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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.