Knights have a rough weekend

The Knights hitting woes continued to haunt them during a tournament in Jackson last weekend.

The Knights ended the weekend tournament with only one victory across five games. Two of those games ended early for the Green River team.

Competing against the East Idaho Rockies Thursday afternoon, the Knights ended the first inning with a 3-2 lead over the Rockies. At the top of the third inning, they extended the lead with another run, but the Rockies fired back during their turn at bat, making 10 runs by the end of the inning. The fourth inning was scoreless for the Knights, while the Rockies extended their lead by another two runs, ending the game 14-4. Tommy Kelly, Brendan Hopkins, Blake Gelinas and Karson Beutel scored runs for the Knights.

Green River got a taste of victory Friday after beating a squad from Orem, Utah. The Knights started the game behind Orem 3-2 at the end of the first inning. A scoreless second inning led to a huge third inning where Green River posted four runs, taking the lead at 6-3. Orem struck back in the fourth inning, tying the game at six runs apiece before another run gave the Knights the lead at 7-6 by the end of the inning. During the fifth and sixth innings, the Knights were able to maintain their single-run lead over Orem.

The Knights responded to two runs in the fifth inning with two of their own and scored a game-winning run in the bottom of the sixth, responding to a single run posted by Orem earlier in the inning, winning the game 10-9. Hopkins, Ian Ebert and Joseph Schultz each scored two runs during the game. Kelly, Hofer, Gelinas and Andrew Munoz scored single runs.

The Knight’s good fortune carried into the first inning of a Saturday matchup against the Wasatch team from Heber City, Utah, scoring three runs by Kelly, Hofer and Gelinas at the bottom of the first inning and giving the Knights a 3-0 lead. Two unanswered runs by Wasatch in the second inning, along with a single run in the fourth tied the game up at 3-3. Two scoreless innings followed before Wasatch exploded with seven runs at the top of the seventh inning. The Knights were unable to score and the game ended with a 10-3 loss for the Green River team.

A Sunday game with the Billings, Mont., Halos didn’t end better for the Knights. The first two innings ended with 11 unanswered runs from the Halos. The Knights scored three runs at the top of the third inning, but the Halos’ assault continued with another four runs before the game was called, ending with a 15-3 defeat for the Knights. Kelly, Hofer and Hopkins scored during the game.

In their final game against Jackson Hole Sunday night, the Knights were able to take a one-run from Hopkins lead in the first inning. That lead quickly fell apart after the team failed to score additional runs in the second inning, while Jackson took off with three runs. A single run by Hofer in the third inning closed the gap to a one-run deficit for the Knights. Unfortunately for them, that would be the last score the team would make. Jackson responded with four more runs in the bottom of the fourth, extending their lead to 7-2. The score would remain the same until the end of the game.

The Knights will travel to Billings, Mont., and take on Evanston Thursday night, Riverton Friday afternoon and Lovell Saturday afternoon.