Balmy Bats
The air was chilly. Mars' bats were quite warm.
The Planets banged out 15 hits Friday night, scored 15 runs in the first two innings — aided by six Knoch errors — and cruised to a 17-1, five-inning non-section baseball win at Michelle Krill Field at historic Pullman Park.
Mars (8-5) won its third game in a row and forced Knoch pitchers to throw 93 pitches in the first two frames.
“I loved our approach at the plate tonight. I'm proud of these boys,” Mars coach Jason Thompson said. “We showed good discipline at the plate and forced their pitchers to extend a lot of our at-bats.”
The Planets sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning and nine more in the second. Knoch's fielding errors contributed to the early onslaught.“We gotta catch the ball, get back to playing the kind of defense we're accustomed to playing,” Knoch coach Brad Bestick said. “We will absolutely learn from this. Make mistakes against quality teams and things will not turn out well for you in the end.”Every player in the Planets' starting lineup had at least one hit with the exception of designated hitter Caiden Schmitt — and he was walked, hit by a pitch and scored two runs in his two plate appearances. Mars has scored 43 runs in its last three games.No. 8 hitter Trey Wagner had three singles, three RBI and three runs scored.“We've got hitters up and down this lineup,” Wagner said. “This was one of my best games of the year, for sure. It's fun playing ball with these guys.“There is a lot of talent on this team and I feel like we're just now hitting our stride.”John Fratto's two-run double to right got Mars on the board in the top of the first. Wagner and Zack Orosz contributed run-scoring singles out of the Nos. 8 and 9 spots in the lineup. Teddy Ruffner tacked on an RBI double, JJ Wetherholt a run-scoring single to complete the eight-run inning.Wagner's two-run single highlighted the seven-run second inning for Mars.“This was out of character for us,” Thompson said. “We usually don't get started until the third or fourth inning. Our hitters were locked in and focused early. That was good to see.”Jackson Fox, Ruffner and Wetherholt combined forces on the mound to limit Knoch to four hits. Wetherholt struck out the side in the fifth to close out the victory.Eli Sutton's RBI double in the first plated the Knights' lone run. Knoch (9-5) had won two straight before Friday.“We'll wash this one off and move on,” Bestic said. “Mars has an excellent team.”Fratto had a double, single and three RBI for the Planets. Ruffner, Pete Craska, Fratto, Schmitt and Orosz all scored two runs.Thompson believes his team is much better than its 8-5 record indicates.“We lost two games to Plum by a run, lost games to Pine-Richland and Trinity by two runs each,” he said. “We could easily be sitting here with one loss right now.“The goal now is to finish strong these next two weeks and carry this momentum into the playoffs.”Mars 870 02x x — 17 15 0Knoch 100 00x x — 1 4 6W: Jackson Fox 2IP (2K, 2BB). L: Blaze Voltz 1IP (0K, 3BB)Mars (8-5): Teddy Ruffner 2B 1B 3-RBI 2-RBI, JJ Wetherholt 2-1B RBI, Mitchell Schultz 2B, Peter Craska 1B RBI 2-R, John Fratto 2B 1B 3-RBI 2-R, Alex Heavner 2B RBI, Caiden Schmitt 2-R, Trey Wagner 3-1B 3-RBI 3-R, Zack Orosz 1B 2-RBI 2-R, Matt Mroz 2B 1B.Knoch (9-5): Gavin Phillips 1B, Eli Sutton 2B RBI, Blaze Voltz 1B, Gabe Cornetti 2BMonday: Mars at Penn Hills, North Catholic at Knoch
