Tigers defeat Knights 4-1 in district matchup

Isabel Giovannetti, RHStoday Editor-in-Chief

On Tuesday night, the Knights (10-7) faced the Jesuit Tigers (17-3) at home for the first time this season.

Both teams started off with a scoreless first inning; despite getting three runners on base in the bottom of the first, the Knights were unable to bring in a run.

Jesuit’s offense heated up in the top of the second, with a hit to center by Joel Brewer (’18) and a single to left by Duncan Hunter (’17). A sacrifice fly to right by Carter Andersen (’18), allowed Brewer to score the first run of the night. The Knights were unable to respond as Price Sartor (’17) struck out the side.

Starting pitcher Peter Feinman (’17) kept the score at 1-0 until the top of the fifth inning. Another big at-bat for Carter Anderson (’18), followed by an error, put runners at second and third with no outs. An infield RBI by McGuire Weaver (’18) and another fielding error allowed both runners to score, increasing the Tigers’ lead to 3-0. Thomas Bencivenga’s (’17) double brought in a fourth run before the end of the side.

Both teams continued without any hits until the bottom of the seventh, when the Knights showed the potential for a comeback with a line drive up the right field line by Joey Scionti (’17).

“I was just focusing on trying to get on base, I wasn’t trying to do too much,” Scionti said. “So instead of just going to my normal stance, I choked up on the bat, spread my feet out and I was basically just trying to fight off anything that was close. I got lucky enough to hit one in the middle of the ball.”

An error by the Tigers defense and a sacrifice fly by Killian McCray (’17) allowed the Knights to score. However, the Knights fell short and lost 4-1.

“Our offense could not pick up our defense. We didn’t hit like we can and we should. We’ve actually scored one run against [Jesuit] in 21 straight innings. So our offense is just not putting the bat on the ball,” Scionti said about the reason for the Knights’ loss.

“With our team, I always feel like there’s a fighting chance,” he said. “I’m always thinking we’re going to stay in the game and I always have the confidence that we can do it, we just haven’t been able to pull that off lately.”

The Knights will play at Sickles this Thursday at 7 p.m.