Blue Knights Leave Florida On a High Note

By D.J. Bevivino

AUBURNDALE, FL– It was the final day of the RussMatt Baseball Invitational Tournament where the Knights were scheduled to play two games. In game one, MSMC fell to SUNY Oneonta by a score of 11-3. However, in the second game of the day, The Mount came roaring to life, and overpowered Lakeland University 18-3 in the final game of the RussMatt Baseball Invitational on Thursday, March 14th at Auburndale, FL.

Game 1
Despite a late effort in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Mount couldn’t get anything rolling offensively. The early lead that was given up in the first 4 innings proved to be too tough to overcome.

On the mound, Liam Horan (0-3) took the loss for the Mount, allowing seven runs (six earned) on ten hits in four innings of work. John Morehead pitched four innings of relief,
Frank Signorelli and Alex Nalewajk each had two hits on the day. Signorelli added one RBI and earned a walk. Noah Anderson and Kaleb Morgan each added an RBI of their own, Morgan’s on a sac fly, and Noah drew a walk pushing in a run.

Game 2
Coach Purcell’s team clearly used the results from the morning game to fuel their energy for the second game of the day. It is always a good sign when your lead off batter not only gets on base, but has the hitting support from the 2, 3 and 4 batter to bring him around and home.

Several Knights had big days at the plate. Frank Signorelli went 3-for-5 with 4 runs and a RBI, while Adam Leone (1-4, 2 HBP, 2 RBI, 1 SB) and Stephen Volk (2-3, 1 SB, 1 RBI, 2 HBP) each added 3 runs of their own to the Knights scoreline. Shane Finch (2-4, 2 RBI,1 HBP), Kaleb Morgan (0-4 1 HBP, 2 RBI), and Alex Nalewajk (1-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB,1 SH, 1 SF, 1SB) each added two runs. The Knights bats were moving today with 13 total hits and 18 runs. Many of the troubles for the Muskies were from their defense. They committed six errors and hit eight of the Mount batters.

Michael Di Tullio (1-1) earned the win for the Mount, allowing three runs (one earned) on three hits over five innings of work. He struck out three batters and walked four. Peter Pappalardo tossed two scoreless innings in relief, giving up just three hits.