Knights baseball reigns over ‘Jacks 12-7
Tyler Consolidated continued their season with a double-header against the Oak Glen Golden Bears on Saturday, March 21.
The Hancock County school made the long trip to Kidwell and went away with the sweep of the Silver Knights.
Oak Glen took an early lead with a run in their opening at-bat, then added another run in the third.
Tyler Consolidated was able get back into the game with a run in the bottom of the third, but the Bears answered back with a three-run route in the top of the fourth.
The Silver Knights made a comeback attempt in the final two innings with two runs in the sixth and another in the final inning, but were then stopped and lost the game 5-4.
Strong hitting came again from the 2-3-4 hitters as Michael Cochran went 2-4 with an RBI, Zack Minger went 2-4 and Zach Perkey went 2-4 with a home run.
Cody Laugh and Stephen Postlethwait also got on base with a hit for the Knights.
“We did not look very good defensively,” said Head Coach Scott Wall going back to the Paden City game. “We’re not going to win to many games if we don’t field the ball well.”
“The defense was much better in the second game. We only had two errors We eliminated some of those problems. I’m pleased with how we’re hitting the ball fairly well too. The guys in the middle of the lineup are doing their job.”
In game two, Oak Glen scored early and often to put the pressure on Tyler Consolidated and opened up with four runs in the first inning.
The Golden Bears gave up two back to the Silver Knights, but returned with three runs in the second, third and fourth innings.
The Silver Knights tried another comeback attempt with two runs in the third as well, but only managed one in the fourth.
After a scoreless fifth, Oak Glen added three in the sixth and put the mercy rule into effect.
Perkey hit another home run on a 2-2 day, while Postlethwait went 2-3 with a double. Garrett Amos and Cochran both got a hit and an RBI. Grimes finished with a hit and two RBIs, and Minger finished with a hit.
“The boys are playing hard,” said Coach Wall. “It’s been a transition period for a lot of these guys. Some of these guys are on their third coach in three years. So there’s a lot of me getting familiar with them and what they’re capable of and them getting familiar with me and what I can do. We were in our first two games and they were good games. You can’t argue with that.”
On Tuesday, the Silver Knights ran into a buzz saw with LKC North foe Williamstown. The Yellowjackets made short work of Tyler Consolidated blasting them 17-0.
The Wood County school’s pitching staff were very difficult for the Knights hitters to pick up on as they allowed only one hit in the mercy-rule shortened game.
That hit went to Brandon Grimes who finished 1-2 on the night. Blaise Rice sat down three Williamstown batters during the game.
As the end of the week came, so did a much needed win.
Tyler Consolidated was finally able to crack the win column with a victory over the Valley Lumberjacks.
The Silver Knights started the game off with a bang and batting around and scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first. After Valley scored one run in the top of the second, Tyler Consolidated added two more runs in the bottom half of the frame.
The two teams played a scoreless third before Valley rallied in a comeback attempt with a five-run fourth. The Silver Knights answered with three runs making the score 12-6.
The Lumberjacks threatened again with a single run scored in the fifth, but the Knights escaped the threat.
With the visitors batting at least five times, it could be considered an official game. That was probably a good thing because it wasn’t much longer until the rains started to fill the valley.
Tyler Consolidated still took to the batters box and put a couple of runners on base, but as soon as it appeared that they would score again, the umpires called the game giving the Knights their first win 12-7.
Dalton Wells recorded the win for the Knights with three strikeouts. Minger came on in relief and punched out one.
On the offensive end, Minger also punched one out of the ballpark with his second home run of the season. He added two singles and two RBIs the rest of the game.
He wasn’t the only player to make the round trip. Zach Perkey hit his third home run of the season easily clearing the softball field fence as well. He added a double and three RBIs on the evening.