Winning After MidKnight
A feature of the Middletown teams of
the past four years has been a strong pitching staff that has allowed the
Knights to stay in games no matter how limited their offense has been and this
year has been no exception.
Led by a pitching staff that includes senior
starters Kevin Gibson, Colson Kirchner, and Danny Finn and a deep bullpen that
includes relief pitchers Ryan Bartoli, Matt Lynch, Jake Paulishak, and Austen
Collins the Knights have been able to hold opponents offensively and add a
couple runs to the scoreboard to secure victories.
There have been lots of bright spots
for the Knights this season, but one of the brightest and most surprising has
been the pitching of Gibson. Coming into the season the Knights knew that Gibson
would play a role in the pitching staff but he has impressed not only becoming
a starter for the Knights but becoming the dominant starter and having an ERA
that is under 1.00.
Gibson has used an unorthodox delivery
and a bevy of plus breaking pitches to fool hitters and keep opposing hitters
off balance and fairly uncomfortable at the plate. Gibson has also shown an
ability to battle through the few tough times that he has had and been a key
component for the Knights in tough situations.
In his last appearance during the sectional
semifinal round of the 2015 M.P.S.S.A.A. 2A Baseball Tournament versus the
Boonsboro High School Warriors, Gibson would surrender one run on three hits
during the 1st inning and in a crucial playoff game had a large
degree of tension focused on him.
Gibson would buckle down for the
Knights as over the next five innings he would scatter around some hits but
most importantly wouldn’t allow a Warrior runner to cross the plate over the
next 6 innings. Meanwhile, the Knights would do their jobs at the plate by
scoring seven runs before Gibson was out of the game and it would be enough to
survive a Boonsboro comeback as the Knights won 8-7 in 8 innings.
Gibson and the rest of the pitching
staff has continued the legacy that has been set forth by former Middletown
pitchers such as Billy Griffin, Austin Main, and Chris Huffman by only
averaging 2.67 runs per game and only allowing opponents to score 5+ runs in
four games this season out of the 21 games that the Knights have played this
season.
With, all that pitching success the
Knights offense has only needed to provide a small amount of run support but
they have done more than enough for their pitchers as they have averaged 7.33
runs a game on offense and have also been able to not only hit in runs with
timely hitting but also play situational baseball and score runs on bunts and
hit and runs giving their offense a new dimension.
Even though the Knights season has
been successful in many ways today’s contest against South Carroll will be a
challenge as the Knights fell to the Cavaliers earlier this month by a score of
5-1.
The Cavaliers would rack up 11 hits
that game while limiting the Knights to just 5 hits and 1 run that game but
both teams did not pitch their #1 starter that game, although, the Cavaliers #1
pitcher, Travis Brashear did pitch two innings in relief for the Cavaliers.
The Knights won the Section I title of
the 2A West Region by beating Boonsboro 8-7 in 8 innings and then holding the
Walkersville High School Lions to 1 run in the sectional final championship game,
winning by a score of 6-1.
The Cavaliers received the #1 seed in
Section II of the 2A West Region getting a bye as the #1 seed, and then
defeating the #4 seed Liberty High School Lions 6-3 in the sectional semifinal
and defeating the #2 seed Poolesville High School Falcons 9-1 in the sectional
final.
The game was also at a tough time of
the season for both teams as the Knights were finishing up a week in which they
had played 4 games before while the night before they had endured a 2-hour rain
delay cramped in the Century High School gym while the night before they had
played an emotional Senior Night game against the Urbana High School Hawks
which clinched them the MVAL Piedmont Division title.
Middletown has had a strong season so
far but losing at the same point as they did in the playoffs last year would be
a big disappointment as both teams have had a desire to make it to the State
Championship in Aberdeen.
The Knights will look to avenge their
late regular season loss to the Cavaliers behind a strong pitching staff, an
offense that can be potent, and a big surprise that can change the game.
The Knights will look to avenge their
late regular season loss to the Cavaliers behind a strong pitching staff, an
offense that can be potent, and a big surprise that can change the game.
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