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FL New England Knockouts

New England Swipes Series Finale from Aigles; Wins Five of Last Six

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


BROCKTON, MA - New England thwomped an eight-run third inning for a 9-6 victory and took two out of three from Trois-Rivieres on Sunday afternoon at Campanelli Stadium. The Knockouts boasted their record to 20-36 while the Aigles sank to 31-24.

Prior to the game Jerod Edmondson expressed how he assesses the first half of the season. "I mean obviously we didn't start the way that we wanted to so we put ourselves into a little bit of a hole. We got to playing well all the time now but I am not really looking to how things started. I am looking at how we are right now and if we just show up every day and try to give our best effort. If we do that, we've shown over the last three weeks we are going to beat whoever we play...We just have to try to win every single night and put our situation into the playoffs."

New England's starting pitcher, Casey Bargo, had a no decision after allowing a run in two innings of work. He walked a batter and struck out three. Matt Cronin, who came in as a relief pitcher, secured the win, improving his season record to 2-5. Cronin pitched 3.2 innings, allowing two hits and four walks while striking out three batters.

After the game Cronin spoke about what was working for him on the mound. "I felt good. I've been working on getting the slider in there, as well as the sinker, and trying to fill up in the zone. Slider was working well today and the same thing with the sinker."

On the Trois-Rivieres side, starting pitcher Osman Gutierrez took the loss, bringing his season record to 4-2. Gutierrez pitched 2.2 innings, allowing three hits and eight runs, seven of which were earned. He also walked four batters and struck out one.

Trois-Rivieres struck first in the second. After swiftly securing the first two outs, Payton Robertson walked, and James Smibert then hit a double to right center field, enabling the Aigles to take a 1-0 lead. Following this, Smibert advanced to third base due to a wild pitch. The inning concluded with Chris Brady striking out swinging.

In the third inning, L.P. Pelletier smashed a home run, marking his sixth of the season with a 420-foot hit to left field. Following that, Thomas Green hit a solid single to left field and swiftly stole second base. Shortly after, Luis Curbelo hit a single to left field, placing Aigles runners on the corners with only one out. Dalton Combs then delivered a double down the right field line, extending their lead to 3-0. With two runners in scoring position, Rodrigo Orozco brought home another run on a sacrifice fly, and Roberston struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Knockouts put on an impressive display of batting, scoring eight runs on four hits in the third inning. The action began when Ramon Jimenez led off the bottom of the third by hitting a single to center field. J.R. DiSarcina then reached base on a fielder's choice, followed by Austin White's single to right field, and Luis Atiles getting hit by a pitch. With the bases loaded, John Cristino walked, forcing home a run and cutting New England's lead to 4-1. The tension mounted as Jalen Garcia was at the plate and got hit by a pitch on an 0-2 count, resulting in another run, bringing the score to 4-2. The Knockouts then managed to tie the game at four as Brady West reached on a fielder's choice, allowing Atiles to score and Cristino to advance to third, ultimately scoring on an error by Trois-Rivieres shortstop Thomas Green. The momentum continued as Jake Boone hit a double down the left field side, scoring West all the way from first base. Boone then scored on a wild pitch, and DiSarcina added to the excitement with a single to left field. With runners on the corners, Atiles grounded out to third, ultimately concluding the inning. This electrifying sequence of events involved an impressive 13 batters stepping up to the plate.

After the game Coach Edmondson spoke about the eight-run inning " We've been doing a great job. We've had a bunch of those innings in the last two weeks. Were we starting to get a guy and we took advantage of our chances to blow up the inning, and we did that today. Anytime you do that, get them on their heels in a big inning like that, you have a really good chance to win.

Cronin walked the first two batters, putting pressure on the defense. Pelletier then successfully executed a sacrifice fly to advance two runners into scoring position. Following that, Green popped out to West behind the plate, keeping the runners where they were. Gladu walked, loading the bases for the Aigles. This set the stage for Curbelo, who popped out to West for the final out of the inning.

The Knockouts increased their lead with only one out in the fifth and runners positioned at first and third base. White hit a fly ball to left field, allowing Castillo to score from third base on a sacrifice fly.

The game remained 9-4 in favor of New England with two outs in the ninth Orozco singled to center field for a two-run single. The Aigles had two runners in scoring position after a successful double steal when Smilbert flew out to center field for a 9-6 win.

After the game the skipper spoke about a third series win before the all-star break. "Like I said, it's about sticking to the plan, trying to execute and just staying with it the whole game. No matter what happens, ride it out until the end and trust each other to pick one another up. We've been doing that and it has been working for us, so hopefully we can keep it rolling."

Trois-Rivières' Green had a multi-hit game, and six different Aigles players also recorded hits. For New England, DiSarcina and Ramon Jimenez each had a hit, while Austin White and Boone also had a hit apiece.

New England is off for the beginning of this week due to All-Star festivities in Quebec, Canada. Following the break, they'll hit the road for six games in New Jersey and Sussex County. They return to Campanelli Stadium at the end of the month, hosting the Jackals in a weekend showdown. Tickets for the weekend can be found at https://tickets.knockoutsbaseball.com/.

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