Kings loses close game to Glen Este
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The Kings baseball team was eliminated from the Division I sectional tournament Monday as they fell to Glen Este 7-6 Monday, May 11.
Glen Este took an early 2-0 lead taking advantage for some Kings errors.
Extras
Errors hurt the Knights (11-17 overall, 8-2 FAVCC) early as Glen Este scored a run in the first inning thanks to a pair of throwing errors. Another run crossed the plate in the second inning when a Trojan runner was moved into scoring position on an errant pickoff throw to first base.
The Knights commited a total of five errors.
"We gave them a couple of extra outs," said Kings coach Kevin McClung. "If you do that with a good team, they're going to make you pay. We did a good job of battling back to make a game of it but we just got too far behind."
The Knights came back in the third inning when Dylan Rios beat out an infield single with two outs and went to third on a single to right by Adam Morgenroth. Cramer Dethy then collected an RBI by stroking a single to center field.
With runners at first and third, John Shumar drove a double to the left field fence to score both Morgenroth and Dethy and put Kings ahead 3-2.
"This was kind of a weird game," said Glen Este coach Mike Hatfield. "It felt like we were in control but then I look up at the scoreboard in the fifth inning and Kings is leading us 3-2."
Kings maintained their lead until the bottom of the fifth when Knights pitcher Josh Wittes was roughed up for four runs. Two of the runs were of the unearned variety due to fielding errors by Kings.
Wittes was replaced on the mound by senior Aaron Walker in the sixth inning but the Trojans added another run to go up 7-3 heading into the seventh inning.
Kings' Robby Keever started the seventh inning rally with a single. He moved to second when Nick Shackelford was hit by a pitch. A strikeout put Kings down to their final out but Rios picked up an RBI with a run-scoring single to center.
Morgenroth then connected on a grounder down the right field line. By hustling down the line and diving head first for the bag, the Kings runner reached base and allowed both Shackelford and Rios to score.
The Knights had closed the gap to a single run at 7-5 and had the tying runner at first base when a force out ended the game.
"This was an enjoyable first season for me as a head coach," said McClung. "We didn't get as many games in the win column as we would have liked but this is a fun bunch of guys and I enjoyed coaching them."
