the 1st, Jack Vargo walked, stole 2nd and 3rd and then scored on a passed ball. Jackson and George Krivsky both singled and scored on Gil's 2 run single and the Knights were up 3-0 after 1. The Knights added another 3 in the bottom of the 2nd. Nathan Brooks led off with a walk and scored on an RBI single from Cody Hahn. George Krivksy hit a 2 run single to make it 6-0. The Royals brought in a pitcher in the 3rd that mixed a nice fastball with a wicked curve to shut out the Knights in the 3rd and 4th innings.



Cuatro struck out 2 and only gave up 1 hit in 3 IP
for the save and added 3 RBI's.

The only bump in the road came in the top of the 5th when Marietta's only 2 errors of the game and a missed opportunity on a FC gave West Cobb a run and runners on 2nd and 3rd. But the Knights regrouped and Gil got the next 3 Royals out with a strikeout, a pop to Jackson at SS and grounder to George at 1B to preserve the 6-1 lead.
George belted a triple to deep RF to get things started in the 5th and scored on Gil's RBI ground out. Luke walked, stole 2nd, advanced to 3rd on the ground out and scored on Austin's Sac Fly to CF. After Nathan walked, he scored the Knights final run when Jack ripped a line drive that was too hot for the 2nd baseman to handle and the Knights took the 9-1 victory.

George's hot streak continued with a 3 for 3 night with 2 RBI's and 2 runs. Jackson was 2 for 2 with 2 runs and Cody was 2 for 3. Gil had 3 RBI's.

After a cancelled tournament and a rainout the Knights looked very sharp despite the long layoff. It was a great victory for the home team.    

In addition to making great plays at SS, Jackson showed off the similar skills that
earned him the Social Class Best Dancer Award

Knights Win 2 out of 3 at Atlanta Summer Super NIT

Game Face - George Krivsky threw a gem on the mound with a 7 inning
Complete Game 4 hitter.
 

The Marietta Knights picked up another 2 great wins against quality opponents at the Atlanta Summer Super NIT. They started the tournament at Wyomia Tyus Park in Griffin against the Home Plate Chilidogs. Although they have a peculiar name, the Home Plate organization is known for putting out very good baseball teams and the Knights were in for a battle. Home Plate took an early 1-0 lead on 2 Knights errors in the 1st and they put 2 singles together in the 3rd for a 2-0 lead.

The Knights hit the ball hard but the Home Plate OF was fast and they seemed to run down everything the Knights hit. And when the ball did get down, HP held the Knights to a single base. In the 3rd, the Knights used 4 singles from Nathan Brooks, Jack Vargo, Hunter Williamson and George Krivsky to cut the lead to 2-1 but they left the bases loaded.

Thankfully, George kept the Knights in the game with a brilliant outing on the mound. George threw a complete game and spread out just 4 hits and 1 BB over 7 innings. He also had 6 assists from the mound. In the 3rd, George fielded a comebacker and threw out the lead runner trying to score and tagged the very next baserunner out at the plate on a perfect flip from Catcher Austin Hansell. The 2 outs at the plate would be huge.

Gil Hastings ripped a 2B to LCF in the 5th that pushed Jack Vargo to 3rd. Jack stole home on a passed ball to tie things up at 2 and Gil scored on a balk a couple of pitches later and suddenly the Knights were in front 3-2. George took care of the rest, stranding HP runners on 2nd and 3rd in the 6th. George closed out the 7th 1-2-3 with 2 comebackers to the mound and a called 3rd strike to end it. Knights 3 Home Plate 2.

The Knights celebrate 2 exciting 1 run Victories!

Game 2 would be another pitcher's duel against the Timber Jacks and once again the Knights would get down early as the Timber Jacks put up 2 in the top of the 1st. Once again, Jack led off the game for the Knights with a hit and a steal and he scored on George's RBI single to make it 2-1. The Jacks added a run in the 2nd but the Knights held pace with a run of their own to make it 3-2. Austin Hansell doubled and Nathan Brooks, who's been swinging a hot bat, knocked him in with a single.

Cody Hahn finished his day on the mound with a scoreless 4th. Cody struck out 4 in 3 IP. Hunter came on in the 4th and pitched 2 scoreless innings and Gil threw scoreless 6th. The Knights needed some magic trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the 6th. Cody and Jack led off the inning with walks, Gil reached on a FC that sent Jack to the dugout and Hunter walked to load the bases. Cody broke on a passed ball and slid into home just ahead of the tag to tie the game. After the Knights dugout exhaled, they went crazy in welcoming Cody back to the dugout. The very next pitch also got away from the Timber Jack's catcher and Gil took off, sliding into home well ahead of the ball and the Knights had an exciting come from behind 4-3 win and Pool Championship.

As #1 seed coming out of their pool, the Knights would travel to South Walton Park in Social Circle for game 3 of the tournament against the Georgia Tigers. It was a tough game that was unfortunately dominated by poor umpiring. The UIC crew did a poor job and ejected a Knights player who, by the umpire's admission simply putting his hands on his helmet after a bad call and never said anything to the umpire. The ejection caused the Knights to have to play with 8 and take an automatic out once every time through the order. Of course, after the player ejection, Coach Rob was ejected shortly thereafter but he made sure to earn his ejection. The shorthanded Knights played hard but fell thanks mostly to the automatic outs. The highlight of the day was that Coach Rob and Hunter had a very nice post game Southern meal at the Blue Willow Inn in Social Circle.   

Knights Top Hopewell, Comeback Falls Short against Creekview

For the 2nd Year in a Row, The Marietta Knights traded in their normal jerseys to honor the
United States Military on Memorial Day weekend. Thank you Veterans!

It was another up and down day for the Marietta Knights at the Memorial Day Classic at Dwight Terry Park in Ball Ground, Georgia. The Knights opened the day against their rival the Hopewell Hawks for the second time in 2 weeks and they knew to expect another tight game. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the 2nd, Luke Martin came up with the big hit the Knights needed. With Gil Hastings and George Krivsky on 1st and 2nd, Luke ripped a line drive right over the 3rd base bag. Chalk flew as the ball hit the line and screamed all the way to the LF fence for a 2 run double. Luke scored on Nathan Brooks' ground out to SS and the Knights held a 3-1 lead. Luke was hit by a pitch in his next at bat and scored on an error. Hunter Williamson's RBI triple in the 5th scored Jackson Tysinger from 2nd to complete the Knights' scoring at 5.

Cody Hahn earned the win against Hopewell with 4 K's
in 5 innings on the mound.

Cody Hahn had a great day on the mound and controlled the game for the Knights. Cody only allowed 1 ER and struck out 4 in 5 innings of work. Luke added to his Player of the Game credentials with the Defensive Play of the Game, a textbook throwout to catch a Hawk trying to steal 3B. Austin Hansell came on in the 6th and picked up the save. Luke had 2 RBI's and 2 runs scored and Hunter was 2 for 3 with a triple and an RBI in the 5-3 win.

Marietta would follow that win with 2 games against the host Creekview Grizzlies. As good as the defense was in the win against Hopewell, it was that bad against Creekview. In game 1 Creekview pulled away for a 10-4 win with help from 7 Marietta errors. Jack Vargo was 2 for 3 with a 2B and RBI and Nathan Brooks added a 2B and an RBI. It went from bad to worse in the 2nd Creekview game as poor defense and base running saw Creekview take a 14-2 lead into the final inning. But rather than accept an embarrassing defeat, the Knights fought hard and refused to give up. Cody's ground out scored Garrett Wells to make it 14-3 with 2 outs. From there, Jack, Gil, Hunter, George, Jackson, Luke and Austin put together 7 straight 2 out hits. After Garrett walked, Nathan picked up a 2 run single, his 2nd hit of the inning, to cut the lead to 14-11. The Grizzlies finally made the final out and escaped with an improbably close win. The Knights overall play was disappointing, but their great show of character in refusing to throw in the towel was certainly something for the team to build on for the future.

The Knights to try to stay in the shade between games.

Titans Walk Off Hit Knocks Knights from AYBA Tourney

It was a tough road for the Marietta Knights in the AYBA Open Tournament in Alpharetta. After opening with a 1 run win over Hopewell, the Knights lost to the Georgia Stars and the WPB Braves to set up a bracket game with the host AYBA Titans. Jack Vargo started the game like he usually does with a single and a stolen base and he came home on George Krivsky's single. After Hunter Williamson scored on a an error, Garrett Wells knocked in George and the Knights held a 3-0 lead. AYBA came right back in the bottom of the 1st with 3 doubles and tied the score at 3-3. Jack led off the 2nd with another single and scored on Hunter's RBI double. In the 3rd, Luke Martin reached on an error and scored on an RBI ground out by Nathan Brooks but he Titans pushed 2 across in the bottom of the 3rd to tie it back up at 5-5 lead.

The tight battle continued as the Jackson Tysinger singled and stole 2nd and 3rd. George knocked him in with his 2nd RBI single of the day. But the Titans answered with 2 straight singles in the 5th to score a run. It was 6-6 going into the bottom of the 7th inning. The Titans' leadoff man walked and advanced to 2nd on a ground out. After a pop out to Jackson at SS, the runner took 3rd on a passed ball. With 2 outs, the Titans #3 hitter hit a blast off the RF fence that scored the runner and gave the Titans an exciting 7-6 victory. It was a tough way to lose, the Knights battled the AAA home team to the wire and played good baseball. When you play great teams, great players make plays and that's what the Titans did in the 7th.

   

Knights Open AYBA Tournament with Thrilling 4-3 Comeback Win Against the Hopewell Hawks

The Knights players check out the awesome playing surface from the big league dugouts at Legion Field in Alpharetta.

The Marietta Knights opened up the AYBA Invitational on Wednesday night at beautiful Legion Field in Alpharetta. The park is a throwback to old American Legion Baseball leagues of the 70's and 80's and is newly renovated. The boys were fired up and ready to play upon finding the real dugouts, brick walls and perfectly manicured playing surface. The excitement of the great ballpark soon gave way to the much greater excitement of a tight ballgame where every play would matter against a very strong Hopewell Hawks team.

Legion Field in Alpharetta, Georgia

The Hawks threatened to blow it open early when they put runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out in the 1st. Hopewell's cleanup hitter hit a hot shot up the middle but Gil Hastings knocked it down at the mound and threw home to Luke Martin for a tag out at the plate. Gil got the #5 hitter to ground to George Krivsky at 1B for an unassisted third out and no runs scored.

The Hawks used a 2 out rally in the 2nd to take a 2-0 lead and they had runners on 1st and 2nd when Hunter Williamson stabbed a hard grounder at 3rd and touched the bag to end the inning. The Hawks added a run in the 3rd after a leadoff single and a couple of stolen bases allowed them to score on a ground out to 1st. Meanwhile, the Knights left 2 on in the 1st and 1 in the second and went into the bottom of the 3rd trailing 3-0.

C'mon, Let's Go Kiiiiiid!!! 

After a leadoff walk, Alex Beaullieu scored all the way from first on Jack Vargo's massive line drive double that bounced off the deep Legion Park fence. Jack advanced to 3B on a ground out and scored on Hunter's line drive RBI single to right that cut the score to 3-2. Jackson Tysinger was unhittable on the mound as he retired 10 straight Hopewell Hawks from the 3rd thru 5th innings. After cutting the Hawks lead to 3-2 in the 3rd, the Knights left 2 more on in the inning and left men on 2nd and 3rd in the 4th.

Down 3-2 in the bottom of the 5th, Hunter hit his 3rd single of the night. With 2 outs, Hunter used great jumps to steal 2nd and 3rd. As the stress mounted, Luke ripped a burner to deep short. Hopewell's SS backhanded the ball on the edge of the outfield grass and fired towards first but Luke beat the throw and Hunter scored to tie it up at 3-3. It was a huge 2 out RBI single for Luke. Gil came on to run for Luke and stole 2nd to get into scoring position. That brought George to the plate who's been on offensive tear. George hit a rocket over the centerfielder's head. As all 3 outfielders raced toward the wall Gil scored easily and George cruised into 2nd as the Knights dugout, crowd and even George went wild at the 4-3 lead.

The inning ended with 1 minute left on the time clock so the Hawks would get one last chance. After

Rally Cones? Well, they worked.

a popout to George at 1B, they managed a base runner on a HBP. The next batter hit a deep flyball to CF where Nathan Brooks hauled it in for the 2nd out. After the baserunner stole 2nd with 2 outs Jackson reached a full count on the next Hawks batter. Jackson reached back and threw a blazing fastball that hit Luke right in the mitt on the outside edge of the plate. The umpire paused and Luke held the mitt firmly in the same spot until the ump finally threw out his right hand and made the big punch out call. Strike 3. Knights win.

It was a huge opening win in the tournament for Marietta. The Hawks are a great, very well coached team and this was a hard earned victory. Jackson Tysinger picked up the win and only allowed 1 run on 1 hit in 4 innings of work. He walked 1 and struck out 3 in the dominant performance. Jack Vargo was 2 for 3 with 2 doubles, an RBI and a run scored. Hunter Williamson was 3 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored and Luke Martin had the big 2 out RBI single to tie the game. George Krivsky was 2 for 3 and had the game winning hit with his RBI double in the 5th. The Knights have 2 days off and will continue pool play on Saturday at Webb Bridge Park in Alpharetta.

  
     

Speed on the Bases

Coach Brook snapped this pic of one of the locals practicing
with the Knights Thursday evening.

The Knights had a surprise guest at practice Thursday evening. A deer came out of the woods, wandered into the dugout and out onto the field while the boys were practicing. The deer walked right up to the guys and even joined them when they were running poles. The boys were impressed with the deer's speed. Coach Tony, however, was disappointed in the deer's effort and made him run a few extra.

8 Men Out - Knights Win Pool, Play Semifinals with 8 Players at USSSA Tournament in Villa Rica

The Knights Defense Takes the Field

The Marietta Knights turned in a strong 2-0 performance to win their pool at the USSSA Champs Wear the Rings Tournament at the Villa Rica Civic Center on Saturday. On Sunday the Knights took the field with only 8 players due to injury and illness. Even though they fell in the Semifinal, the gutty undermanned performance was one of Coach Rob's proudest moments with the team.

Marietta opened with the very strong Newnan Scorpions. The game remained scoreless after 2 thanks to the Defensive Play of the Game from #7 Austin Hansell. The Scorpions were poised to break the game open early with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out when their clean-up hitter scorched a line drive down the 3B line. Austin snagged the ball and tagged the bag for a huge double play to end the inning and the threat. The Scorpions finally did jump out to a lead in the 3rd when they put together a couple of walks and couple of hits to build a commanding 4-0 lead. George Krivsky came on to pitch and not only stopped the bleeding but dominated for the next 3 innings. George did not allow a run and struck out 5.

New Acquisition Cody Hahn was great
in 7 1/3 innings on the mound and had
2 RBI's in the tournament.  

The Knights scratched their way back with aggressive base running in the bottom of the 3rd. Jack Vargo singled and scored on Jackson Tysinger's single. Jackson stole 2 bases and scored when Hunter Williamson reached on an error and Hunter stole 2 bases and scored on a passed ball to close the gap to 4-3. In the 4th George tied the game when he singled, stole 2 bases and also scored on a passed ball. With the game still tied in the 5th, Jack singled and stole 2nd to set up another Jackson RBI single and the Knights finally had the lead at 5-4. Austin took the hill in the 6th and looked great in picking up the Save in just 10 pitches.

Next up was a rematch with the Hiram Hornets. After the Knights shut them out a week earlier, the Hornets dugout was on fire when a Sac Fly gave them a 1-0 lead after 1. But the Knights took the momentum back in a big way when 5 straight Knights crossed the plate with hits from Garrett Wells, Nathan Brooks, Luke Martin and a big 2 run single from the newest Knight Cody Hahn. Gil Hastings kept the Hiram bats quiet in 3 solid innings on the mound. Gil struck out 5 to just 1 hit and 2 BB's.

The Knights added a run in the 3rd after Hunter singled and scored on an RBI double by Austin. They blew the game open in the 5th. George hit a 2 run double and scored on a Nathan Brooks double. After Luke singled again, Jack Vargo added a 2 run single to give Marietta an 11-1 lead. Cody closed it out on the mound in his first appearance by striking out 4 in 2 innings and just giving up 1 run. The Knights took the impressive 11-2 win and Pool title.

George Krivsky shut down opponents in
2 outings during the weekend.

The pool win sent the Knights to the Semifinals of the Gold Bracket where competition would step up dramatically with a game against Hooks Baseball. To make it even tougher, the Knights found out just a couple of hours before game time that they would be down to 8 players due to an injury and illness. The coaching staff was amazed at how the team embraced the challenge and set out to give the Hooks everything they had. The Knights plan was to lock down the infield and put Gil and Nathan in the gaps to chase down any balls that made it to the OF. Their play was amazing and behind outstanding pitching from Cody, the Knights somehow trailed only 2-1 after 5 innings. Finally, the Hooks were able to "hit it where they ain't" a few times in the 6th to tack on 4 runs and each team added a run in the 7th for the 7-2 final score. By rule, the Knights had to take an automatic out every time the 9th spot in the order came up to bat. The Knights left 9 men on base in innings where they were forced to take this automatic out.

There were plenty of great defensive efforts to choose from. Cody pitched 5 1/3 innings and only allowed 2 runs in the first 5 even though he only had 2 outfielders. Big Game Hunter had 6 assists and 2 putouts. Luke threw out a runner trying to steal 3rd. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Gil had to run hard from CF to try to make a catch on a shallow pop fly into LF. He didn't quite make it, but the runners had to hold half way and he was able to turn it into an unusual FC by throwing out the base runner at 3rd. In one of the best hustle plays of the year, a Hook hit a hard grounder into LF when the Knights 2 outfielders were shifted to the right. Jackson ranged to his right from SS but couldn't keep it in the IF. He never slowed down and raced after the ball until he caught up to it well into LF where he wheeled around and threw a strike to Hunter who tagged out the batter at 2B trying to get a double. And finally, the Defensive Play of the Day. Nathan covered a ton of ground going from RCF to make a great running catch on a Flyball in RF. The runner on 1st didn't think he could get there and ventured too far off the bag. After Nathan made the catch he threw to George who made a nice stretch and catch for the double play. These 8 guys were amazing in the field.



Nathan Brooks was a beast running down balls from his gap
position when the Knights had to play with 8.

Offensively, Luke went 3 for 3 on the day and Hunter was 2 for 4 with 2 doubles. George and Cody each added an RBI single. The Knights had plenty of base runners, but in the end they were beaten by the only thing that their great effort and desire could not overcome and that was the automatic out in the 9 spot. Coach Rob hopes he never has to go through that again but he couldn't be any more proud of these guys for the way they took on the adverse situation and made great play after great play. In the long run of their baseball careers these kids got the win today.

Luke Martin had a monster weekend at the plate going 5 for 8 in the tourney.

Knights Follow Up and Down Performance to 2nd Place Finish at USSSA Championship Belt Bash at Mt. Tabor Park

The Knights show off their hard earned rings for finishing as Runners Up at Mt. Tabor Park in Dallas.  

The Marietta Knights were a little rusty when they arrived at Mt. Tabor Park in Dallas, Georgia on Sunday. It probably should have been expected since Spring Break and unending rains kept them from playing for nearly a month. Even this tournament had to be shortened to a 1 day affair due to rain on Saturday. But after a slow 0-2 start in pool play the Knights stormed back, pun intended, with back to back bracket wins for a spot in the Championship game.

Pool play against the South Spaulding Spartans opened like most of the Knights' successful games with Jack Vargo reaching base. Jack got hit with the first pitch of the game, stole 2nd, moved to 3rd on Jackson Tysinger's single and scored on an RBI single by Hunter Williamson. Austin Hansell added an RBI single and the Knights led 2-0. Unfortunately that would end the Knights scoring. The Spartans took advantage of Marietta's defensive lapses and used a big 2nd inning for a 5-2 victory. Garrett Wells was sharp on the mound and only gave up 1 earned run in 2 innings pitched.

In game 2, the Knights offense remained silent and they squandered another good pitching performance with poor defense in losing to the Fairplay Patriots 4-0. George Krivsky threw 64% strikes and gave up only 1 ER in 2 1/3. Three Knights' errors led to 3 Patriot runs to doom the Knights. The Knights 0-2 record led them to a last place seed entering bracket play.

Undaunted, the Knights set out to make a run starting with the #4 seed Hiram Hornets. Jack didn't get hit until the 2nd pitch of this game. Then he stole 2nd, advanced on a ground out and scored on a passed ball. Best leadoff man in the game. The Knights pushed their lead to 2-0 in the 2nd when Garrett doubled and scored on Luke Martin's RBI single. Hunter made it 3-0 on a daring steal of home when he saw that Hiram's Catcher couldn't find the ball even though it was only about 3 feet from the plate. Nathan Brooks and George Krivsky added RBI hits to score Austin and Garrett to give the Knights a 5-0 win. Jackson Tysinger was almost perfect on the mound. 0 runs, 0 hits and 4 strikeouts in 3 innings pitched. Only 1 Hiram Hornet reached base on a walk.

This set up a rematch with the #1 Seeded Fairplay Patriots. This one went much differently than the first time the teams played. Marietta got on the board early with Garrett's huge 2 out, 2 run single in the 1st that scored Jackson and Hunter. The Knights blew it open in the 2nd with hits from Jack, Hunter and a 2 run single from Austin to make it 5-0. Luke added an RBI single in the 3rd and Jackson picked one up with a bases loaded walk for a 7-0 Knights lead. Jackson continued his dominance on the mound with another 2 1/3 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts. Austin closed it out with the final 2 outs on 4 pitches to preserve the 7-0 win and a spot in the finals. Jack delivered the Defensive Play of the Day. The Patriots threatened in the 2nd with runners on 1st and 2nd and 1 out. Jack fielded a hot line drive just inches from the dirt at Short and double the runner off at 2B to end the inning.

The Spartans watch Hunter warm up from the 3B line.

Unfortunately the long day caught up with the Knights in the Championship game and their defense left them as they fell to South Paulding 8-1. The Knights committed 4 errors and only 1 of the Spartans' runs was earned. Gil Hastings led the offense with a bombed double to the CF fence and a run scored. Hunter looked good on the mound striking out 6 in 3 1/3 innings with 1 earned run.

It was a long up and down day after the layoff but the Knights were proud of the run from the bottom seed all the way to the Championship Game.

Be True to Your School!

Garrett Wells, Gil Hastings, George Krivsky and Hunter Williamson come straight from their school games or practices
to work out with their Knights' teammates. Garrett and Hunter each led their team to a win Monday afternoon.

The Marietta Knights are very proud of their 4 players that serve double duty. Garrett Wells plays for the Eastside Christian School Lions, Gil Hastings and George Krivsky play for the Marietta High School Blue Devils and Hunter Williamson plays for The Walker School Wolverines. All 4 of the Knights start for their schools and all 4 have proven to be among their teams' top pitchers. The goal of the Knights has always been to put kids on high school rosters and it is very gratifying to watch these guys get a head start on that path. And all of the innings in the field, at bats and innings on the mound will serve them well as the Knights get into their tourney stretch. Way to go guys!


Swagtastic Treinta y Cuatro. Gil rips a base hit for the Blue Devils.



Big Game Hunter has been a Strikeout machine for the Wolverines. He struck out 8
in 4 innings in this win over Kings Academy while giving up just 1 hit and 0 BB.

Knights Notch Another Win Against Sandy Springs Expos

The Knights are prepared for battle in the vistors' dugout at Morgan Falls Sports Complex

On another gorgeous day for baseball, the Marietta Knights travelled across the top end perimeter to Morgan Falls Sports Complex to take on the Sandy Springs Expos in a Sunday double header. The Knights were the "home" team for game 1 and the visiting team for game 2.

After a leadoff strikeout, the Expos flexed their muscles early with a 2B to deep center and a HR to left (that Garrett Wells almost robbed) to grab a 2-0 lead. After the Knights went 3 up 3 down in their half of the 1st, it looked like it might be a long day for Marietta.

Birthday Bomb - Gil Hastings celebrated his birthday
with a deep HR over the RF fence.

Gil Hastings celebrated his birthday in the best way possible. In the 2nd inning, He took a 1-0 fastball and launched a missile over the RF fence that left the yard in record time for an awesome birthday dinger. The Knights then tied the game on Alex Beaullieu's 2 out, RBI single. An error on the Expos' 1B allowed Garrett Wells to score and gave Marietta a 3-2 lead. Jackson Tysinger settled in and had a great outing on the mound shutting out Sandy Springs in the 2nd and 3rd.

The Expos put together 2 singles in the 4th to tie the game at 3, but a great defensive play kept them from taking a lead. With a runner on 2nd Jackson fielded a grounder at the mound, looked the runner back and threw to Gil at 1B for out #1. The runner broke on the throw and Gil fired across the field to Austin Hansell who applied the tag as the runner tried to slide into 3B for a double play. Jackson struck out the next batter and the threat was over.

Marietta left the bases loaded in the 4th and allowed the Expos to take 4-3 lead in the 5th on their only error of the game. But these guys just expect to win regardless of the score and always play hard. The Knights loaded the bases again in the 5th with singles from Austin and Nathan Brooks and a walk to Garrett. Still trailing by a run, Luke Martin changed the course of the game when he hammered a 3 run double to CF. After a single by Alex, Luke scored when the Expos had to throw to 1B on a dropped 3rd strike. Hunter Williamson made it 8-4 with a 2 out RBI single. Gil followed with a single which brought on the GREAT Hustle Play of the Day. With 2 outs and Gil and Hunter 2B & 3B, Austin hit a routine ground ball that carried the Expos second baseman towards 2B. He fielded and threw to 1B to try to end the inning. Despite the routine nature of the play, Austin went hard out of the box and sprinted down the line towards first. The throw pulled the 1B off the bag where he caught the ball and quickly turned at the last second to tag the hustling Austin. As Austin ran through the tag and hit the bag, the ball flew out of the 1B's mitt and landed in the dirt. Austin was safe and both Hunter and Gil scored. 2 big runs thanks to Austin finishing the play and the Knights led 10-4.

This had to be good.



Jackson got one more out in the 6th to finish his day with 5 1/3 innings, 5 K's and only 1 BB to get the win. Jack Vargo came in a closed it out in just 6 pitches. He used a hard fastball and filthy curve for 1 K and a soft pop up that he handled himself at the mound. Final score, Marietta 10 Sandy Springs 4. It was another complete win for the Knights over a very good team. The Knights out hit the Expos 12-6 and committed only 1 error.

The Expos got the better of the Knights in game 2 of the DH. Neither team could get much going offensively with just 3 hits apiece, but walks and few untimely errors did the Knights in and Sandy Springs won it 6-2. Despite the outcome, the Knights had several defensive highlights including 2 more double plays. With the bases loaded in the first, the batter hit a looping liner towards Hunter at 3B. The runner on 3rd froze as Hunter charged and caught the ball on a hop. He tagged the runner out and threw back to Jackson who tagged out the runner heading from

The Hansells at 1B after Austin's big 2 RBI hit.

2nd to 3rd. In the 3rd, Hunter made one of the best plays of the season so far. From his 3B position, he dove completely flat and stabbed a hard grounder that was headed down the LF line. From flat on the ground and facing away from 1B, he jumped up threw a laser across the diamond that Gil caught on a stretch just ahead of the Expos base runner. Later that inning, Luke used a quick transition and beautiful power throw from behind the plate to gun an Expos' runner trying to steal second. In the 4th, Marietta executed a perfect textbook 4-6-3 (Jack-Jackson-Gil) double play to end the inning.

On a beautiful Sunny Sunday, the Knights got a victory, hit a dinger and a 3 run double and recorded 3 double plays. Definitely a good day.

The Best Fan Club in Travel Baseball!
Knights Trivia: What % of girls in this picture are named Ella?

Knights Earn Split with Hopewell Hawks in Iron-Out Bowl at Sewell Park



Nathan Brooks hit a 3 run
Double in the win over Hopewell.  

It was another rainy week in Georgia and the Knights Saturday games against Ocee had already been washed out. As more rain fell it looked like Sunday would also be rained out and it would be hard to blame Marietta for giving in to the weather instead of welcoming in the extremely talented and accomplished Hopewell Hawks. But these boys love to play baseball so the Knights coaching staff assembled at 10am Sunday morning at their home Sewell Park to make sure the field was playable for a 2pm first pitch. The result was a playing surface Ed Mangan would be proud of and certainly the finest the Knights have played on in years.



This Issue Of Knights Talk is brought to
you by Iron Out. Did your coach have
your team wear their home whites after a
massive rain storm? Did your son slide
into 2B even though the entire dugout
yelled "You're Up!"? Did the opposing
pitcher throw over to 1B four times even
though your son hasn't stolen a base in a
month? Get Iron Out. It gets the mud out!

Jackson Tysinger delivered another great start on the mound for Marietta and his defense was strong behind him. Hopewell managed just 1 run in the first when their lead off runner tagged from 3rd after Garrett Wells made a running catch on a flyball in deep RCF. Jackson did not allow any more runs in his 3 innings of work and got out of 2 jams. Down 1-0 with 2 outs and a runner on 3B Jackson stuck out a Hawk on 4 pitches to end the 2nd. And with 2 outs and the bases loaded in a 1-1 duel, Jackson coaxed an easy ground ball to 2B that Hunter Williamson handled and tossed to Gil Hastings at 1B to end the 3rd.

The Knights trailed 1-0 in the 2nd with Gil on 3B. Hopewell's catcher caught Gil a little too far off the bag and made a snap throw down. Gil broke for home and then kept the run down alive just long enough for the Hawks to make a mistake so he could score and tie the game at 1-1. Coach Rob congratulated Gil on the great hustle and reminded him never to let it happen again.

It turned into a beautiful Spring like day and the Knights were locked in a 1-1 tie when their offense took over. Luke Martin provided the spark when he reached first after legging out a dropped third strike. He advanced to 3B on a single by Jack Vargo and gave Marietta the lead on Jackson's RBI single. After Hunter walked and Gil reached on a fielder's choice the Knights had the bases loaded with 2 outs and a 2-1 lead for RBI machine Austin Hansell. Austin roped a 2 run single into CF that scored Jackson and Hunter and pushed Gil to 3B. It was now 4-1. George Krivsky drew a walk and the bases were loaded again. Nathan Brooks blasted a 3-1 pitch to straight away CF towards Roswell. Hopewell's CF covered a lot of ground but couldn't catch up as the ball hit the fence. Gil scored. Austin scored. And George scored all the way from first on the 2 out, 3 run double. After 5 2 out RBI's the Knights held a commanding 7-1 lead. In addition to the big hits, the Knights owed thanks to Nathan's Dad Tony who has been working with Knights base runners. As each of these Knights accelerated through each bag on their way to the plate it was clear the work was paying off and will help them win games.

Austin Hansell had 2 RBI's and pitched
2 shutout innings.

The Hawks got their bats going in the final inning but the Knights stayed cool and kept making outs. Single. Ground out to Luke for 1. Single. Ground out to Hunter for 2. 2 more hits and an error closed the gap to 3. Ground ball to Luke and he touches 3B to close it out. A great 7-4 home win over a great team for the Knights.

In game 2, a big first inning by the Hawks doomed the Knights. An error, a walk, a hit batsman and a few big hits and Hopewell was off to a 5-0 start. The Knights settled down and only allowed 1 more run the rest of the way but couldn't overcome the early deficit and fell 6-2. The Knights offense came from a big 2 out, 2 run double off the bat of Luke Martin. The Knights defense was once again pretty strong. The first Defensive Play of the Day happened with the bases loaded in the first. Austin fielded a hard grounder at 3B and fired to Luke at the plate. Luke made the catch just as the runner's spikes smashed against his shin guards for a run saving out. The other came in the 2nd with a runner on 2B. Nathan fielded a low line drive on one hop in LF and threw to Austin at 3B to get the runner trying to advance. Austin was also solid on the mound throwing 2 shut out innings.

The Knights were disappointed that 1 tough inning prevented the sweep but a split against a quality opponent like the Hopewell Hawks is great for the program. And kudos to the Hawks. The Knights' coaches were very impressed that while on deck in front of the Knights' dugout, several Hawks made a point of thanking the Knights coaches for working so hard to prepare the field for the game. They are a great group of kids and always a fun opponent to play. 


Luke Martin had a 2 run Double.

Coach Steven Hansell and Coach Brook Martin work overtime to get the field at Sewell Park ready for play.