Dramatic Come from Behind Win in Atlanta Braves Classic Highlights Knights Final 2013 Tourney!

Home of the Braves: The Marietta Knights walk out onto the beautiful grass at Turner Field

The Marietta Knights delivered a thrilling come from behind bracket win Sunday against the Bucks Baseball Club in the Atlanta Braves Baseball Classic at Wills Park in Alpharetta, Georgia. The Knights trailed 7-5 with just 8 minutes remaining in the time limit and the home Bucks at bat. Cal Hughes got a strike out, a pop to Presley Field at first and a pop to himself to end the inning. 2 minutes left meant the Knights would get the one more inning they needed.

Cal Hughes hit a 2 out, 2 run game tying single
and got the win on the mound against the Bucks

Big Game Hunter Williamson led off the final inning with a monstrous double to left field. Walks to Garrett Wells and Gil Hastings along with 2 strike outs and the bases were loaded with 2 outs, the Knights still down 7-5 and Cal at the plate. Cal ripped a 1-1 pitch into right field that scored Hunter and Garrett and the game was tied at 7 a piece. Austin Schubert was hit by a pitch and the bases were loaded once again for Presley Field. It was time for a little less conversation and a little more action. Presley blasted a double to the right field fence that cleared the bases and suddenly the Knights held a commanding 10-7 lead.

Marietta called on Austin Hansell to close it out. The Bucks managed 2 base runners but the Knights defense remained disciplined and focused on getting outs. Garrett hauled in a pop fly at 3B. JD Rinehimer caught a fly in CF and finally Hunter fielded a grounder at second and tossed it to Presley to complete the exciting 10-8 win. Cal got the win and Austin got the save. Presley blew up going 3 for 3 with 2 doubles, 4 RBI's and 2 runs scored. Gil went 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored and Jack Rinehimer added a triple.

Once again the Atlanta Braves put on a great tournament. In addition to bringing in top teams from all over the Southeast, the Braves gave all the players and coaches tickets to Braves vs. Marlins games Saturday night and the boys got to parade around the field at Turner Field before the game. The Knights also got a team photo with Braves starter Alex Wood.



Hunter was sharp on the mound in 2 appearances.

The Knights got a tough draw in the tourney facing the Middle Georgia Tigers and the Team Miken Wolfpack, both top 5 teams, in pool play. The upset win over the Bucks set up a rematch with Team Miken. It's always intimidating when you play a team sponsored by a really expensive bat maker, but the boys played them tough both times before bowing out of the tourney.

In addition to the great win, there were a lot of positives the Knights are excited to take into the 2014 season. Gil continued his offensive tear hitting .750 on the weekend with 3 runs and 3 stolen bases. He also drew an intentional walk. Gil and Presley were both great at 1B recording 7 and 6 putouts apiece. Hunter had 5 assists and 2 putouts and Luke Martin was great behind the plate including a caught stealing. Hunter and Austin both threw better than 60% strikes to balls ratio.

New Knight Austin Schubert had a big double in a real game at
Wills Park and several big drives in the fake game at Turner Field

Jack, Garrett and Gil patrol the OF at the Taco Mac park at Turner
Field.

Follow the Knights Cooperstown Run on Twitter!

The Marietta Knights in the Opening Ceremonies at Cooperstown Dreams Park

The Marietta Knights will be live tweeting and sharing photos of their trip to Cooperstown, NY via @mariettaknights on Twitter! Coach Rob plans to update the blog with a Cooperstown Report when the boys return home next week. twitter.com

Knights Sweep Double Header from Mt. Paran Spartans

Battery Brothers - Jack Rinehimer delivers a strike to big brother JD Rinehimer
 

The Marietta Knights had a good day on Saturday taking both games of a double header against the Mt Paran Spartans at Mt Paran North Church Park. It was a homecoming for Hunter, Garrett and Isaac who grew up playing at Mt. Paran and Mason who also spent a couple of seasons there. Coaches Rob, Pete and Charlie were also excited to see several of their former players in the opposite dugout.

Game 1

Austin Hansell struck out 3 in 3 innings on the mound.

The Knights looked strong right away as they jumped to a 4-0 lead in the top of the 1st thanks to hits from JD Rinehimer, Mason Doyle and Austin Hansell and a sacrifice fly by Gil Hastings. Austin was very sharp in his first action on the mound since injuring his hand. He struck out 3 and only allowed 2 runs on 2 hits in 3 innings of work. Austin also delivered the defensive play of the game from the mound. With a runner on 2nd, Austin fielded a hard comebacker and caught the baserunner between 2nd and 3rd. He executed the play perfectly running directly at the runner with the ball cocked and ready and as the runner broke for 3rd he made the throw to Hunter who applied the tag.

Garrett Wells delivered the game winning
hit in his return to Mt. Paran Park

RBI singles by Mason and George Krivsky pushed the lead to 6-2 in the top of the 4th and the Knights seemed to be in control. But Mt. Paran's Scott Baker kept Knights hitters off balance while the Spartans chipped away at the lead and tied things up at 6-6 when Nathan Jenkins crossed the plate. The tension was brutal in the top of the 6th when the Knights had no one on with 2 outs in a 6-6 tie. JD got things started again with a single and then stole 2nd and 3rd. Mason walked and stole second to set the stage for the homecoming play of the day as Garrett Wells blasted a 2 out, 2 run single into rcf. Gil Hastings followed up with a monstrous triple to bring Garrett home and Austin singled to knock in Gil. Austin came home on an error and suddenly the Knights had breathing room again with an 11-6 lead. Jack Rinehimer ended the drama with a 3 up 3 down 6th while pitching to his brother JD. Jack struck out 4 in 3 innings and JD was great at Catcher after being forced into a duty behind the plate due to injuries. It was a great family moment as JD squeezed strike three from Jack to finish off the 11-6 win.


Game 2
It looked like the Knights may be in for another dogfight as Mt Paran jumped to a 2-0 lead in the top of the 1st. But the Knights offense picked up right where it left off with a 5 run first thanks to hits from Mason, Garrett, Gil, Jack and George. The Knights used a triple from Presley Field and a double from Mason to put up another 5 in the second and they never looked back in cruising to a 15-8 victory.

Hunter and Presley hustle off the field after a 1 to 3 putout ended the 3rd.

Big Game Hunter Williamson, who was strong defensively all day, had his homecoming moment after he took the mound in the 3rd inning. Hunter needed only 21 pitches to shut down Mt. Paran  in the 3rd and 4th innings giving up just 1 unearned run and striking out 1. He also had an assist from the mound. There were 2 Defensive Efforts of the Game. Mason Doyle made a great catch on a low line drive to short and doubled off the runner at first thanks to a great stretch and scoop from Presley Field. The other defensive effort was Austin Hansell throwing out 2 runners trying to steal in the game.



Mason Doyle reached base each of the 7
times he batted Saturday and scored 5 times.

Mason Doyle had a huge day in his return to the park. He had 5 assists and 5 putouts from short stop and reached base every time he went to bat. Mason was 3 for 3 with 5 runs, 4 RBI's, 5 steals and he walked 4 times. Garrett Wells was 3 for 6 with 5 RBI's, JD Rinehimer 4 for 5 with 5 runs, Gil Hammer Hastings was 4 for 6 with 4 RBI's and Austin Hook Hansell was 4 for 5 with 3 RBI's. It was a beautiful day at the park and it's always a little nicer when you can put two wins in the book.

Marietta Knights to take on Georgia Warriors & North Georgia Outlaws in First Round of NABL Tournament

The 2013 Marietta Knights head into the NABL Tournament This Weekend Looking for Victories

The matchups were announced today for the opening round of play in the 2nd Annual North Atlanta Baseball League Tournament to be held at Rock Creek Park in Dawsonville, Georgia. The Knights will open with a rematch against the Georgia Warriors before taking on the North Georgia Outlaws. Marietta split a double header with the Warriors earlier in the season. The Knights are excited to finally get to play the Gerry Manelli's Outlaws squad as both of their previous attempts to play were rained out.

Marietta will be without Will "The Thrill" Nelson for the NABL tourney after placing him on the Disabled List with a broken thumb. Will took a pitch awkwardly to his glove hand before the first game of Saturday's double header with the North Forsyth Bandits. Clearly in pain, Will insisted he could play and caught 4 innings in the first game. Coach Rob finally took him out after he was run over and took a cleat to the face in that first game even though Will looked at Coach, covered in dirt, and said "I'm good, I can catch." Will came back in the second game to pitch 6 innings to get the win in a 1 hit shutout. After his thumb worsened over night, Will find out Monday that he had played two great games with a broken thumb. The Knights will have to do without Will's big bat, arm and leadership behind the plate for the NABL tournament but hope to get him back in time for their trip to Cooperstown.

Express Steam Past Knights

Austin Hansell makes a nice stop in the dirt

The Kennesaw Express travelled a few miles South to Larry Bell Park in Marietta Monday night and the Knights got caught on the tracks in the 13-1 loss. The Express hit the ball hard all night and seemed to put the barrels of their bats on every Knights' fastball, curve and change-up. In 1898 Wee Willie Keeler advised hitters to "hit it where they ain't." All these years later that advice still held true for Kennesaw as nice throws by Knights' pitchers continued to find open spots of grass in the outfield or scream between infielders. The Knights lone run came on a sacrifice fly by Garrett Wells that scored Mason Doyle. The Knights will regroup and try to return to their recent strong play as they head into the NABL Tournament this weekend in Dawsonville.

Isaac Zefo Holds down Left Field

Knights' Will Nelson Throws 1 hitter in 6-0 shutout of North Forsyth Bandits

Will Neslson threw a complete game 1 hit shutout.

The Marietta Knights got a nearly perfect performance on the mound from Will Nelson and their defense finally showed their true potential in a brilliant 6-0 victory over the North Forsyth Bandits at Bennett Park in Cumming, Georgia on Saturday. Will threw a full 6 inning complete game shut out in just 51 pitches. This was especially remarkable considering the umpire committed to a dinner plate sized strike zone and that Will took a cleat to the face in the first half of the double header. The Bandits managed just three baserunners in the contest on their 1 hit, 1 walk and the Knights committed just one error.

Marietta's offense came up big as well as they put up 5 runs in the 2nd. Fresh off the disabled list, Austin "Hook" Hansell came up with a huge 2 run single down the right field line to get the Knights rolling. After Jack Rinehimer drew a bases loaded walk, JD Rinehimer followed up with another 2 run single and the Knights were in business. Mason Doyle was 3 for 3 with 3 stolen bases and he scored a run on Will's 5th inning single.

It's impossible to pick out one play so the Defensive Effort of the Game goes to the team. The Knights successfully executed another run down in the 2nd when Will caught a Bandits' runner off of 2B, threw to Garrett Wells at 3B, who threw to Cal Hughes at 2B who threw back to Mason who applied the tag at 3rd. Garrett then stole a double in the 3rd on a running catch of a fly ball to left field. Hunter Williamson caught back to back flyballs at 2B in the 4th. The Knights never let up and delivered an exciting double play in the 6th. Will fielded a come backer at the mound, looked the runner back at second and threw to George Krivsky for the out at 1B. The runner broke for 3rd and George took a step and made a perfect throw to Hunter who applied the tag to the sliding runner. Gil Hastings closed out the victory 2 pitches later with a beautiful sliding catch on a flare down the right field line.



The Knights enjoy a game of Pepper between games.

It was another great team victory for the Knights. The only downsides for Coach Rob were that he had already used up all of his Willie Nelson references after Will had a game winning hit a few weeks ago and that he had to endure a celebration concert by George, Gil and Hunter on the long ride back to Marietta. Although a storm moved in just after the game ended, Coach Rob is fighting off a Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain reference because the Bandits are a great group of kids and they win so many games that they handled the loss just fine.

The Bandits took game 1 of the double header 11-7. Garrett Wells threw 2 shutout innings with 3 strikeouts. The Defensive Play of the Game was another run down between JD, playing Catcher for the first time this season because of injuries, and Hunter at 3B. JD threw to Hunter who gave chase and returned the throw. Hunter realized no one had fallen in behind him at 3rd so he backed back into place and took one more throw from JD and tagged the runner out. The offensive highlight of the game was a bases loaded, bases clearing double by Hammer Hastings. Gil is consistently hitting the ball very hard. Hunter added a 2 run single and Will and George had an RBI each. Mason Doyle was 4 for 4 on the day with 7 stolen bases.

The Loveliest Fan Club in the NABL somehow managed to get covered in even more red clay than their big brothers.  

Hammer Hastings Takes One Out of the Yard Against Coyotes

As Chipper Jones would say, Gil Hastings went Yicketty Monday Night against The Coyotes at Walton High School.

The Knights Welcome Gil Home After his 5th Inning Blast.

Coming off a couple of nice wins and playing good baseball, the Marietta Knights may have come into Wednesday night's NABL West matchup at Walton High School with the Cobb Coyotes a little over hyped. Their cross town rival was just the team to bring them back to Earth. The talented and well coached Coyotes pounced on every Knights miscue and cruised to a 12-5 win. Coach Rob told the guys that it was a good night to get some of the mistakes out of the way so they'd be ready for a big weekend at the Champs Wear the Rings Tournament in Villa Rica.

The story of the night for Marietta came in the bottom of the 5th when Gil Hastings blasted a deep homerun over the left center field wall. The first pitch of the at bat was a fast ball slightly up and on the outside half of the plate. Gil hit it solidly and the only question was whether the wind could keep it in the park. It could not and the ball landed approximately 15 feet beyond the wall. It was the first of what will certainly be many homeruns for Hammer Hastings.


Mason Doyle also had a great offensive evening against his former teammates. Mason was 2 for 2

Cal Hughes threw out a Cobb runner trying to steal 2nd

with 2 RBI's, a run scored and 2 stolen bases. The Defensive Play of the Game came from Catcher Cal Hughes when he made a beautiful throw from behind the plate to cut down a Coyotes runner trying to steal second. Presley Field continued his superb play at 1B. Presley recorded 7 putouts on the night including a few that required athletic snags of less than stellar throws. Hunter Williamson pitched a very nice 5th inning in his first action on the mound in several weeks. It only took 9 pitches, 7 for strikes, to get 3 ground ball outs. Afterwards he gave credit to his catcher Will Nelson who he said kept him in good locations throughout the inning.

Hunter, Jack and Gil star in "Big, Little, Big"

Knights Bats Come Up Big in 7-6 Win over Murray Rampage in Calhoun

 

The Marietta Knights had almost as much fun clowning around in the rain as they did in beating the Murray Rampage 7-6.

The Marietta Knights won their second straight 1 run thriller with a 7-6 victory over the Murray Rampage. The win came in the rain shortened Bob Galasso Classic at Sonoraville Recreation Park in Calhoun. Cal Hughes went the distance for the win and 5 different Knights knocked in runs in the see saw battle.

Marietta got on the scoreboard early after Cal singled and came home on Will Nelson's deep double to left field. Garrett Wells made it three straight hits in the 1st with an RBI single to score Will. Garrett later scored on an error and the Knights led 3-0. The Rampage took over the lead later in the game at 5-3 and seemed to be in control. But Will and Garrett had back to back hits again and got the Knights bats rolling. After Garrett brought Will home Presley Field knocked in Garrett on a grounder to tie the game at 5. Gil Hastings walked, stole second and scored on a great hustle play. The Rampage didn't hold Gil on second so he took a huge lead and left on the pitch allowing him to score on George Krivsky's infield single. George came home from 3rd after Cal was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and the Knights held a 7-5 lead going into the bottom of the last inning.

The Knights celebrate the 7-6 win

With a Rampage runner on 1st, Mason Doyle fielded a grounder and tossed to Hunter Williamson at 2nd for the first out. After a walk and a single the Rampage closed the lead to 7-6. An infield fly gave the Knights 2 outs, but the Rampage put the tying run on 3rd with the winning run at second. In the Defensive Play of the Game, Cal delivered a fastball that the final Rampage batter hit high into the air towards short. Although it seemed like it may never come down, Mason camped under it and hauled it in with his trademark grin to closeout the victory.

Mason, Will, Garrett and George each had 2 hits in the game and Hunter had 2 assists and 2 putouts.



Austin Hansell was on the DL after
losing a battle but winning the war
with a 4 lb. bass. But he was there
cheering on his teammates, leading
stretches and barking commands to
his fielders and baserunners.
 

In Game 2 of the tournament the hard hitting Rome Expos bested the Knights 14-9. The Expos were big kids with big bats that sent several line drives into the outfield. At one point Rome led 8-2 but the Knights continued to fight and closed the gap to 10-8 before finally falling 14-9. Gil Hastings continued to impress on the mound in his first extended outing. The Defensive Effort of the game were Gil's 7 strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings. Cal and Hunter each went 2 for 3 with a run scored in the second game. Cal had 3 RBI's and Hunter had a double. Mason and George each scored twice in the game.

After a long rain delay Saturday night, the tournament was officially postponed Sunday morning. Although the boys were disappointed not to play, they made the most of the wait playing in the rain, cracking bad jokes and even making friends with some of their rivals from the Rampage. It was a successful weekend for the Knights with a victory and great hitting up and down the lineup. The Knights hit a whopping .405 as a team with 6 players recording multi-hit games. Knights also only struck out 6 times while their pitchers struck out 10 opponents. Likewise, they drew 11 walks while only walking 9 opposing batters.

The Knights get back to NABL action this week with games at the North Georgia Outlaws on Monday and the Cobb Coyotes on Wednesday.

My Heroes Have Always Been Knights! Knights win 8-7 thriller against Georgia Warriors.



Will Nelson delivered the game winning 2 out hit.

The Marietta Knights were On the Road Again at Joe Cook Field in Johns Creek on Saturday with
Georgia on their Minds. The Georgia Warriors to be specific and the Blonde Headed Stranger Will Nelson supplied the fireworks with a dramatic 2 out, 2 run single that gave the Knights a huge NABL victory. Will finished the game 2 for 3 with 2 RBI's, 2 runs and a stolen base. Although there was no sign of Pancho, Lefty Gil Hastings added 2 RBI's in the win.

Marietta entered the 5th inning trailing 7-3 against tough pitching from the Warriors. Big hits from George Krivsky and Isaac Zefo and RBI's from Mason Doyle and JD Rinehimer got the Knights rolling and got their fans on their feet. Great hustle allowed Mason to take home on a passed ball and Cal Hughes to reach on a dropped third strike. Austin Hansell drew a walk to set the table for Will's heroics. Trailing 7-6 and with teammates on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs, Will drove the 1-0 pitch deep into the RCF gap to flip the margin to an 8-7 Knights lead.

The Knights were fired up and sent Austin Hansell back to the mound in the 6th. The Warriors lead off hitter ripped a single into LF. He advanced to 2nd on a sacrifice bunt that Austin handled perfectly for the first out of the 6th. After a wild pitch the tying run stood just 70' from home with only 1 out and the crowd got tense. Now just about any ball put into play would tie the game. But in the Defensive Play of the Game, Austin threw 3 straight strikes for a HUGE strikeout  and the second out of the 6th. Austin got the next batter to ground to short where Mason made the play and the throw to a stretching Presley Field for the final out of the great team victory.

Austin Hansell shut down the Warriors
over the final 2 innings for the win.

Austin got the win on the mound striking out 2 while pitching the 5th and 6th innings. JD started the game and achieved the rare feat of striking out 4 in a single inning after 1 of the batters reached on a dropped third strike. Will Nelson and Gil Hastings each also pitched a solid inning to keep the game close. In other offensive news, Mason was 2 for 3 with a double in the game, George Krivsky was 2 for 2 and Hunter Williamson added an RBI single.

The Knights dropped the first game of the double header 7-3. In that game JD Rinehimer was 2 for 3, scored twice and stole 4 bases. Cal Hughes struck out 3 in 3 innings on the mound. The Defensive Play of the first game was another great pickoff move and run down in which Will threw to JD at 3rd who threw back to Hunter at 2nd. Hunter applied the tag and held on to the ball even as the runner rolled over his arm in an attempt to dislodge the ball.

Marietta will take their positive momentum back into tournament play next week at the Bob Galasso Classic in Sonoraville.

FCA Patriots Pull Away from Knights at Larry Bell Park

The Marietta Knights kept things close early against the Cobb County power house FCA Mt. Paran Patriots before succumbing to the big hitters in a 9-1 loss at Larry Bell Park. The Patriots were impressive throughout the night blasting hard hit balls at the Knights' defense. The Knights played well defensively for much of the night but ultimately the line drives were too much as the Knights own bats were unproductive.

Playing in front of his former All Star coaches inspired Hunter Williamson to have a strong defensive night. With the outfield playing deep, Hunter twice had to go a long way from his 2B position to track down high fly balls in the outfield. Once in CF and once in RF. Big Game Hunter played for Patriots' Coaches Tony, Jerry and Doug with the Mt. Paran Titans a few years back.

Gil Hastings threw a shutout inning with 1 K against the hot hitting Patriots

Gil Hastings was terrific on the mound in just his second appearance. Gil pitched great in practice during Spring Break and was rewarded with having to face one of the best hitting teams the Knights will meet all season. Gil responded by throwing a shutout inning with 1 strikeout and a 59% strike ratio.

The Defensive Play of the Game came from Presley Field who has been solid at 1B all season. After a deep grounder to 3B, the throw looked to be just ahead of the runner but high and headed towards the fence. Presley straightened, went up high on one foot, stretched and snatched the ball out of the sky while maintaining contact with the bag to get the Knights out of the inning.

JD Rinehimer and Mason Doyle provided the Knights offense. Each had a single with JD adding 2 stolen bases and Mason 1 stolen base and a run scored.

The Knights look to rebound on Saturday with a doubleheader against the Georgia Warriors in John's Creek.

No Joy in Douglasville - Knights gain valuable experience but no wins at USSSA NIT

Cal Hughes was strong on the mound, in the field and had 2
doubles at the plate.

The Knights continued their pattern of saving their best performance for Sunday but they were not able to generate enough offense to overcome the Buckhead Bucks in an 8-2 loss that knocked Marietta out of the Global Sports Qualifier NIT at Hunter Park in Douglasville. The Knights offense struggled throughout the tournament and Saturday's games were marked with maddening defensive lapses that the prevented the boys from settling down and playing good baseball in losses to the Armuchee Tomahawks and Georgia Marlins. On the bright side, the Knights got very good pitching in all 3 games and Coach Rob feels like he learned alot about handling his staff in future tournaments. Cal Hughes, Austin Hansell, JD Rinehimer and Will Nelson were all strong on the mound and proved they can give their team a chance to win.

Cal Hughes had a huge tournament for the Knights. Cal struck out 4 in 3 innings against Armuchee on Saturday and came back to throw 2 scoreless innings against the Bucks on Sunday. He threw a whopping 67% strikes for the weekend. Cal also made several great catches in CF and doubled twice.

Will Nelson once again provided the Defensive Play of the Game 1 against the Tomahawks. Armuchee had a runner on second and the batter drove a single into RF. Will charged the line drive, scooped and fired a throw that took one hop into Austin's mitt at home allowing Austin to lay down the tag just as the runner from second slid in for the exciting out. In addition to Cal's two doubles, JD Rinehimer added a 2B and a run scored in the game.



Hunter Williamson singled, stole 2 bases and
scored against the Buckhead Bucks

The Defensive Play of Game 2 was also an exciting play at the plate against the Georgia Marlins. With runners on the corners, Will stepped off the rubber to catch the runner on 1B breaking early. As he started to throw over, the runner on 3B broke for home so Will threw to Cal at the plate. Cal ran the runner back to 3B but threw high. Hunter Williamson went up the ladder to snag the ball that looked to be headed to LF and gave chase throwing back to Cal who put the tag on the runner sliding into home. Austin Hansell had 2 RBI's for the Knights against the Marlins.

On Sunday, the Knights regained their composure and defensive highlights became the norm instead of the exception against the Buckhead Bucks. Third baseman Austin Hansell made a great backhanded catch against the fence on a looping foul ball. Catcher Will Nelson picked up a wild pitch at the fence and made a diving tag at the plate to exchange several cleats to the forearm for an important out. Cal caught back to back flyouts in CF including a low, sinking line drive that he caught on a sprint. With all that competition The Defensive Play of the Game goes to JD Rinehimer because his play was a great heads up play as well as an athletic play and because you just don't see FC 8u in the scorebook very often. With a runner on first, the Bucks batter hit a high, shallow flyball into no man's land. Mason (SS), Isaac(2B) and JD(CF) all converged on the ball but it dropped in between them. JD scooped the ball on a sprint and recognized that the runner on 1st had been forced to hold and that there was no one left to cover 2B. JD kept running with his trademark grin and tagged 2B just ahead of the runner for the unconventional out.



George Krivsky caught 2 flyballs in LF
and singled for the Knights

JD also scored the Knights first run against the Bucks. After
legging out an 18" infield single JD stole 2nd and 3rd and scored on a deep sacrifice fly to CF from Mason Doyle. Hunter Williamson singled to CF and also stole 2nd and 3rd allowing him to score on a fielder's choice by JD in the 3rd. Gil Hastings, George Krivsky and Isaac Zefo each added hits for the Knights.
Although it was a frustrating weekend for Marietta, Coach Rob told the boys that the season is a process and this weekend was a step along the way. The team learned alot about its pitchers and especially after Garrett's return from Spring Break should be well stocked for tournament runs to come. Also on Sunday, the Knights got back to the great defense they'd shown against the Cobb Coyotes Wednesday night. Finally, as the heart of the order struggled offensively, the bottom of the order came up with several big hits. Soon all these guys will be hitting at the same time and the Knights will have a formidable offense. Next up for Marietta is a NABL-West matchup across the county against the Shaw Park Thunder.



JD Rinehimer pitched well and had a
2B, 2 stolen bases, 3 runs scored
and an RBI on the weekend.

Will Nelson had another strong outing
on the mound and provided great defense
from several positions through the weekend



Knights Battle Cobb Coyotes to the Wire in NABL West Action

Austin Hansell celebrated his birthday with
Johnny's Pizza, 2 big hits and a postgame cake

The Marietta Knights took on their good friends the Cobb Coyotes in a NABL - Western Division matchup at Walton High School Wednesday night. The Knights looked the heavily favored Coyotes right in the eyes and fought hard for six strong innings before coming up just short in a 7-6 loss. Several Knights players got together at Johnny's Pizza before the game to celebrate Austin Hansell's birthday and then made the short trek over to Walton HS ready to play.

Cal Hughes was great in his first start on the mound. He struck out 2 in 2 innings of work and did not give up any earned runs. Cal also helped himself with a big double to the CF wall and 2 runs scored.

Cal Hughes struck out 2 in 2 innings

The defensive play of the game came in the 2nd after a Coyotes batter blasted a deep shot to the LF wall. Isaac Zefo threw a strike from the fence to SS Jack Rinehimer who made a perfect relay to Garrett Wells who spun around and applied the tag to cut down the runner at 2B. It was a great athletic and fundamental play by all 3 players and put a charge in the Knights' dugout and crowd.

Garrett Wells was nearly perfect after taking the mound in the 4th and gave up no runs in 2 innings of
work. Birthday boy Austin Hansell had a big night going 2 for 3 with an RBI, a run scored and a stolen base. JD Rinehimer, Will Nelson and Hunter Williamson each added RBI singles. Isaac Zefo finished the night with 3 assists.

JD Rinehimer delivered an RBI single

Big Game Hunter drove in a run with
 a single to RF and came around to score

Coach Rob was extremely proud of the boys tonight and saw a changed team in action. Facing a strong, AAA team stocked with talented players, the Knights took the field confidentally and showed they can play with anybody. They were aggressive at the plate and their defense was excellent. Marietta only committed 1 error and it occurred on the first batter of the game. The road doesn't get any easier as the Knights travel to Douglasville this weekend for the USSSA Global Sports Qualifier NIT at Hunter Park. But the boys are playing great baseball and they look to keep it going in tournament action this weekend.

 

Washed Out...Again.

Once again, Larry Bell Park was better suited for a Swim Meet or Bassmasters Tournament than a baseball game.

The Marietta Knights' Sunday night NABL game against the Cobb Coyotes was washed away by heavy thunderstorms. It was the second straight rainout for the Knights. Their Monday night match up with the North Georgia Outlaws in Milton was washed out by heavy rains and tornado warnings. After taking Easter weekend off, the Knights will try again to take on the Coyotes at their home park at Walton High School on April 3.

Hopewell Edges Knights 5-4 in Austell

The Knights get pumped for the start of the GSA Point Chasers Tournament in Austell

Will Nelson was great on the
mound in a 1 run loss to
the Hopewell Hawks

It wasn't always pretty for the Marietta Knights at the GSA Points Chasers Tournament in Austell this weekend as they dropped both pool games to the Georgia Marlins and Strike One Sports Slammers. But the Knights buckled down in bracket play and battled the 3rd seeded Hopewell Hawks in a great defensive battle before finally falling 5-4 at Legion Field. Will Nelson was brilliant on the mound once again in his second tournament start. Will struck out 3 in 4 innings and held the Hawks scoreless in the 3rd and 4th innings. He also provided the Defensive Play of the day when he made a diving catch on a foul fly ball across the 3rd base line. The runner-up defensive play of the game came when Will made a diving catch on a foul fly ball across the first base line (the only reason this play was the runner up was because it lacked originality). Will had 3 assists including a pickoff and 2 putouts from the mound.

Mason Doyle went a whopping 5 for 8 with
3 RBI's and 2 runs scored on the weekend

Presley Field and Mason Doyle continued their hot hitting for the Knights. On the weekend, Presley went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI's and 3 walks while Mason was 5 for 8 with 3 RBI's and 3 stolen bases. Austin Hansell added 2 RBI's and Isaac Zefo had the longest hit of the weekend when he blasted a double off of the base of the Blue Monster in left field against the Slammers. On the defensive side, Cal Hughes recorded 3 assists and 4 putouts while Mason added 2 assists and 4 putouts.

The Knights take a week off from the tournament circuit next week and will take on the Mt. Paran Patriots in NABL-West action next Sunday.

A Meeting of the Marietta Knights Ladies Auxiliary was held on the banks of the beautiful Austell River

Knights Advance to Semifinals in Cartersville with Win over Scorpions

The Marietta Knights celebrate their 8-7 quarterfinal victory over the SBA Scorpions

In weather better suited for the Iditarod, the Marietta Knights were trying to close out their best all around performance of the season, but the favored SBA Blue Scorpions had the tying run on 3rd base and the winning run at the plate with 2 outs in the final inning. Austin Hansell delivered a low fastball that the Scorpions' batter scorched up the middle. Shortstop Mason Doyle ranged to his left and calmly and cleanly fielded the ball as it hopped towards his chest and threw a strike to Presley Field who squeezed it for the exclamation point on a great 8-7 Knights' victory and the celebration was underway.



Austin Hansell had an RBI single and closed
out the final 1 2/3 inning on the mound

The Knights were committed to being more aggressive at the plate and it showed early as Will Nelson, Austin Hansell and Presley Field each hit 1st inning RBI singles as the Knights exploded for 6 runs out of the gate. Will Nelson got the start on the mound and protected the lead by completely shutting down the Scorpions in the 1st and 2nd innings striking out 3 to only 1 hit and 1 walk.

SBA finally got their big bats going in the 3rd including a monstrous homerun that hit the roof of the concession stand to cut the Knights lead to 7-4. It started to feel like the Bush Leagues as the Scorpions resorted to heckling and catcalling Will in an attempt to rattle him, but with runners on 2nd and 3rd he stayed cool and coaxed a high pop up to short that Mason hauled in to stop the threat. Cal Hughes walked and later took home on a wild pitch to provide the final run the Knights needed.

After Will got another flyball out caught by Gil Hastings in RF, Austin took the hill and cooly closed out the final 1 2/3 innings with a strike out and some great defensive help from his teammates. In the defensive play of the game, SBA hit a high pop in foul territory. SBA's 3B coach held his ground forcing JD Rinehimer to run around the coach and make a diving catch, scooping the ball just above the frozen grass. Garrett Wells got the 2nd out on a grounder to 2B leading to the final grounder to Mason. It was a great win for the Knights as it showed them what they can do when they're aggresive at the plate and on the basepaths. Best of all, it showed how cool these boys are with a game on the line and they sure did deliver.

Cal Hughes had a double, 2 runs scored
and a started a double play on the day

The win advanced the Knights to a rematch with the Oregon Park Phantoms, the eventual tournament champions. The Phantoms jumped out to a 9-0 lead when it was determined that they were using a gas heater to heat their bats. USSSA rules call for all batters found to have used altered bats to be ruled out and the coaches ejected. Unfortunately, the field umpires simply told them to turn off the heaters. Once the heaters were off, the Knights outscored the Phantoms 3-2 the rest of the way but fell 11-3. Garrett Wells hit a 2 RBI single that scored Cal and Hunter. The defensive play of the semi-final was by Cal Hughes who caught a shallow flyball in left and doubled a baserunner off at 2B.
All in all, it was a great day for the Knights as they advanced in their first tournament of the season and gained some great experience that will come in handy as the season progresses.

Snow Day in Cartersville

Is this Wrigley? With temps in the low 30's Mason prepares to make a play in between the snow flakes.

The Marietta Knights arrived in Cartersville for the USSSA Champs Wear the Rings Tournament Saturday morning to temperatures in the low 30's and played several innings in a steady snowfall. The Knights knew they were facing very tough competition in their pool play games but solid starting pitching kept them in both games until big innings and not enough offense ultimately doomed the boys from Marietta.

JD Rinehimer started game 1 against the Oregon Park Phantoms striking out 5 in 3 innings. The offensive highlight of the game was Will Nelson's big blast to the CF fence in the 2nd. But the Knights' offense couldn't get anything else going and Oregon Park used a 5 run third to put the Knights away 9-0.


Will Nelson played all 5 innings of Game 2 behind the plate
and had a big hit in Game 1.

In game 2, Austin Hansell was great on the mound against the SBA Scorpions in his first start of the season. Austin struck out 4 and only allowed 3 hits in 3 innings. He also fielded the position very well helping himself with 2 assists from the mound. The Knights were very much in the game trailing 3-0 after 3. The Scorpions big inning came in the 5th when they put up 6 runs to complete the 11-1 victory.

The Defensive Play of the Day was a perfectly executed run down in the 2nd when Austin caught a Scorpions' baserunner off of 1B, threw to Presley Field (1B) who threw to JD(SS), who threw back to Austin who threw to Mason Doyle (2B) who applied the tag. It was a beautiful play and the boys went crazy when Mason showed the ump he still had the ball and got the out call.

Presley had 9 putouts
on the day

Despite the losses, 2 Knights had very good days. The freezing temperatures couldn't cool off Isaac Zefo's hot bat as he went 3 for 3 with an RBI. Meanwhile, Presley Field picked up where he left off last season at 1B. In addition to his part in the run down, Presley recorded 9 put outs at first on the day.

The Knights will start bracket play Sunday morning at Rudy York Field in Cartersville.





Centennial Tops Marietta in NABL Opener

Austin Hansell struck out 1 in 1
Inning of Work

The Centennial Knights got past the Marietta Knights 10-5 in the NABL opener at Centennial High School in Roswell on Sunday afternoon. Marietta's defense struggled early allowing Centennial to pull out to a 5-0 lead after 1. But Marietta stormed back and tied things up at 5 on JD Rinehimer's big 2 run single to CF in the 2nd. Unfortunately, Centennial's pitching shut Marietta out the rest of the way helping Centennial to pull away for the 10-5 victory.

After a cold, stormy week it was a beautiful day for baseball and Marietta saw many positives to build on. Their outfield defense was strong with  George Krivsky, Jack Rinehimer, Cal Hughes and Isaac Zefo all hauling in deep flyballs. Mason Doyle, Hunter Williamson and Will Nelson each stole a base and Presley Field delivered a line drive single to left field. The Defensive Performance of the Game came from Will Nelson who threw 1 2/3 shutout innings while striking out 2 and giving up no hits.

Hunter Williamson had a nice assist
throwing a batter out from 3B

All in all it was a very good day for the Marietta Knights to get in their first ballgame that prepared them well for next week's USSSA Champs Wear the Rings Tournament in Cartersville.