Knights Drop Heartbreaker to West Middlesex in District 10 Quarterfinals

May 25, 2021

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Oh what almost was for the Eisenhower Knights. 

(Photo: Eisenhower’s Owen Trumbull – by Steve Younger.)

With the tying run at third base and two outs in the seventh inning, Jared Beers smoked a line drive that was snared by West Middlesex shortstop Devin Gruver for the final out in a 4-3 loss for the Knights in the District 10 Class 2A baseball semifinals on Monday from Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfeld Park. 

The Knights trailed 4-1, but  responded in the fourth. Zach Rohlin and Kael Hunt led off the inning with back-to-back singles and, after Preston got a strikeout, Camron Jakubczak notched an RBI single. With one out, the Knights got creative, implementing a safety squeeze. Cole Chapman put down a perfect bunt and Hunt scampered home to get Eisenhower back within one. 

Eisenohwer starter Owen Trumbull and West Middlesex’s Richie Preston dueled for much of the afternoon. Trumbull got stronger as the game went on, retiring nine of the final 11 batters he faced, including five strikeouts. In his final game in an Eisenhower uniform, he allowed three earned runs in his six innings of work. He gave up seven hits, walked just one, and struck out seven

“I knew Trumbull was going to be good,” said West Middlesex coach Kolten Hofman. “I knew he was going to be a good two-pitch pitcher. He threw the knuckleball a little more than we had planned, so it was really three pitches he was mixing in. 

Zane Alexander and Kael Hunt led the Eisenhower offense. Alexander was 2-for-3 with a run and two stolen bases, while Hunt was 2-for-3 with a run.

For West Middlesex, Richie Preston went gave up just four hits in his five innings of work, walking three and striking out six. Donaldson struck out three in his two innings.

At the plate, Gruver set the table, going 2-for-3 with two runs.

Alexander got the Knights going in the first when he walked, stole second, went to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch. 

Eisenhower’s Kael Hunt slides home safelty in the fourth innings. Photo by Steve Younger

Preston bounced into a double play that brought a run in during the bottom of the first. Preston also delivered the big blow in the third, a 2-run triple that make it 31- A Derrik Zappa  RBI single followed, which actually turned out to be the game-winner. 

Preston went five innings and gave way to Garrett Donaldson, who also worked his way out of a 2-on, 1-out jam in the fifth with a pair of strikeouts. 

With the win, West Middlesex moves on to face top-seed Sharpsville in the semifinals.

         

Subscribe to our YouTube channel

Subscribe to our newsletter

   

White Cane Coffee presents Coffee & a Conversation

Don't Miss