Knights win game one, drop second to Lightning in Saturday doubleheader
In a 7-inning doubleheader at Keiser, the West Palm Beach Knights (8–9) were able to split with the Delray Beach Lightning (13–7) winning the first game and losing game two.
Game one:
Delray Beach was able to put the Knights on their heels, as in the top of the first, the bases were loaded with one out. But a huge 6–4–3 double play was able to get West Palm Beach out of the inning and leave the Lightning scoreless after one.
The Lightning then had a Kevin Vittoria on third base, but Knights starting pitcher Tyler Ramage was able to strike out Delray Beach shortstop Jack Metcho to leave another runner stranded and prevent the lead from being taken.
West Palm Beach was in familiar territory, as runs were hard to come around early, similar to their last matchup against the Boca Raton Blazers. The tie then broke after an RBI single from Kieron Crowder in the bottom third. Crowder now has two RBI’s for the season.
The Knights would hold onto a 1–0 lead up until the sixth inning, where the lead would increase. Delray Beach would bring on their new pitcher Jon Fallacaro for Jeremy Gay, who had seven strikeouts and only one earned run in five innings. With two outs in the inning, Knights designated hitter Tommy Easley smacked a two-run homer to boost the lead to 3–0.
Prior to the home run, Easley was 0–2 for the day with Gay pitching, and a change of pitcher’s ended up playing to Easley’s strengths.
“They had just changed pitchers, so I put my two at-bats away with the righty and they brought in a lefty, I hit lefty’s kind of well,” Easley said in a post-game interview.
West Palm Beach then closed the game in the seventh with relief pitcher Fletcher Reynolds earning his first save of the season throwing two strikeouts as game one ended with a 4–3 putout as the Knights shutout the Lightning and claimed victory in game one with a score of 3–0.
Pitching:
Tyler Ramage earned his second win of the season and remains undefeated. Ramage pitched five innings with no earned runs, only allowing two hits, and throwing for four strikeouts. Jeremy Gay was given the loss in his first start as he was also in for five innings giving up one earned run while having a game best seven strikeouts.
Game 2:
The Knights carried their momentum from last game to start off as West Palm Beach jumped out to a 2–0 lead with a Tyler Cox RBI to score Franklin Carney followed by Cox coming home on an attempted double play. As Paret was put out, first baseman Antonio Christopher was unable to make the grab to get out Holtz who was able to make it back to first base after attempting to advance to second. The error gave Cox time to make it to home plate safely as West Palm Beach added to their lead.
The Lightning were able to punch back and respond with a three-run second inning to claim the lead. Delray Beach’s first run came from a walk with the bases loaded on four straight balls from pitcher Will Farrar. The game was then tied on an RBI single from Andrew Kohl after a miscommunication on defense with first base being left open. The lead then changed hands after an RBI groundout from Vittoria, and the Knights needed an answer with momentum swinging to the side of Delray Beach.
The third inning remained scoreless, but a productive fourth inning propelled the Knights to even the game. Cox led off the inning and produced an double to put himself in scoring position. Sam Holtz then came through with a single to advance Cox to third base. Andres Paret then provided an RBI single to even the score at three going into the fifth inning.
A two-run dinger was a deciding factor in this game as it was in the first matchup. Centerfielder Jackson Tucker hit his first home run of the season and the Lightning were now leading 5–3. Delray Beach was able to provide a second two-run homer, this time from Blake Dincman.
The Lightning then added another two runs to their lead in the sixth, and with West Palm Beach failing to produce a run after the Paret RBI, Delray Beach cruised to victory and defeated the Knights 9–3.
Pitching:
Ross Goldschlag was able to pick up a win in his first start, going six innings with five strikeouts. For West Palm Beach, Jacob Olde was the losing pitcher.
Up Next:
The Knights will take the field on Sunday to face the Palm Beach Diamond Ducks (10–9) at Keiser. The matchup will begin at 10:00 AM.