In the top pool at the 16-team John Main Classic baseball tournament in Burnaby last weekend the Prince George peewee Knights showed their mettle by posting a 1-1-1 record, missing the playoff by a whisker.
The Knights opened the tournament Friday with a 3-3 extra-innings tie with Vancouver Minor. Knights catcher Seth Lapre tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning with a two-run homer, while right-handed pitcher Liam Campbell struck out eight of 13 batters in three and two-third innings. Brevin Gervais went 2-for-3 at the plate.
Ajay Nickolet pitched a solid game Saturday morning for the Knights, giving up five hits with eight strikeouts and three earned runs in a 5-5 tie in the fifth inning against the White Rock Tritons. But, Nickolet's final pitch resulted in a two-run homerun for the Tritons, who would add three more runs for the 10-5 win. The Knights out hit the Tritrons 7-6.
The loss took the Knights out of playoff contention but they had one game remaining Saturday night. The Knights' bats came alive against Newton as they bashed 16 hits in five innings for a 19-3 win. Lapre was the winning pitcher and Soren Erricson was the player of the game. Nickolet went 3-for-3 with four RBIs.
Knights assistant coach Todd Schwab said the players need to limit distractions when playing against the talented teams from the Lower Mainland.
"When we took the bats off our shoulders we hit the ball as well as anyone there," said Schwab. "Our pitching was good enough to win and our defence was good but not where we know it will have to be in order to beat teams like White Rock, Cloverdale and Abbotsford."
Other Knights are Mikey Schwab, Ryan Hampe, Matt Siemens, Zach Swanson, Quinten Astorino, Brett Mero and Tommy Kreitz.
