Knoch shining brightly on diamond
As Knoch's baseball team nears the halfway point of the season, first-year coach Bradley Bestic likes where it has positioned itself.
He watched senior pitcher Gavin Phillips work five scoreless innings while allowing just one hit in the Knights' 9-0 section victory against Freeport at Michelle Krill Field at Historic Pullman Park Monday evening.
The victory, Knoch's fifth in a row, also featured several offensive standouts.
“You can always improve, but we're playing the brand of baseball right now that we need to be successful,” said Bestic. “Offensively, it's all hands on deck instead of relying on just two or three guys.”
Phillips struck out five and walked four in the win. He allowed a one-out triple to Tyler Asti in the top of the second, but Asti was retired when Jonathan Hotalski grounded into a fielder's choice. Third baseman Blaze Voltz fielded the ground ball and fired home to catcher Eli Sutton in time for the tag on Asti, who broke for the plate on contact.
Phillips retired the Yellowjackets (2-7, 0-4) in order in the third inning and would have done so in the fourth if not for a fielding error behind him.
“He struggled making pitches in the zone early,” Knoch catcher Sutton said of Phillips. “We talked about it in the dugout in between innings. He just needed to trust the defense and make his pitches.”
“Gavin has been consistent for us all season and he works well with Eli behind the plate,” added Bestic.It didn't hurt that the Knights (6-3 3-2) had staked Phillips to a 7-0 lead after two innings.Sutton sparked the bats against freshman pitcher Matt Corfield with a two-out double in the first inning. Zack McMillen followed with an RBI-single.Later in the inning with the bases loaded, McMillen scored on a wild pitch and Brady Wozniak came home in the same sequence when catcher Asti's throw to Corfield, who was covering the plate, skipped away.Knoch added four more runs in the second frame, which included a run-scoring single from Luke DiSanti and an RBI-groundout from McMillen.Corfield did not survive the inning and was pulled after a two-out walk to Blaze Voltz.“Matt's a young kid with a ton of talent,” said Freeport coach Ed Carr of his starting pitcher. “Days like this are going to happen, but we won't hesitate to stick him back out there.”Corfield was just one of seven freshmen and sophomores who started for the 'Jackets Monday.“Those kids never got the chance to play junior varsity because last year was wiped out (by COVID) and now they're playing varsity,” Carr explained. “They are learning on the fly, but that's an easy excuse. We want to start seeing some growth.”Freeport reliever Noah Fryer was a bright spot for the Yellowjackets, pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings before Knoch plated its final two runs off of him in the bottom of the sixth.“He'd be one of our starters, but has become a reliever out of necessity more than anything else,” said Carr.Knoch also received a solid effort in relief as junior Anthony Grafton worked scoreless frames in the sixth and seventh to preserve the shutout. He escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth by striking out Zach Clark, then struck out the side the next inning to end the game.Knoch received three base hits from DiSanti, three runs scored by Sutton and three RBI from McMillen.The Knights have scored 47 runs during their current five-game winning streak.“Having a lot of people contribute at the plate, that's big,” said Sutton. “It's a big reason why we've been winning.”The teams meet again Tuesday at Freeport Community Park.Freeport 000 000 0 — 0 3 2Knoch 340 002 x — 9 7 1W: Gavin Phillips 5 IP (5K, 4BB). L: Matt Corfield 1.2 IP (1K, 5BB).Freeport (2-7, 0-4): Tyler Asti 3BKnoch (6-2, 3-2): Luke DiSanti 3-1B 2R RBI, Eli Sutton 1B 2B 3R, Zack McMillen 1B R 3RBITuesday: Knoch at Freeport
