Knights defeated by Hampton, 7-1
Nick Guercio was not one of the names that figured to play a big role on the Knoch pitching staff. Not with the three-headed monster of Cole Shinsky, Alex Stobert and Jeremy Frazier.
But the Knights found themselves without those three hurlers against Hampton Wednesday afternoon at Kelly Automotive Park.
Guercio pitched well enough — four strikeouts, two walks and three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings — but the Knoch bats fell silent and the defense made a few costly gaffes in a 7-1 loss to the Talbots.
“Nick did a fantastic job,” said Knoch coach George Bradley. “I complimented him. My coaches complimented him.”
Hampton (3-7, 3-4) had 10 singles against Guercio and reliever Dom Bucko. Guercio managed to get out of three jams in the first three innings to keep the game close at 2-0.
But the wheels came off in the top of the sixth inning. Hampton scored five runs in the frame on five more singles and a costly two-base error that allowed two additional runs to score after a bases-loaded hit.
Another run scored on one of three wild pitches in the frame. There was nearly a fourth in the books, but Matt Dayton was thrown out at the plate.
“I said, 'Boys, grieve on the way home, on the bus ride, but tomorrow be ready to get back at it in practice,'” Bradley said. “It's not fatal. It's the second half of the season. We won our first game and then lost our second in the first half. So, if we win (against Deer Lakes Friday), we'll be 1-1 and right back where we were.”
Knoch (6-4, 5-2) managed just three hits — an infield single in the first inning by Logan Hickey, an infield single in the second inning by Jake Herrit and a triple by Dom Bucko in the sixth inning.
Bucko scored on a RBI groundout by P.J. Gourley.
The Herrit single came after some massive confusion with the Knoch batting order.
In pregame, starting catcher Derek Swarmer injured his shoulder on a throw and was replaced in the lineup by Jack McGill.
Bradley decided to flip Herrit and McGill at the No. 8 and No. 9 spots in the order, but a miscommunication sent McGill to the plate in Herrit's eighth spot in the second inning.
With a 2-1 count on McGill, two outs and two on, Hampton coach Gary Wilson noticed Knoch was batting out of order and informed the umpires.
The umpires conferred and then called McGill out for batting out of order and Hampton began leaving the field.But the ruling was overturned and Herrit stepped into the box and assumed McGill's 2-1 count. Herrit hit a tapper between the plate and the mound and reached on an infield single to load the bases.McGill then grounded out to short to end the frame.Bradley said the umpires told the coaches that if Wilson had waited until the conclusion of McGill's out-of-order at-bat, he would have been ruled out. When the mistake was pointed out before the at-bat concluded, Herrit had the opportunity to bat in proper order with a 2-1 count.“He was right. We were batting out of order. That was my bad,” Bradley said. “The umpire said he came out too early. He did the right thing. He just did it too early.”It was just another strange occurrence in what so far has been a season full of them for Knoch.The Knights were without Stobert against Hampton. Stobert was ejected from the game against Mars Monday for making contact with the Planets' first baseman.Shinsky was also unavailable to pitch as was Frazier, who had to relieve Stobert in Knoch's previous game.That left Guercio with the ball and he was out-dueled by Hampton's Blaine Crawford, who struck out four and didn't walk a batter in a complete-game win.“Blaine's had moments like that this year,” Wilson said. “But that was by far his best outing.”Hampton has won two straight since a 1-7 start. The Talbots still have a lot of work to do to climb back into the playoff race.“The kids were looking forward to this game. We've been playing a little inconsistent this year, but we've been in ballgames,” Wilson said. “They played well today against a very good team. ”Hampton 101 005 0 — 7 10 1Knoch 000 001 0 — 1 3 3W: Blaine Crawford 7IP (4K, 0BB). L: Nick Guercio 5.1IP (4K, 2BB).Hampton (3-7, 3-4): Neil Corbelli 1B, Greg Susi 1B RBI, Phil Conti 2-1B, Tyler Iversen 1B RBI, Matt Dayton 1B RBI, Jeremy Schmitt RBI, Alex Gust 2-1BKnoch (6-4, 5-2): Logan Hickey 1B, Dom Bucko 3B, P.J. Gourley RBI, Jake Herrit 1BFriday: Deer Lakes at Knoch at Kelly Automotive Park
