The Hinckley Knights hosted Rum River Saturday morning.
The Knights needed three wins on Saturday to get themselves back to the state tournament. And it all started against the Bandits.
Hinckley got off to a hot start once again, something the team and fans have become accustomed to throughout the season. The hot start helped them to a 4-0 lead through 3 full innings. The next two innings saw the Bandits get a few runs back but Hinckley added one themselves and lead 5-2 after 5 innings. The 6th inning the Knights were able to build on their lead adding two more runs. Through the 7th and 8th innings we saw 6 runs come across the plate, three from each side. Both teams looked to be heating up at the plate and but it would come down to the final inning of play. The Knights would bring in a new pitcher for the 9th inning after Ben Sickler threw a solid 8 innings. But as mentioned before, Rum River was heating up at the plate and it showed in the top of the 9th. The Bandits were able to bring home 7 runs to take the lead for the first time in the game 12-10. Hinckley had to score at least two runs to bring the game to extra innings and give themselves a chance at continuing their playoff journey, or 3 runs to win.
The Knights could've easily hung their heads and gave up, but they came out and fought. They were able to bring one run home and were one run away from keeping their hopes alive. With two outs they were looking for another two out rally, something we've seen a good amount from the Knights before. But this time there would be no rally, as the final batter struck out ending the game 12-11.
Though the loss ends their season, it was another fun, successful, and exciting year of Knights baseball!
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