In their 2015 home opener, the Knights beat Plant for the first time since 2006, starting a historic run that ended in the state semifinals. Exactly one year later, Robinson picked up a 3-2 district win over Jefferson in the Knights’ home opener.

Robinson took a 3-0 lead into the sixth, but a couple of errors brought the Dragons within one before Luis Feliciano (’16) came in for the final one and one-thirds innings, retiring all four batters he faced to pick up the save.

“We gave them too many opportunities,” Robinson head coach Kevin McCray said. “We made a couple of mistakes that came really close to costing us. If you give teams extra chances, it’s usually going to come back and bite you. Tonight it almost did, but we were able to hang on.”

Matthew Steckel (’16) made his first varsity start on the mound for the Knights, giving up just two unearned runs on one hit over five and two-thirds innings. After only playing infield for the last three years, Steckel will be stepping into a new role in 2016, one that will include time on the mound and at shortstop. Tommy Craparo (’15) played the role throughout his career with the Knights.

“[Steckel] is very similar to Tommy Craparo athletically. He’s a guy that can play anywhere on the field and you know he’s going to go out there and compete for you,” McCray said.

The Knights took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Shawn McGory (’16) knocked in Aaron Scott (’17), who singled earlier in the inning, with an RBI single to left. Robinson added two more in the bottom of the fourth on an error and a wild pitch.

The Knights (2-0) will look to keep their momentum going on Tuesday night when they host Spoto (1-1). First pitch is set for 7 p.m.