The YBL Knights continued their hot start Thursday vs the Brighton Blacksox. The Knights sent Billy Riggieri to the mound for his first ever start facing off against YBL veteran JT Ross. Riggieri held up his end of the bargain going 4 strong earning the win for the hometown team. Riggieri (1-0) allowed single runs in the 2nd and 3rd on only 2 hits. The Knights struck first in the 1st on a Victor LeBron single to take a 1-0 lead. The Blacksox responded scoring in the 2nd and 3rd taking a 2 to 1 lead. The Knights scored 2 in the top of the 4th started by a deep double to right center field by Brett Remon. Knights pitcher Jon Shepard took the ball in the 5th inning and went on to silence the Blacksox bats for the rest of the game earing a 3 inning save. Shepard allowed 1 hit and struck out 4 though his 3 innings of work. The Knights added insurance in the top of the 6th by plating 4 more runs to take a 7 to 2 lead. Offensively for the Knights Victor LeBron was 3 for 5 with a run scored and 2 RBI. Brett Remon and Eduardo Colmenares added 2 hits a piece. “Pitching and defense had been key to our start and we just hope to keep it going” Said manager Eric Bellavia. The Knights have a tough stretch coming up this week with 4 consecutive games starting Wednesday vs Stoneham, Savin Hill, Somerville and West Roxbury. “This will be a nice little test for us to see where we stand and how we respond to playing 4 games in a row” said Eric Bellavia
RRBL Knights game recap:
5/21/14
With an inconsistent start to the year, the Knights travel to Peabody to face the Red Dogs who handed them a defeat earlier in the season. This time around the full squad came ready to play with Branden Eaton WP (5IP, 2H, 0BB, ER) making his first appearance in the RRBL since his win in last years championship round. After a shaky start giving up a double and single to score a run, Eaton settled down to cruise through 5 innings allowing only one other base runner off of a hit batsman.
The real story was the Knights hitters exploding for 19 hits and runs over 7 innings. Chris Dowd (5-5; 2RBI, 2R) and Mike Oliveira (2-4; 3R, 3RBI, BB) led the charge with 7 hits between them knocking in a quarter of the runs. The biggest scoring inning came in the 5th when Eduardo Colmenares (2-4; 2R, SB, RBI) started the inning with a single and stolen base. New comer Brandon Polignone (2-4; 2B, 2R, 2RBI, K) mashed a double deep to left field in his first at-bat of the inning before popping out to the shortstop to end the onslaught.
The Red Dogs rather than admit defeat in the 5th inning due to the 12-run mercy rule, opted to continue playing with the score 13-1. The Knights would put up 6 more that inning before the barrage ended. Ruben Sanchez (1IP, 2K, H) and John Scull (1IP, K, R) finished off the game on the mound marking both of their first innings on the hill of the season. With this decisive victory the Knights reminded the league that when firing on all cylinders, they have no rivals. The Knights travel to Lynn for a rematch of opening night and the 2013 RRBL Championship series taking on the Titans Wednesday night.
YBL Knights upcoming games:
Wednesday May, 28th vs the Stoneham Sabers TBD 8pm start
Thursday May, 29th vs the Savin Hill Dodgers at McConnell Park 8pm start
Friday May, 30th vs the Somerville Alibrandis at Trum Field 8pm start
Saturday May, 31st vs the West Roxbury Nationals at Ronan Park 2pm start
RRBL Knights upcoming games:
Wednesday May 28th vs the Medford Titans TBD 8pm start
Sunday June 1st vs the Beverly Indians at Palmer Cove 9:30am start
Follow the East Boston Knights:
www.ebknights.com
www.yawkeybaseball.com
www.rrblbaseball.com
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/RRBL_League