The Louisiana Knights 18s’ usually potent offense was handcuffed yesterday by four Louisiana Legends’ pitchers, but the Knights made the most of their two hits, taking a hard-fought 2-1 victory in a game played at Northlake Christian School.

At press time, the Knights 18s upped their record to 19-1, while the Legends slipped to 9-4.

First baseman Chase Compton collected both of the Knights’ hits, including a solo homer in the bottom of the first inning, which stood up until the Louisiana Legends tied the game in the top of the seventh with a run.

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Compton batting .370, facing a 2-0 count, blasted a ball over the right field fence with two outs off of starter David Zorn for the early 1-0 margin.

Compton, being ahead in the count, said he was looking fastball.

“I got a fastball right down the middle of the plate about chest high. It felt good off the bat. I was just hoping it would go over the fence,” Compton said.

Compton said both team’s pitchers did well with both teams hitting the ball right at people.

After Compton’s homer, Zorn walked Chad Gough-Fortenberry, but retired the next batter, Chad Livingston, on a ground out.

Zorn continued to baffle the Knights’ hitters for the next three innings, pitching hitless ball. He retired five hitters in a row before issuing a walk to Bryan Picou with one out in the third. With Brandon Boudreaux at the plate, he scorched a ball right at the second baseman, who made the catch and fired to first to double off Picou on a bang-bang 4-3 double play.

Knights 18s’ starter Zac Hawkins, who entered the game with a 3-0 mark and a save, tossed four strong innings only throwing 48 pitches. His earned run average is a miniscule .076. After hitting the first batter, he set down seven consecutive hitters, including three on strikeouts. Following the hit batsman, Ridge Consoulin hit a ball back to the mound. Hawkins made the play, firing to Knights’ shortstop Garrett Cannizaro, who relayed the throw to Compton at first to record a 1-6-3 double play. Hawkins gave up just two hits, a single to Micheal Collado in the third and a single to Adam Todd in the fourth.

Boomer Scarborough (1-0) came on in relief in the fifth inning for the Knights. After retiring the first batter he faced, Steven Blanchard singled to center and stole second. Scarborough struck out the next batter and retired the side on a pop out to second. He retired the side in order in the sixth.

Legends’ left-hander Cameron Castro (0-1) took over in relief to open the sixth inning. He walked James Winget and he moved to second on Nathan Fury’s sacrifice bunt. He stranded Winget by getting the next two hitters on a ground out to short and fly ball to right.

With the Knights clinging to the 1-0 lead, Scarborough got the first out in the seventh on a grounder to third. Toby Cornejo beat out an infield single to short and then stole second base. Shea Daly reached on an error. Blanchard, the Legends’ designated hitter, ripped a single to left scoring Cornejo to tie the game at 1-1.

Matt Williams grounded into a fielder’s choice, forcing Blanchard at second and Scarborough struck out the next hitter to end the inning, stranding two runners. Scarborough’s ERA is 1.27. He allowed three hits in his three-inning relief stint, while posting two strikeouts.

The Knights’ James Abraham got things going being hit on a 0-1 pitch to lead off the seventh. Compton manufactured a single past the outstretched glove of the first baseman into right. The ball was mishandled in the outfield, allowing Abraham to move over to third with nobody out. Gough-Fortenberry stepped in and delivered a game-winning sacrifice fly to center field, plating Abraham for the one-run victory.

Gough-Fortenberry talked about his at bat.

“I was just looking for something I could drive. I wanted to hit the ball to the right side on the ground or a long fly to get the run in. It was a curveball that I hit. I just did what I needed to do.”

Gough-Fortenberry, the Knights’ catcher, said he didn’t want to have to go behind the plate again due to the heat so he wanted to take care of business.

“It was tough being behind the plate in the heat. I was sweating bullets,” Gough-Fortenberry said.

He praised the pitching of Hawkins and Scarborough.

“They both did a really good job, hitting their spots. They were able to get the hitters out by staying ahead in the count.”

Knights 18s coach Chris Pool said his pitchers have done a great job all season long.

“They have really kind of helped carry us throughout the first part of the summer. Hopefully, our hitters are able to start making some adjustments a little bit sooner in the game,” Pool said.

“We were able to get out of here with a key sacrifice fly to take the victory to close it down.”

The Knights 18s’ pitching staff has posted an effective 1.33 ERA. The hitting has also been on the mark for most of the summer with the Knights batting .352 as a team.

Legends coach Jerry Martinez said his club was involved in a real battle.

“It was a good game, wasn’t it?” Martinez said.

“It was one of those games where neither one of us wanted to burn our pitchers because we have a long week. Both teams’ pitchers threw well. Nobody could seem to eke out a hit,” Martinez said.

In somewhat of an oddity, Tuesday’s game featured three members of the same family (Cannizaro’s) on the field in three completely different roles.

Knights 18s’ Garrett Cannizaro started at shortstop, his dad, Gary, a Knights’ assistant coached at first base, while Lee Cannizaro, son of the coach and brother of the shortstop, umpired the game, calling balls and strikes.