Medicine Hat K of C Knights pitcher Hayden Hall throws to the plate during his team's American Legion Baseball North District A Tournament elimination game against the Fort Macleod Royals at Jeffries Field on Friday. -- NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat K of C Knights extended their season on Friday afternoon at Jeffries Field.
Trailing the Fort Macleod Royals by five runs after two innings, Medicine Hat dug in and rallied back into the contest before stealing away a lead they wouldn’t give up in the seventh – keeping the Knights alive at the American Legion Baseball North District A Tournament with a 9-7 victory.
“We really wanted to get a win at home and we’ve got that first one off our backs now,” said head coach Lane Aman, whose Knights will face the fourth-seed Havre North Stars in another elimination game Saturday at 9 a.m. “We came out a little flat, but thankfully we pulled together and ended up battling through.”
The comeback rally has become a bit of a trend for the Knights this season. While it’s not the way Aman says he would prefer to win his ball games, it definitely created a fun atmosphere in Friday’s elimination showdown.
“It’s a little annoying at times honestly, but it’s fun when these guys aren’t going to quit ever,” he said. “It’s a fun game to be part of when there’s lots of hits going both ways, lots of runs being scored.”
Knights reliever Hayden Hall collected the crucial victory after entering in a tough spot in the second and holding Fort Macleod to four runs on five hits and four walks over the final 5 1/3 innings.
“I kind of struggled with locating my curve but I managed to spot my fastball and just not worry about striking guys out – just get them to hit the ball and put it in play and it worked for me,” said Hall.
Aman added he was thrilled with the outing he received from Hall in such a high-pressure situation.
“Hall did a really good job of coming in and kind of setting the pace for us there,” said Aman. “It kind of rejuvenated us a little bit.”
Cole Rath led Medicine Hat’s offence with a perfect 4-for-4 outing, adding 1 RBI in the process. Cale Ferguson went 2-for-4, while Hall, Josh Stark, Evan Morrison and Ben van der Sloot all added individual RBI in the victory.
Colby Snider took the loss for Fort Macleod, allowing four runs – one earned – on three hits and two walks over the final three innings.
Knights starter Carson Sauter left with two outs in the second after allowing three runs on three hits and three walks.
The Knights will still be in tough, needing two more wins just to reach Sunday’s 2 p.m. final, but Hall – taking things game by game – says he’s just happy to be in it for another day on diamond.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “One more game might not seem like a lot, but to us it’s a big deal.”
If they win Saturday morning, the Knights will play again at 6 p.m. with a spot in Sunday’s 10 a.m. semifinal on the line.
In other tournament action, the top-seeded Vauxhall Spurs advanced to Saturday’s 3 p.m. semifinal with a 12-2 win over Havre.
Results from Friday’s late game between Lewistown and Lethbridge were not available by press time.
