Knights get bounce back win at Districts, look to carry momentum through weekend
By JAMES TUBB on July 27, 2024.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb The Medicine Hat K of C Knights got back on track at the District tournament in Lethbridge. After dropping their opening match, the Knights won 12-2 Friday over the Great Falls Chargers, avoiding an early exit from the double knockout tournament. Knights’ starter James Cole went the distance on the bump, recording five punch-outs in six innings, allowing the two runs (one earned) on seven hits. Head coach Cole Schreiber says the success started on the mound and worked throughout the offence. “He didn’t walk anybody through the whole game and if that happens, you probably have a really good chance to win so he was really on today and it was much needed,” Schreiber said. “Offensively, we had a really good day, came through with a couple big hits when we needed them. They made some mistakes but I would say we forced some of those mistakes as well. “We came into the game hungry, I could tell before game time that we had a little bit of extra energy and a mentality of, we are not going home yet.” Schreiber says the small-ball approach to offence they planned to utilize worked out in the win, with one bunt bringing in a run on sacrifice and the other three working as hits. Four different Knights collected two hits in the morning contest, with Ethan Chenard tallying three RBIs and a run scored with his pair of hits. Kane Bishop had two hits with two RBIs and two runs scored and Liam Cunningham had three runs scored on tow hits with an RBI. The Knights return to action on Saturday, facing the Tri-County Cardinals. Schreiber says it will be a tough matchup for the young team but he has confidence after seeing the efforts Friday. “Tri-County is a good team, we’ve had some success against this year but they’re never an easy game out there,” he said. “We have to play to our best, take care of the ball defensively and get a really good pitching performance like we did Friday. “We’ll have to come through with a couple big hits. They’re a little bit older of a team than we are but nothing we can’t handle.” He says the hunger to stave off elimination is something he’s looking to see continue as all teams face win or go home contests with Districts wrapping on Sunday. “That’s the mentality right now is you don’t want to be the ones going home,” Schreiber said. “We win one, send one home. Go win another one and send another one home. So keep showing up with that hunger. It’s going to be tough to do for the duration of a tournament but just keep chipping away, one game at a time, one inning at time and see how far we can go.” 15-14
