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.