Knights compete at Father's Day Tournament in Powell

The Green River Knights traveled to Powell to compete in the Father's Day Tournament over the weekend. The Knights are an extremely young team this year but are fighting their way through the games and gaining lots of experience. There were tough teams competing from Wyoming and Montana at the tournament.

The Knights took the field to play their first game against the Billings Expos on Friday. It was a calm first inning with neither team getting on the board. In the second inning, the Expos scored one run with the Knights unable to bring a runner home. During the third inning, the Knights brought in one run and held the Expos from scoring. Neither team scored in the fifth inning. The Knights' bats came alive in the sixth inning, getting five runs to Expo's one run. It was an unfortunate seventh inning with the Expos scoring three runs, and the Knights were unable to bring in another run. The Knights played an excellent game but weren't able to secure the win, losing the game with a final score of 6-7.

Leading the team was Dawson Peterson with two runs along with Q Liebelt, Lander Welsh, Skyler Lee and Brackin Lail with one run each. Ashton Eldredge pitched a great game, striking three players out. The Knights had a total of nine hits and didn't have any errors in the field.

"We played great overall," said Head Coach Ben Lail. "It's the best performance we've had all year."

The Knights' second game on Friday was against the Powell Pioneers. The Pioneers scored three runs in the first inning, four runs in the second inning and five runs in the third inning. The Knights struggled to get on the scoreboard and defensively came up short, playing five innings with no runs. The Knights lost the game with a final score of 0-12.

During the second day of the tournament, the Knights took on the Laurel Dodgers. It was an intense game, with no runs for either team in the first two innings. The Dodgers got on the board with three runs in the third inning, eight runs in the fourth inning and one run in the fifth inning. The Knights played hard but were unable to match the Dodgers' intensity and were dominated by the Dodgers. The Knights walked off the field with no runs and lost the game with a final score of 0-12.

On Sunday, the Knights played the Lovell Mustangs for their last game of the tournament. During the first inning, the Mustangs had the lead with their powerful offense, scoring four runs to the Knights' two runs. Both teams fought hard during the second inning but neither team was able to bring any runners home. The Mustangs scored two points in the third inning and four runs in the fifth inning. The Knights scored two more runs in the seventh inning but it wasn't enough to make up the difference. They lost with a final score of 4-10. Leading the team were Q Liebelt, Ben Lail, Chris Reinig and Lander Welsh with one run each. Jace Paoli went 2-for-3 at the plate, leading the team for hits.

Coach Lail is extremely proud of the young men that have stepped up to help the team this year. He said Ben Lail has been the overall leader of the team, helping with pitching and helping his teammates to improve. Ashton Eldredge has been pitching very well and striking out players along with Brackin Lail. Dawson Peterson has been grinding and playing very good and Jace Paoli, one of the team captains, has played very well and has helped improve the team.

The Green River Knights will travel to play a conference double-header today against Rawlins and then will travel to play games in Pocatello, Idaho. The following weekend on June 30, the Knights will host the Wood Bat Tournament. The Knights will play their first game at 8:30 p.m. against Torrington. On Saturday they will play at 3:30 p.m. against Rawlins and Sunday they will play at 6 p.m. against Pocatello.