With sporadic rain showers, it wasn’t a picture-perfect scene for the Kingsmen’s first home win of the season, but a little rain couldn’t stop the early season success for the club.
To open the night, the Kingsmen sent right-hander Michael Gracer to the mound to take on the visiting Carolina Disco Turkeys. After a quiet first half inning for the opposition, it didn’t take long for the Kingsmen to strike. After leading off the game with a single through the right side, shortstop Aidan Rice was able to move station to station before scoring on a wild pitch.
Gracer ran into a bit of trouble in the second, allowing two Disco Turkeys to reach on walks. But, the Kingsmen defense had their starter’s back. With a man in scoring position, Gracer served up a base knock past second baseman Ryan Fluharty, but right fielder Jack Killelea came up firing to nab a Disco Turkey attempting to score.
Gracer would later settle down and finish his first Kingsmen start allowing just two hits and striking out three in four scoreless innings.
The Kingsmen added a run in the bottom of the third on a Rice sac fly, but the Disco Turkeys came battling back in the sixth. With new Kingsmen pitcher Micah Conner struggling with command, the visitors tied the game after three walks, a single, and a defensive error by the Kingsmen. Coach Joe Hudak then handed the ball to Justin Stewart, who finished the inning with a strikeout.
By the seventh inning, the Kingsmen offense––with the help of some small ball––came alive. The home team would add four runs over the final two frames as a result of timely hitting from Jack Davis and a selective approach from the entire offense. With the way Stewart was pitching, though, the game was over once the Kingsmen took back the lead.
Stewart recorded the final 10 outs for the Kingsmen, all by the strikeout. He allowed just one batter to reach on an infield single with one out in the eighth, but the Disco Turkey didn’t get very far as the righty set the following two hitters down on strikes with ease. After a quick ninth inning, the Kingsmen wrapped up a 6-2 victory to move to 2-0 on the season.
The Kingsmen will be traveling to Alaska tomorrow where they will enjoy some sight seeing in between a six game schedule against several Alaska Baseball League teams. Stay tuned for more news and updates from the team’s trip north and the rest of the summer.
Postgame Interview with Justin Stewart: IMG_1658
Postgame Interview with Coach Joe Hudak: IMG_1659
