Knights continue hot start
The Knights continue to stay hot running their winning streak to 6 as they remain undefeated on the season at 6 – 0. They opened up the week at Maplewood Park in Malden defeating the pesky Maddogs 3 – 0. Solid pitching and sure handed defense led the Knights to victory as Jeff Allison and company held the Maddogs offense to 3 hits and never allowed a runner past second base. Jose Paulino and Eduardo Colemanares led the attack, both with timely doubles to drive runs in. “Pitching, defense and timely hitting are all conducive to winning” said manager Eric Bellavia. “This club has that lunch pail attitude with everyone doing what is asked of them. There is not one player on this team that can’t get any job done that we ask of them” The Knights finished the week playing their home opener at “The Stadium” last Friday against the Al Thomas A’s, a team that has given them fits in the past. The A’s opened up a 2 – 0 lead in the 1st inning on a James Katsiroubas homerun but the Knights stayed the course and outscored the A’s 10 – 1 the rest of the way rolling to a 10 – 3 victory. Knight’s starter Max Ockner settled right in after the HR striking out 7 consecutive A’s before departing in the 3rd with a strained oblique. The Knights welcomed back old friend Victor LeBron and he had quite a homecoming. Vic started off right where he left off in his 2014 campaign going 2 for 3 with a bases loaded triple, belted a double had 3 RBI and 2 steals for good measure. “It was nice to see how the club responded after getting punched in the face in the 1st inning.” Quipped manager Bellavia. “The A’s have been a problem for us so it was a relief to see that we responded well” The Knights now have beaten the A’s 3 out of the last 4 games after starting out 0 for 11 against them in their history. The Knights now sit atop the YBL at 6 – 0 and face off against a very tough Revere team on Tuesday.
CLUBHOUSE NOTE
Max Ockner left the A’s game in the 3rd inning with a strained oblique and will be placed on the 7 day DL…..Sean Hannon is making progress with his elbow and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session this week…The Knights signed 1B/DH Omar Ortiz for the rest of the season on Monday…..Mike Oliveira made the defensive play of the season so far robbing James Katsiroubas of a sure single diving all out to his left, getting up firing a strike to first base for the out…..Richard Soohoo kept the pizza streak going as he brought Santarpios pizza to “The Stadium” for good luck….Kenny Polanco collected his 100th career hit as a Knight against the A’s.
GAME RECAPS
East Boston 3
Malden 0
EBK traveled to their home away from home in Malden at Maplewood to complete their 5 game road trip to start the season. Jefry Castro got the call for the Knights facing off against Jeff Croteau for the Dogs. Pitching and defense was the name of the game tonight in a tight game at the ‘wood. Castro, Carlson and Allison combined to keep batters off balance all Knight to earn the 3 hit shutout. The Knights plated single runs in the 2nd, 5th and 6th to secure the win. Eduardo Colmenares hit a bomb just shy of the fence in the 2nd for a double and later scored on a Geoff Hariis groundout to 2B. Jose Paulino hit the ball hard all night hitting a double and was plated by Mike Oliveira in the 6th. That’s all the Knights pitching staff would need to escape from Malden with a victory. Knights finish 5 – 0 on the road stand and head to Eastie Friday to face the A’s at home at “The Stadium”
East Boston 10
Al Thomas 3
EBK and ATBC met for the 2nd time this season as the Knights took the field at “The Stadium” for the first time this season. Max Ockner took the bump in the home opener for EBK against the gritty vet Bill Clang. The A’s took an early 2 – 0 lead as Ockner gave up a double to Freddi Carrera and a 2 run HR by James Katsiroubas. The Knights answered that with 3 runs of their own all with 2 outs capped off by a Victor Lebron bases clearing triple. Ockner settled down after his shakey 1st inning striking out 6 consecutive A’s after the Katsiroubas home run. Unfortunately for EBK Max left the game in the 3rd with a strained oblique. Jefry Castro, Shawn Carlson and Jon Shepard came in in relief and pitched brilliantly to shutdown the relentless A’s attack. The Knights offense was led by old friend Victor LeBron who was 2 for 3 with a 2B, 3B, 3RBI and 2 SB on the Knight. Mike Oliveira had the play of the Knight robbing big Kat of a sure hit!!
Upcoming games:
Tuesday June 2nd vs the Revere Rockies at Ronan Park at 7:30PM
Thursday June 4th vs the Brighton Braves at Rogers Park at 7:30PM
Friday June 5th vs the Somerville Ailibrandis at East Boston Stadium at 8PM
Sunday June 7th vs the Stoneham Sabers at Recreation Park at 5PM
As always you can follow the Knights at:
www.eastbostonknights.com
www.yawkeybaseball.com
www.facebook.com/knightsbaseballclub
Annual City League Track championship
The annual spring time City League Track Championship took place on May 26-27 at White Stadium. Cancelled three times in February due to snow storms, the event was widely anticipated by track students in all of Boston’s public schools as the school year comes to an end. Boston Latin Academy won the annual championship after earning the most points in both the boys and girls team scores but East Boston High School had some stars that burned bright last week.