Knoch baseball’s patience pays off vs Mars in comeback non-section win
WEST DEER TWP — It was all a matter of patience.
After going down on strikes six times in the initial 4.1 innings against Mars on Thursday, Knoch showed some restraint at the dish.
The Knights worked 10 walks from that point on, scoring just as many runs during that span in a 10-4 non-section baseball win at No Offseason Sports – Russellton.
Up until he fanned Knoch’s Kyle Morgan to ring in the bottom fourth, Planets (2-4) starting pitcher Colin Yurisinec had been rolling. He’d allowed just one inconsequential hit, but ran into trouble following back-to-back free passes and a Kaden Dreher single that loaded the bases. Yurisinec was pulled after walking a run in.
“Our top of the order is very aggressive, but ... we sat down, we talked and patience was the biggest thing,” said Knights first baseman and cleanup hitter Sean Morgan, who singled against Yurisinec. “We started drawing in some walks, started getting some nice little hits and then we started pounding the ball.”
Yurisinec’s reliever, Colin Krafjack, walked in another run soon after, then Knoch (5-4) nearly batted around in the fifth as three Krafjack walks set up multi-RBI knocks by Dante Pelloni and Dave Breese. Those were both off Braden Schmitt.
Earlier in that inning, Mars’ Luke Goodworth doubled, moved to third on a passed ball and was driven in by a Finn Seideneck groundout. That put the Planets up one, but they didn’t notch another hit the rest of the way.
“It’s starting out early, getting strikes early and having good defense play behind,” Mars coach Jason Thompson said. “You see it all in the pitcher, the confidence that comes with it. Then, you know, as the game gets on ... we were never ever really able to open the floodgates on our end when we had opportunities.
“When that fourth inning comes and it’s getting closer to the end of the game and it’s only 2-0, that’s when you can kind of see some young guys, (in) the pressure situation, they tried doing too much. That’s where things can start to spiral out.”
“What we did was we came in here and we started to look at better pitches down and away,” Knoch coach John Negley said. “We were swinging at the high strike, and we started to look away and try to get the ball down in the zone — and we got more patient at the plate.”
The Knights’ Dylan Roth was given a free pass in the fourth, fifth and sixth frames, coming all the way around after each. A rain drop here and there earlier in the game became a steady shower during the Planets’ half of the sixth.
“I was just trying to look at the weather,” Roth said. “You know, it started to rain and get wet out, and the pitcher’s control was going to be going. So, I was just thinking, ‘Take until I see a strike and make them come to me. And if I get down, I’m not worried because I don’t think that they can throw me three strikes in this weather.’”
Sean Morgan whacked a three-run homer over the left-center field fence in the bottom sixth, providing his side insurance it didn’t wind up needing.
“He gave me a fastball down the middle, and I fouled it off,” Morgan said. “He tipped off his curveball, and I just sat curveball. He hung it, and I jacked it.”
Kyle Morgan sealed matters by striking out three challengers in the ensuing half-inning. He’d plunked just as many batters in the top sixth.
Mars 110 011 0 — 4 6 0
Knoch 000 235 x — 10 6 0
W: Xavier Voltz 1IP (0K, 0BB). L: Colin Krafjack 1.1IP (0K, 4BB).
Mars (2-4): Grady Speigle 1B RBI, Vinny Gottschalk 1B R, Daniel Costanza RBI, Zachary Rozman 1B RBI, Luke Goodworth 2B R, Finn Seideneck 2B RBI, Hayden Reisinger 1B R, Connor Sumitt R.
Knoch (5-4): Kyle Morgan 1B 2R, Dylan Roth 3R, Sean Morgan HR 1B 3RBI 2R, Kaden Dreher 1B R, Ryan McCurdy R, Dante Pelloni 1B 2RBI, Landon Harrison R, Dave Breese 2B 2RBI.
Monday: Highlands at Knoch, at Laura Doerr Park; Freeport at Mars
