May 12, 2008

Knights wisk away two games against rival Tigers

STRETCHING OUT—Caleb McAfee of the Norwell Knights delivers a pitch during game one of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Bluffton Tigers. McAfee went the distance to get the win. (Photo by Paul Beitler)

ON THE BARREL—Bluffton Tigers freshman Cameron Gerber belts what turned out to be a long single off the left-center field fence in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Norwell Knights. (Photo by Paul Beitler)

After a foggy morning, the skies cleared up Saturday and allowed the Norwell Knights and Bluffton Tigers to play a baseball doubleheader at Bluffton.

As the final out was made, the Knights (13-10) were able to load up the bus with a sweep, winning the first game 2-0 and the second one, 8-0.

The first game was a seven-inning pitcher’s duel between Norwell’s Caleb McAfee and Bluffton’s Jarred Carpenter.

McAfee came out on top with the shutout, holding the Tigers to two hits. He struck out eight batters, walked two and hit one.

Despite the two losses, Bluffton coach Todd Morgan was pleased with the Tigers’ effort.

“Overall, I’m not disappointed. We’re struggling a little bit with a slump, but we haven’t practiced in almost a week and a half. With six games this week, that’s not a whole lot of time for practice,” said Morgan.

The Tigers’ record slipped to 6-12-1.

As for the Knights, the two wins were good after losing a close Northeast Hoosier Conference game Friday to Homestead.

The Knights have been just on the short end of several games, but head coach Kelby Weybright is hoping his team can right the ship as the regular season winds down.

“The small things we’re just not getting done right, whether it’s decisions they’re making or I’m making, or plays that we’re making or not making,” said Weybright.

McAfee threw about 50 pitches through three innings, but he settled down over the next four.

“I thought he got stronger as the game went on and mixed the pitches well,” said Weybright.

Carpenter allowed two earned runs on six hits and one walk. He struck out four.

“Carpenter pitched a whale of a game and the defense backed him up. We just couldn’t put anything together at the plate,” said Morgan. “McAfee kept us off balance enough and he was almost wild enough to make it hard to hit him. It worked out to his advantage. We could never take advantage, and yet when he needed a strike, he was able to come back with one.”

In game two, Noah Patten started on the mound for the Knights and got the win with one inning of relief help from Josh Clark. Patten held the Tigers scoreless on four hits. He struck out six and walked three. Clark gave up one hit and struck out a pair.

Tyler Holmes suffered the loss, allowing five runs over five innings. The Knights had four earned runs on five hits and two walks. Colin Penrod pitched two innings of relief, giving up three runs on two hits and two walks.

In the first game, Norwell broke up the duel with two runs in the fourth inning.

With one out, Rhett Goodmiller battled Carpenter for a walk. Ryne Otis singled and a ground out by Michael Caley moved Goodmiller and Otis to third and second. Then, Logan Dafforn singled into center field to drive in Goodmiller and Otis. On the play, Dafforn was thrown out at second base to end the inning.

The second game was scoreless over two innings. Then in the top of the third inning, Sam Sommer led off with a single to left field. A sacrifice bunt by Bill Denney and a single by Bryce Murphy moved Sommer to third and Sommer scored on a wild pitch by Holmes.

Goodmiller and Otis each walked to load the bases and Murphy scored when Kody Kumfer grounded to shortstop where Cameron Gerber bobbled the ball allowing Murphy to score.

In the top of the fifth, Klay Fiechter hit a one-out single and with two outs Otis singled to left to drive in Fiechter. Then, Caley pulled a drive down the left-field line for a two-run homer. That made the score 5-0.

The Knights finished the scoring in the top of the sixth off new pitcher Colin Penrod. Denney singled and Murphy walked to set the table for a home run by Fiechter.

Dafforn was 2 for 3 in game one with two RBIs. Goodmiller had two hits. Otis was 1 for 3 and Caley 1 for 2.

Gerber was 1 for 2 and Gary Green 1 for 3 for the Tigers.

Fiechter was 2 for 4 with three RBIs in game two, while Caley was 1 for 4 with two RBIs. Murphy, Sommer and Denney were each 1 for 3, while Otis was 1 for 2.

Mark Vanderkolk, Jake King, Seth Higgins and Gerber were each 1 for 3 for Bluffton. Holmes was 1 for 2.

—————
Game 1
Norwell   000   200   0   –   2   6   0
Bluffton   000   000   0   –   0   2   2
W – Caleb McAfee. L – Jarred Carpenter.

Game 2
Norwell   002   033   0   –   8   7   2
Bluffton   000   000   0   –   0   5   2
W – Noah Patten. L – Tyler Holmes. HR – Michael Caley (N), Klay Fiechter (N).
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