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.