Knoch’s Sutton on a tear at plate
As his teammates got their swings in during practice Thursday night, Knoch catcher Eli Sutton dropped to a knee to knot up his shoelaces. Turns out, he was kneeling not tighten his own strings, but to unravel his unwitting coach’s.
Such hijinks are aplenty with this Knights (4-2) baseball team.
“My guys are loose,” said Bill Stoops, who’s in his first year at the Knights’ helm. “I’m happy-go-lucky and they fit right in … We’re having a good time.”
It’s likely that nobody’s been enjoying themselves on the diamond more than Sutton, who’s pacing the crew with an even .600 batting average.
“My philosophy on hitting is (that) we don’t go up there and look,” Stoops said. “We go up and swing.”
The blend of a relaxed environment and aggressive strategy have played in Sutton’s favor. His 13 RBIs and 12 runs are also tops for Knoch. Maybe most impressively, he has yet to strike out.
“Confidence-wise, I’m in the clouds right now,” Sutton said. “I feel really good at the plate. The box is just kind of home for me right now.”
The senior backstop has led both vocally and by example. His coziness at the dish has played a big part in taking pressure away from some of his younger teammates.
“Our younger guys are starting to get a little bit more comfortable,” Sutton said. “If I can show them to just go have fun and play with energy and just be relaxed, then I think they have a lot of great things coming for them.
Sutton estimates that his average ended up in the low-.300s a season ago. In the winter, he focused on hitting backside and against off-speed deliveries.
“That’s probably one of my biggest successes this year, is (that) I’m seeing a lot of breaking balls, a lot of off-speed stuff,” Sutton said. “When you can put good swings on those pitches, you’re a lot more dangerous than just being able to hit a fastball.”
The Knights split their two games against Highlands early on, taking a game from the Golden Rams’ Jett Slepak, a hurler who’s committed to play at Divison I Mount St. Mary’s.
After a narrow defeat to section foe Burrell on April 12, he stood in front of his teammates and gave an impassioned speech about not being afraid to wave at pitches.
“Our bats are definitely keeping us up right now,” said Sutton, who’s pledged to continue his career at Walsh University. “We’re starting to see a lot more people contribute.”
Not to be lost in Sutton’s sensational effort with the bat is his composure while crouched behind home. Stoops trusts him to call every pitch, an uncommon responsibility for high school backstops.
Senior Luke DeSanti was primed to be the group’s ace until he suffered an elbow injury in the initial inning of a scrimmage with Slippery Rock. Sutton has been instrumental in bringing along the rest of the staff.
“If anybody’s having trouble, he goes out to the mound (and) settles them down,” said Stoops, who coached at Leechburg last year before coming in to steer the Knights. “It carries over to the batter’s box, too. He understands how to play the game.”
Knoch has won four of its last five. They downed Freeport, 5-4, in eight innings on the road Wednesday. They face off against the Yellowjackets again, this time at home.
“I told them when I first got the job,” Stoops said. “There’s two things I like to do. I like to win and make baseball fun.”
As of late, the Knights haven’t had much trouble with either.
