7th heaven
Jake Herrit relied on his defense. Knoch's hitters relied on adjustments.
“We made them just in time,” Knights coach Sean O'Donnell said of the latter.
Held to two hits in the first six innings, Knoch bunched together three singles in the bottom of the seventh to secure a 2-1 section baseball victory over Highlands Wednesday at Kelly Automotive Park.
The win was O'Donnell's first as Knoch coach and followed a pair of one-run losses to begin the season.
“It was important that we got this one, especially since it was another close game,” the coach said. “We didn't want to start feeling like we were snake-bit or something.”
Herrit singled with one out in the Knights' first inning. He stole second, got to third on a wild pitch and scored as part of a double steal.
That 1-0 lead stood up until the sixth inning, though not easily.
Herrit walked the first three batters he faced in the second. But catcher Dylan Swarmer threw out Brandon Welsh trying to steal third, then picked Nick Cichillo off second. Herrit struck out Nate Kendra to end the inning.
The Rams loaded the bases with one out in the fourth, but Herrit got Cory Nicastro to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Highlands had runners at second and third with none out in the sixth. Noah Gillette grounded to shortstop Mike McCarty, who threw out Tyler Grosholz trying to score from third. A Welsh suicide squeeze bunt finally tied the game, but Gillette was caught off second base to end the play and the inning.
“We ran into way too many outs today,” Highlands coach Brett Burger said. “Our baserunning mistakes cost us dearly.”
Nicastro took a two-hitter into the seventh inning for Highlands.
“He was doing a great job of keeping Knoch's hitters off-balance with his curve ball,” Burger said.
“We kept waiting for our hitters to adjust,” O'Donnell said. “We had to move up in the box and square up those off-speed pitches.”
That happened in the seventh.With one out, Derek McGill singled to center. Alex Altmire lined a single to right, both runners moving up when the ball was bobbled in the outfield.Pinch-hitter Jack Bartek was intentionally walked to load the bases.Up to the plate stepped sophomore and No. 9 hitter Ethan Sloane.“I just wanted to stay back on the ball and make contact,” he said.Sloane took two pitches out of the strike zone before Nicastro evened the count. Sloane then hit a grounder between first and second.“All I kept saying was 'get through, get through' ... I think I was actually saying it out loud when I started running to first,” Sloane said.It did — and Knoch had the win.Herrit went the distance. allowing four hits, walking five and throwing 90 pitches.“That was a gutsy effort by Jake,” O'Donnell said. “Yeah, the defense bailed him out a few times. But he forgot about the previous pitch before throwing the next one.“He made the pitches when he had to.”Highlands 000 001 0 — 1 4 2Knoch 100 000 1 — 2 5 01 out when winning run scoredW: Jake Herrit 7IP (5K, 5BB). L: Cory Nicastro 6.1IP (2K, 3BB).Highlands (0-3): Jon Thomas 1B, Tyler Grosholz 1B, Zac Kuniak 2B, Noah Gilletter 1B, Brandon Welsh RBI,Knoch (1-2): Jake Herrit 1B, Mike McCarty 1B, Derek McGill 1B, Alex Altmire 1B, Ethan Sloane 1B RBIFriday: Knoch at Yough
