Knights split doubleheader with Florida Pokers
In a doubleheader with the Florida Pokers (2–7) on Thursday, the West Palm Beach Knights (4–6) were able to pick up a split, winning the first game 6–4 and dropping the second by a score of 8–6.
Game 1:
The Knights were able to score in the first with an RBI single from third baseman Tim Bouchard, scoring home Andres Paret. Bouchard made his first start of the season for the Knights, and was affective at bat with three hits in four attempts.
West Palm Beach was able take advantage of Florida’s mistakes, as Sam Holtz advanced to first on a hit by pitch, then advanced to third on a wild pitch thrown by Jack Sampedro. And later in the inning, Zachary Malone helped add to the score with an RBI double in the top of the second to double the lead at 2–0.
Florida then benefited from a wild pitch for their first run in the bottom third. With two outs, Tyler Ramage’s erratic pitch scored home left fielder Mariano Poll to cut the deficit to one.
The score remained the same until the sixth, where the Knights were able to break the game open. With the bases loaded, second baseman Sam Holtz was walked by substitute pitcher Lucas Quezada and brought home Tim Bouchard. Juhlien Gonzalez then stepped up to the plate, and facing an 0–2 count, Gonzalez hit a huge RBI triple to expand the lead to 6–1.
The Pokers then followed with three unanswered runs with two coming in the bottom seventh and began to creep closer. But after an RBI single from second baseman Justin Colon and an error in the outfield to score another runner, a 6–3 put out was able to close the curtains in the first matchup.
Pitching:
Tyler Ramage earned his first win of the season, pitching in five out of seven innings and finished with three strikeouts. For the Pokers, Jack Sampedro takes the loss, also pitching five innings and added eight strikeouts.
Game 2:
Opposed to the first matchup where West Palm Beach had a lead to start, the script was flipped in this one. DH Nick Vera had an RBI single for the Pokers in the bottom of the second for the games first score, and another two runs were added in the bottom third courtesy of a sacrifice fly from first baseman Gavin Gonzalez and JM Fay running home after a wild pitch from Will Farrar.
West Palm Beach countered with a two run fourth inning to keep the game within reach, as Townson Ellis hit an single, a defensive indifference brought home Franklin Carney, and Tommy Easley was able to score off of an error made by shortstop David Knepper to make the score 3–2.
The Knights then added another two runs in the fifth with a Walk on an Easley at bat with the bases loaded, and a sacrifice fly from Gino Bellantoni helped Andrew Eppinger score to give West Palm Beach their first lead of the game at 4–3.
But Florida made sure that didn’t last long, as Knepper hit a triple and then scored after a 5–3 put out on Elias Fidler gave time for Knepper to score as it was a tie ballgame going into the sixth.
The sixth inning proved to be a momentum swinger in the first showdown, and history repeated itself, but this time it was Florida who snatched control.
The Knights struck first with an RBI double from Willie Ponce to reclaim the lead for the Knights, but the Pokers were able to follow up with four runs to give themselves a cushion. An RBI single from Jeffery Cardazzone scored Gonzalez and Ryan Herskowitz. Nick Vera then grabbed his second RBI with a single to make the lead 7–5. Nick Vera then scored the fourth run of the inning after a 6–3 putout on David Knepper was just enough leeway to advance from third to home.
West Palm Beach now needed three runs for extra innings, and it appeared that a rally was picking up steam as Tommy Easley stepped up to the plate and secured an RBI double to score Cox and advance Paret to third base. That play was Easley’s second RBI of the day which was the most on the team.
Two runners were now at scoring position with one out, but an 8–6 double play finished off the Knights.
Pitching:
Andrew Eppinger was given the loss for West Palm Beach, as he pitched in the sixth inning where the Pokers took command. Anthony Concepcion was rewarded with the win, as he also pitched in the same inning as Eppinger. Kevin Casey earned the save for the Pokers recording a strikeout in the seventh.
Up next:
The Knights will face the Pompano Beach Clippers on Friday for the second time this week in which the Knights won 4–3 highlighted by a Caden Marsters home run. The game will begin at 10:00 AM and will take place at Pompano Park.