The Hinckley Knights hosted the Princeton Panthers Wednesday night.
The Knights enter their final week of play and it's an important week. They were involved in a three way tie for the top spot in the division with Quamba and Mora going into last night's game.
The game got off to a hot start, the Panthers scored a run in the top of the opening inning but were quickly shut down by the Knights defense. The Knights then had their turn at the plate and took full advantage. They were able to grab a two run double from Noah Furcht to give them a 2-1 lead. Shortly after that Cory Schmidt came in with another RBI to give the Knights a 3-1 lead. The 2nd inning was scoreless and at this point it looked as if Hinckley had full control and all momentum. That was until the Knights first mistake in the 3rd inning. The Panthers saw two baserunners get on by way of errors. Then came Jake Carlson to the plate, and he changed the game with one crack of the bat, hitting a homerun over the left field fence, allowing his team to retake the lead 4-3. Hinckley was unable to answer and it was back to the Panthers bats. Unfortunately for Hinckley two more errors lead to 4 more runs in the 4th inning for Princeton. It was far from over but it certainly felt as if the Knights were deflated.
Both teams were able to add one more run before the 9th inning, and for the Knights it was too much of a hill to climb as they fell to Princeton 9-4.
The Knights saw thre pitchers on the mound for them. Isaiah Hasz got the start and pitched 3 2/3 innings while striking out 4 batters. Cory Schmidt came in the 4th inning and pitched 2 2/3 innings and also grabbed 4 punchouts. Dezmon Letexier pitched the final 2 2/3 innings allowing only 2 hits and now runs while also striking out one.
The Knights currently sit at a 2 way tie with Quamba in 2nd place, a half game behind Mora at the top. Mora will play against Quamba on Saturday, then the Knights will wrap up their regular season against the Blue Devils on Sunday.
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