FL New England Knockouts

New England Shutout in Shane Gray's Complete Game; Swept by Titans

Published on June 20, 2024 under Frontier League (FL)
New England Knockouts News Release


BROCKTON, MA. - Shane Gray threw a complete game shutout to give Ottawa a 5-0 victory and a three game sweep over New England on Thursday night at Campanelli Stadium. The Titans improve to 20-15 while the Knockouts drop to 11-24.

Prior to the game New England Knockouts skipper Jared Edmondson spoke about last night's contributions by Jake Boone and John Cristino, who combined for six hits in their loss against Ottawa. "Boone started to get it going. He had another stint like this earlier in the year where he started to get more consistent, and I mean Johnny has been good all year. He sticks to his approach and if we can keep going out with those guys he will be okay."

Boone spoke about what has been working well for him at the plate. "Just getting my timing down, getting my load down early and making sure that I'm swinging on good pitches, pitch selection always plays a big part and just seeing the ball right and trying to capitalize on that."

Ottawa's starter, Gray, pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only four hits and four walks. New England's starter, Matt Cronin, was charged with the loss after pitching five innings. Cronin allowed three hits and five runs, two of which were earned, while also walking four batters and striking out three.

Cronin hit Jackie Urbaez with just one out in the first. Shortly after, he managed to steal second base. Later on in the inning, Taylor Wright was also hit by a pitch, making it the second time in the inning that Cronin had hit a batter. However, the inning came to a close when Jason Dicochea popped out to first base, caught by Brady West.

Cronin hit Michael Fuhrman to lead off the second, marking the third time he had hit a batter. Additionally, he gave up two walks, loading the bases with two outs. Christian Ibarra then singled to third base with a slow roller. As the ball rolled, Luis Atiles opted to let it roll, but Boone picked it up and threw it to the plate. Unfortunately, the throw wasn't in time, as the Titans extended their lead to 2-0.

The Knockouts in the top of the third faced a breakthrough when Dicochea struck out swinging and Taylor Wright was initially safe at second. However, Wright was called out for interference on Dicochea, as he made contact with the catcher Cristino.

Atiles' single in the bottom of the fifth started a quick rally, but he was quickly erased thanks to a double play. In the top of the sixth Dicoachea reached first base off an error by Atiles. Fuhrman reached on a fielder's choice, and Dicochea advanced to second due to an error by Cronin. Jamey Smart walked, loading the bases with nobody out. With the infield in, Guenther hit a double to right-center field, and despite Tommy Kretzler's valiant effort, three Titans runners scored. Guenther managed to advance to third on the throw. Ottawa secured one more run, establishing a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the inning.

Boone had multiple hits for New England, while Kretzler and Atiles each contributed with a base hit. On the other hand, five different Titans from Ottawa recorded a hit during the game.

Luke Williamson, Brendan Bell, Dan Goggin, and Reeves Martin formed a solid bullpen quartet, delivering four impressive innings in relief while only giving up two hits.

The Knockouts begin a six-game road trip tomorrow night, traveling to New York to play the first-place Boulders. They are back at Campanelli Stadium next Friday, hosting Trois-Rivieres in a weekend matinee. Tickets for the weekend can be found at https://tickets.knockoutsbaseball.com/.

Check out the New England Knockouts Statistics

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Frontier League Stories from June 20, 2024


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