Knights Battle Titans to the Wire in Alpharetta

George Krivsky and Hunter Williamson
each had RBI hits to pace the Knights

The Marietta Knights went toe to toe with the mighty Alpharetta Titans Saturday afternoon at Wills Park before falling 12-7. The independent, Single A Knights were heavy underdogs to the AAA Titans who hail from one of the largest parks in Georgia.  


Marietta put 2 on the board in the top of the 1st on big hits from JD Rinehimer, Tristan Herrera and Garrett Wells. The lead evaporated quickly as the Titans' big bats and some suspect defense allowed Alpharetta to jump out to a 5-2 lead after 1. It looked like it would be a long evening. But the Knights closed the gap in the top of the second when George Krivsky hit a blast into CF that scored Presley Field from first. Despite getting bruised when Coach Rob smacked him a little too hard after the big hit, George was still able to take home moments later on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 5-4.

The bottom of the 2nd went 3 up and 3 down with a JD strikeout and big catches in the outfield by George and Presley. JD led off the 3rd with a single and stole 2nd, 3rd and home to tie the game at 5. With 2 outs, Hunter Williamson put the Knights back in front 6-5 with a big single to RF that scored Tristan. Alpharetta regained the lead for good with 2 runs each in the 3rd and 4th innings but great pitching by JD and several strong defensive plays allowed the Knights to stay close.



JD Rinehimer had a great day on the mound and at the plate
for the Knights

JD went the distance on the mound for the Knights, striking out 4 and only walking 1. JD threw a remarkable 76% strikes. He faced 24 batters and only threw 15 balls to go with 48 strikes. JD also went 3 for 3 at the plate with a 2B and 3 runs scored. There were 2 defensive plays of the game that both ended innings. In the 3rd, a Titans batter hit a hard line drive toward the RCF gap that looked to be at least a double until Jack Rinehimer went up the ladder and made a great catch at SS to rob the Titan of a hit. In the 4th, another Titan batter thought he had a big blast until Patrick Reddick snatched it out of the air in CF and fired back to 2B to double off the baserunner and get the Knights out of a jam.

Coach Rob was very proud of the team's effort in their most complete game of the season and accepted congratulations from several parents on his way to the post game meeting with the team. He expected to find the players equally excited about the way they played against the AAA Titans. However, when he met up with the players in the bullpen they were FURIOUS! There was no excitement, only anger that they'd lost. There was alot of talk about mistakes they had made and what they need to do better to get a win. Coach Rob was thrilled! The boys had no interest in a moral victory. He reminded the boys what a great game they'd played and told them he can't wait until next Saturday when he gets the take the field with these awesome kids again.

The Knights travel to Centennial High School in Roswell next Saturday to play the Centennial Jr. Knights. On Sunday, the Knights will host a double header with the Southern Prospects at Larry Bell Park.