Four-peat! Knights end regular season with a convincing victory in the ESAC Championship game
By Paul Miller
Knightly News Co-Adviser
Photos by Dylan Bowman
Knightly News Sports Photographer/Owner, Fellowship Studios
dylan.bowman@mymail.centralpenn.edu
The Central Penn College Knights convincingly won their fourth consecutive ESAC Conference Championship, taking down the Bucks County Community College Centurions by a score of 15-4 from FNB Field at City Island in Harrisburg.
Due to postponements earlier in the season, the Knights played a regular-season game first, which the Knights also won going away, 13-8.
Game 1 – Final Regular Season Game
The Knights, who still have aspirations of making the Small College World Series, knew that every game counted. So, because of two separate postponements earlier in the season with their rival Bucks County Community College, the teams played their final regular-season contest before the ESAC Championship Game.
For the Knights, senior Wyatt Koser took the hill, fresh off his 6 2/3 inning, nine strikeout performance on Senior Night earlier in the week. But Koser struggled with his command in the contest, though he did battle through some tough innings.
In the top of the first, an error led to Austin Frank getting to first base, and a poor throw on the defensive side of the ball for the Knights allowed Frank to move to second. As Frank attempted to steal third, Knights catcher Tanner Boyd threw him out. The result of that at-bat was a walk to Joe Lifsted, and he tried to steal second shortly thereafter. But Boyd was able to throw a second runner out in the first, allowing Koser to get out of the inning unscathed. In the bottom of the first, the Knights were able to get Tanner McCoy and Nic Joseph on with walks, but Gabe Kaufman was unable to get them across the plate as he flew out to center.
The second inning saw offensive fireworks from both teams after a scoreless first. After an Ayden Fitch single to lead off the inning, Franklin Guzman walked and Tyler Moore singled to load the bases. Then, Caleb Hendry launched a ball to the outfield, and Fitch was able to score on a sacrifice fly. Then, Cameron Visconto hit his first home run of the season, putting the Centurions up by four. Then, between a mix of diminishing control from Koser and poor defense by the Knights, the bases were loaded again for Lifsted. In this instance, a groundball in the infield was enough to score Jack Costello to make it a 5-0 deficit for the Knights.
One thing you can say about the Knights is that, with their offense, they are never out of any game, and that resilience was on display in the bottom of the second inning. After a Jordon McCahan walk and a Boyd hit-by-pitch, Terrell Smith-Cole singled and drove in a run and Darwin Cruz walked. Then, with the bases loaded, JaMarcus Wilson doubled to drive in two more. David Thomas followed that with a single, driving in two more. Later in the inning, with McCahan batting for the second time, he drove in Thomas with a single. The final run of the inning was scored thanks to a bases-loaded walk by Smith-Cole, running the score to 7-5 and giving Koser some breathing room.
Even with the long break between innings, Koser came out with a renewed sense of control, sitting the Centurions down in order in the third. In the bottom half of the inning, the Knights tacked on two more, thanks to an error by the Centurions. Later, Joseph drove in another with a double off of the wall, scoring Thomas, and giving the Knights a 9-5 lead.
Even with all of the momentum, the Knights continued to struggle defensively, as McCahan had another error, allowing the lead-off runner to reach base. In total, McCahan had four of the Knights’ six errors on the day, an extremely uncharacteristic display from one of the most sure-handed defenders in the USCAA. After Costello scored, Frank walked and Lifsted singled, having the traffic on the basepaths continue for Bucks County. Fitch singled and drove in another run, making it 9-7 Knights.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Knights took advantage of a walk and an error by the Centurions to load the bases for Thomas, and he did not disappoint, reaching base on an error and driving in another run, making it 10-7 Knights.
After Koser’s day was complete after four innings, the Knights turned to Anthony Garcia, fresh off two no-hitters over the past two weeks. But after another error allowed a runner on first, Visconto drilled a single off of Garcia to plate Moore, making it 10-8, Knights. Garcia settled down, getting the next two batters out to leave the inning unscathed beyond that.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Knights were able to get more traffic on the basepaths, as Smith-Cole came up again with runners on and laced a single to drive in McCahan and Joseph to give the Knights some insurance runs, now leading 12-8.
After Garcia pitched around a single to keep the Centurions at bay, the Knights were able to put up another thanks to a Wilson base hit and two steals. With a runner on third, McCoy skied a ball to right field and, on an error by Ortlip, Wilson was able to score, making it 13-8.
In the top of the seventh, Jordan Spadafore came in and shut the door on the Centurions, pitching around a Moore single to get the final three out, ending the game with a beautiful strikeout of Visconto to secure the victory.
The Weis Knightly News Player of the Game was Smith-Cole, going 2-for-3, with two runs, three steals and four RBIs. Wilson was 2-for-4, with two RBIs, three runs and three steals. Joseph was 2-for-2 with two runs and two walks on the day.
For the Centurions, Visconto was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs, while Fitch was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run.
With the victory, the Knights hoped to take this momentum into the ESAC Championship Game.
Game 2 – ESAC Championship Game
The second game was extremely similar at the start of the contest to Game 1, with the Knights’ starting pitcher struggling early, but holding steady while the Knights’ bats put up plenty of offense.
For the Knights, senior Cameron Smiley was called on in the ever-important contest to steady the ship, but he got off to a rough start in the first. After an Ortlip single, and just as many in the crowd were back from getting concessions, Frank launched a home run to deep left, making it 2-0 only a few pitches into the game. While Smiley did allow another hit and a walk, he was able strike out Caleb Hendry and Visconto to get out of the jam only down two.
With the Knights not able to get anything going in the bottom of the first, Smiley struggled again in the top of the second, walking the lead-off batter and allowing a triple to Ortlip to drive in another. Then, Frank laced a single to the outfield, plating another and giving the Centurions a 4-0 lead. But again, Smiley was able to navigate a rough start, striking out Lifsted and getting Fitch to line out.
With the Knights trailing by four early on, it would have been easy for them to press, but they remained composed and started the comeback in the bottom of the second. Kaufman came to the plate and launched a home run to left field that hit off a structure that is listed at 430 feet, easily one of the longest home runs that you’ll ever see at FNB Field, a stadium that has seen Hall of Fame players grace the grounds over the years. Then, after a McCahan single and a Boyd hit by pitch, Cruz launched a sacrifice fly to bring the score to 4-2. The Knights weren’t done in the bottom of the second, as singles from Wilson, Joseph and Kaufman all plated more runs, as the Knights put six runs on the board in the frame.
From that point, Smiley cruised through the rest of the game, not allowing a hit for the remainder of the contest. After a 1-2-3 inning in the third, the Knights put three more runs on the board, thanks in part to a McCoy double that knocked in two more. After three, the Knights held a 9-4 edge.
With the additional cushion, Smiley continued to dominate, pitching around a walk to hold the lead where it was. The Knights, though, were not done with their offensive barrage. After the Knights got three runners on, Wilson launched a double to the outfield, clearing the bases for a 12-4 lead. Then, after a Thomas walk, McCoy stepped in and blasted a home run to the opposite field to a thunderous ovation from the crowd, giving the Knights a 15-4 lead.
Due to USCAA rules, the Knights only needed to hang on to the 11-run lead in the top of the fifth to end the contest. Smiley, who was nearly untouchable since the second inning, saw Lifsted reach base on an error. But he was not to be denied the victory, inducing a groundout and flyout to the next two batters before striking out Bob Brant to end the game, securing the win for the Knights for their fourth straight ESAC Conference Championship.
The Weis Knightly News Player of the Game was McCoy, going for 2-for-3 with a home run, five RBIs and two runs. Thomas was 3-for-3 with three runs, while Wilson was 2-for-4 with three runs and four RBIs. Smiley went the distance, allowing four runs and striking out six for the victory.
With the two victories, the Knights moved to a 25-6 regular-season mark, securing the team’s best winning percentage (.806) in the program’s history (aside from the COVID-shortened 2020 season, where they only played eight games). With the victories, the Knights seem poised for their second consecutive bid in the Small College World Series, with the bid show taking place on May 4 at noon.
And while it remains to be seen if the Knights will continue playing on, this will be remembered as one of the most dynamic teams Central Penn College has ever seen. This team has no idea the word quit even exists, finding themselves down early and often in both of these games, only to have the bats come alive to win the contests comfortably. Congratulations, Knights, on another remarkable season!