Knights knock out Trojans
WEXFORD — After his team came out on top of their postseason opener last Wednesday having only recorded two hits, Knoch head coach Bill Stoops promised that his offense would be ready the next time around.
The Knights’ bats then delivered in their WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinal tilt with North Catholic Monday night, providing all that was needed in a 6-3 triumph at North Allegheny Senior High School.
“We knew we were going to face the lefty (the Trojans’ Justin Stupka),” Stoops said. “We worked on it in practice ... We had live pitching Friday and Saturday. It showed. We came out hitting.”
In the third and fourth frames, Knoch combined for seven knocks. The top of the order — pitcher Angelo DeLeonardis, third baseman Brady Wozniak, and catcher Eli Sutton — accounted for five of them while the Knights pieced together a six-run advantage.
Sutton and the rest of the crew looked forward to that sort of chance against the team that beat them out for the Section 1-4A crown at the beginning of the month.
“We wanted to play for a shot at them again,” Sutton said. “That section series left a sour taste in our mouth, with two games that we really wanted to win. Things went our way tonight and we came out and played.”
A three-run top half of the third began when Dathan Gillis was hit by a pitch. After DeLeonardis flew out on the next offering, Wozniak singled to shallow left.
Then came Sutton, who roped a single to the left-center gap and put both of the base runners across. A more relaxed approach helped the Knights at the dish, he said.
“Norwin is that shorter park and I think that our hitters that day were just anxious,” Sutton said. “It’s a big spot that a lot of our guys haven’t been in before ... All week, we really just worked on leveling out, hitting a lot more line drives, staying gap-to-gap, and I think that really showed tonight.”
North was tempted to intentionally walk Knoch’s most productive hitter.
“I thought about putting him on, because we had a base open,” Trojans coach Patrick McKay said. “I did that in the last game and it was effective.”
McKay’s side, meanwhile, was only able to muster two hits through the first five innings.
“It’s hard to beat a good team three times,” he said. “We knew they were a very good hitting baseball club and today they showed that they were prepared ... They hit a little better than we did today. It wasn’t a matter of defense or pitching overall.
“It was they came ready and they hit the ball.”
Logan Cypher led off the fourth with a one-hop triple off the right field wall. A wild pitch shortly thereafter allowed him to come home. Gillis reached base on a dropped third strike later in that at-bat, then, the top three slots got things rolling again.
DeLeonardis singled, Wozniak beat out the throw on what was supposed to be a sac bunt, and Sutton cleaned up with a screaming single through the infield.
With the win, the Knights will go head-to-head with No. 2 seed West Mifflin in the semifinal round at North Allegheny on Tuesday. Junior Jacob Wagner plans on riding its momentum to Washington.
“We’re on a really hot streak right now,” Sutton said. “This team is destined for great things, and this win tonight really solidified the confidence that we have in ourselves.”
Knoch 003 300 0 — 6 8 0
North Catholic 000 012 0 — 3 5 0
W: Angelo DeLeonardis 5.1IP (2K, 3BB). L: Justin Stupka 3IP (3K, 2BB)
Knoch (13-9): Angelo DeLeonardis 1B R, Brady Wozniak 2-1B R, Eli Sutton 2-1B 4RBI R, Isaac Roddy 1B, Luke DiSanti 1B, Logan Cypher 3B R, Luke Preister R, Dathan Gillis R
North Catholic (11-8): Tommy Koroly 1B RBI, Drew Doherty 2B, Blake Primrose 1B R, Patrick Synan 2B RBI R, Jeff Kriedler 1B RBI, Tommy Schafale R
Tuesday: Knoch vs. West Mifflin
