Knights Return to Gold Bracket with Walk Off Win over PTB Generals

The Marietta Knights competed in the USSSA tournament at Hunter Park in Douglasville Saturday

Austin Hansell Blasted a 2B and scored the
Game winner against the Generals

and came away with 1 win against 2 losses. After coming out flat in a game 1 loss to the eventual champion Newnan Jayhawks the Knights only had a few minutes to regroup and refocus on the PTB Five Star Generals from Peachtree City.

The Knights looked like a new team under the lights as they took control of the game in the first inning. Jackson Tysinger got the Generals out 3 up and 3 down in the top of the first with a strike out and fly outs to Gil Hastings and George Krivsky. In the bottom of the first Gil Hammer Hastings hit a massive 2 run triple to CF and came home to score on a ground out to give Marietta a 3-0 lead. After the Generals cut into the lead with 2 runs of their own, the Knights pushed the lead to 5-2 thanks to a single from George Krivsky a double by Will Nelson and an RBI single from Presley Field.

The Generals refused to retreat and came back to tie the game at 5-5. The Knights charged again with 4 straight hits from Austin Hansell, Garrett Wells, Hunter Williamson and George Krivsky. With 2 outs Presley and Jackson added another single each and the Knights had exploded for 7 runs and a comfortable 12-5 lead. But the Generals fought back once again and the Knights starting playing tight. With a big lead, they just needed to get outs but walks, errors and bad throws mounted and the Generals closed in on the lead a run at a time until suddenly the Knights commanding lead evaporated as quickly as it had been built.

Jackson pitched well and was 2 for 3 with 2 RBI's and a run
scored in the win against the PTB Generals

The score was tied 12-12 and the visiting Generals had the go ahead run on 2nd with 1 out. Hunter came on and threw hard strikes. He got the Generals' clean-up hitter to ground out to Austin at 3rd for the second out. This brought up their huge #5 hitter who had already hit one to the LF fence in the 2nd. After battling to a full count, the big hitter fouled off 3 straight 3-2 pitches. Hunter reared back and fired the hardest fastball that Coach Rob has ever seen him throw straight into Will's mitt. Will held the mitt in place behind the outside edge of the plate just long enough for the umpire to give a big strike three call and the Knights were out of the inning.

Austin came to the plate prepared to end it with one swing. On the first pitch, he launched a shot about 265 feet into the LCF gap and cruised into second for a double. He reminded his teammates that he "hates" doubles with the customary "balling" sign and then got his lead off of second. The big bomb forced the Generals to rethink their approach. After a strikeout, Hunter walked and the Generals intentionally walked George to load the bases. Will wanted a big hit, but instead he reluctantly took four straight balls to bring Austin home with the game winner and a 13-12 victory.

It was a fun and entertaining win for the Knights and their large contingent of fans. The offense was


Schubie had a huge put out at the plate
on a Flyout / Throwout Double Play.

great with 13 hits. Jackson, Gil, Austin, George and Presley each had 2 hits. There were two defensive plays of the game. One was Hunter's big strikeout to end the Generals' threat. The other one ended a threat in the 2nd inning. With a runner on a 3B, Garrett caught a flyball in CF and threw a strike to Jackson who was just left of the mound. While his teammates yelled "4" Jackson spun and made a perfect relay throw to Schubie at the plate just as the baserunner slid into home. Schubie had a great look on his face that seemed to say "not today kid, this plate is mine" as the runner slid hard into shin guards, a mitt and the ball. Schubie showed the ump the ball for a big out call to end the inning and put a charge in the Knights.
The win put the Knights into the Gold Bracket where they matched up against the West Georgia Rebels on Sunday. The Knights managed 10 hits spread all over the 7 innings and took a 2-2 tie into the bottom of the 5th after a huge 2 RBI single by Mason Doyle. But they were not able to get any other rallies going and the Rebels pulled away 8-2. Gil Hastings continued his hot hitting going 3 for 3. All in all, a good weekend with an exciting win to build on.