Knockouts Blank ValleyCats in Extras; Secure Series Finale Victory

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New England Knockouts

Knockouts Blank ValleyCats in Extras; Secure Series Finale Victory

August 14, 2024 - Frontier League (FL)
New England Knockouts News Release


BROCKTON, MA. - Jack-Thomas Wold delivered the game tying hit in the ninth as the Knockouts defeated Tri-City 3-2 in sudden death in the eleven inning at Campanelli Stadium. The Knockouts boasted their record to 29-49, while the ValleyCats dropped to 42-36.

Before the game, New England manager Jerod Edmondson emphasized the significance of securing a victory tonight to earn a series win over Tri-City. "We are just trying to win every night that we are out here and playing the game the right way, and as long as we stick to our plan and play the game hard, we should have a chance to beat everybody that we play. You [want to make] less mistakes then the other team, those are the keys. I think if we do our thing, we have a pretty good chance. We'd like to get this one and try to get the next one tomorrow."

In a close game, New England starting pitcher Liam O'Sullivan didn't factor into the decision after a solid eight innings on the mound. He allowed two runs, none of which were earned, while striking out five batters. Mike McKenna came in as a reliever and secured the win, bringing his season record to an impressive 3-0.

After the game O'Sullivan talked about what was working for him on the mound. "I think my approach with this lineup is probably the thing that I utilized the most. I knew what they were trying to do, and I've seen them a couple of times and Sam [Ryan] did a really good job yesterday executing his plan. I kind of followed up after that and continued to execute what I am trying to do."

Tri-City's starting pitcher Chas Cywin also didn't get a decision after pitching five innings. He allowed only three hits and one run, walked two batters, and struck out two. The ValleyCats' relief pitcher ended up taking the loss in this tightly contested game.

Noah Lucier discussed how the team managed to score twice in each of the third, fourth, and fifth innings in last night's game against the ValleyCats. "I think it's great. Usually in situations like that, you want to get Sam [Ryan] as much confidence on the mound as possible. Scoring early and scoring multiple runs an inning helped everybody keep going in the process. The more that was scored to give Sam as much [run] support as possible, the better they feel the better. They command the zone. It's kind of continuing to build off from that."

Austin White in the first extended his on-base streak to twenty-five straight games and stole second base, marking his 49th stolen base of the year in the Frontier League. He then advanced to third base on the same play due to an error by Tri-City catcher Oscar Campos. However, the following three Knockouts batters were unable to bring White home. Luis Atiles struck out, Jack-Thomas Wold popped up to Kyle Novak for the second out, and John Cristino struck out looking, leaving White stranded at third base.

Jake Boone started off the second with a base hit, but his attempt to steal second was quickly thwarted. However, the momentum shifted when Tommy Kretzler drew a walk. With two outs, Lucier hit a double to right field for his tenth double of the season enabling Kretzler to advance to third. A crucial error by the right fielder, Dylan Broderick, allowed Kretzler to score, J.R. DiSarcina flew out to Broderick to end the inning.

In the third inning, with one out, Ryan Cash and Brett Rodriguez both hit singles, putting O'Sullivan in a bit of a tough spot. However, Jaxon Hallmark hit a fly ball to White in center field and Elvis Peralta Jr. struck out swinging, ending the inning.

The Knockouts held a narrow 1-0 lead, with O'Sullivan dominating the game, allowing only three hits in the first five innings. However, in the sixth, Dylan Broderick hit a single to right field, followed by an error by the second baseman, which allowed Oscar Campos to reach first base. Ian Walters then tied the game 1-1 by hitting a single to right field. The inning concluded with Kyle Novak grounding out to DiSarcina.

In the eighth inning, Hallmark hit a single to left field, advancing to second base while Dylan Broderick was at bat. Elvis Peralta Jr. then executed a sacrifice bunt to O'Sullivan, allowing Hallmark to move into scoring position. Broderick popped out to Cristino for the second out. Following that, Oscar Campos hit a ground ball that slipped through DiSarcina's glove, resulting in an error and allowing Hallmark to score the go-ahead run. The inning concluded with Walters flying out to White.

In the bottom half of the inning, Nick DeCarlo achieved a remarkable feat by striking out Garcia, Lucier, and DiSarcina in just nine pitches, accomplishing what is known as an "immaculate inning."

The Knockouts found themselves trailing by one run as they entered the final three outs. However, White hit a single to center field and Atiles executed a sacrifice bunt to third base, allowing White to tie the game with a sacrifice fly. Then, Wold came through with a game-tying RBI base hit, evening the score at two runs each. With two outs in the inning, Boone hit a single to center field, placing runners on the corners, and then advanced to second due to defensive indifference. Unfortunately, the inning ended as Kretzler struck out swinging.

After the game, Wold talked about his game tying hit in the ninth. "I got into two strikes and I just wanted to put competitive at bats to give us a chance - [I got] something up and over the plate that I could put in play and make a good hard contact. You never want to throw that at-bat away."

In the top of the tenth inning, with runners on second base due to the extra-innings ghost runner rule, the ValleyCats failed to capitalize on the scoring opportunity. Dan Goggin managed to retire all three batters in order. During the bottom half of the inning, the Knockouts also couldn't take advantage of the ghost runner opportunity to score.

The Knockouts chose to play as the fielding team in the eleventh inning. With a runner on first, if the runner successfully made it home, the Knockouts would lose. However, if the runner did not score, the Knockouts would win the game. With a runner on first and one out, Campos hit a single to center field. This put two runners on base when Walters grounded out to the pitcher McKenna, allowing both runners to advance to scoring position. Cam Jones then struck out swinging, and the Knockouts won the game in the eleventh inning, in a sudden death scenario.

After the game the skipper talked about his pitching performance overall that kept his team in the game. "I mean Liam was really good, Goggin was really good, McKenna was really good. Everybody was pretty dialed-in executing. I mean they did a really good job pitching against us in a tight game. You got to make pitches when the spot is big, and those guys executing kept us in the game and gave us a chance."

Seven different ValleyCats players each secured a hit in their team's victory. On the other hand, Boone from the New England team had an impressive two-hit performance, while four different Knockouts players also contributed with hits.

New England returns to Campanelli Stadium tomorrow night, hosting the Tri-City ValleyCats in the final game of their season-series finale. Tickets for the remainder of the season can be found at https://tickets.knockoutsbaseball.com/.

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