Louisiana Knights 18s momentum halted

The Louisiana Knights 18s hit their first road bump of the summer while competing in the Louisiana World Series at Acadian Ball Park in New Iberia June 24-26 as the Knights finished 1-3 in the tournament.

The Knights 18s (24-5) dropped their first game being edged by Bullet Baseball 2-1 in last Wednesday’s opener. Chase Compton (.348) went 2-3 and scored the lone run, being driven in by Chad Livingston with an RBI single.

Brandon Boudreaux (.434) went 2-3 with a double, while Chad Gough-Fortenberry (.467) and Bryan Picou had one hit each for the Knights. Starter Boomer Scarborough (1-1) took the loss, going three and two-third innings. He allowed two earned runs on just one hit. He struck out three, but struggled with his control, recording six walks. Reliever Zac Hawkins pitched two and one-third innings of scoreless relief, giving up just one hit, while registering three strikeouts.

The Knights 18s came back with a vengeance in Thursday’s game, posting a 13-1 five-inning victory over the Marucci Elite 18s behind Wes Rea (.487), who went 3-3 with four runs batted in and scored once. James Abraham went 2-2 with three runs batted in and scored twice. Garrett Cannizaro (.368) was also 2-2 with two runs driven in and scored once. Cannizaro has knocked in 17 runs for the Knights. Boudreaux went 2-4 with a single and double, driving in a run and scoring once. Boudreaux is the club leader with 22 runs scored. Compton and Livingston each contributed RBI doubles. Livingston (.338) leads the Knights with 20 runs batted in.Starter Sean Kennel (3-1) went three innings to record the victory. Kennel gave up one earned run on just two hits with four strikeouts and two walks. His earned run average is 1.83. Jason Greenleaf tossed two innings of scoreless relief, hitless relief with three strikeouts and one walk.

The Knights 18s fell to Gametime Angels 6-4 in Friday’s opener. Rea had a homer and drove in two runs as the Knights were limited to three hits. Rea is second on the club with 18 runs batted in. Boudreaux and Nathan Fury (.389) picked up singles to account for the other two hits. Starter David Napoli went four innings, allowing two earned runs on five hits. Compton (0-1) took over in relief and suffered the loss. He went two innings and surrendered two hits. In Friday night’s final game, the Louisiana Legends 18s edged the Knights 5-4. Rea went 2-3 with two runs batted in. Compton went 3-3 with a single and two doubles with a run batted in and scored twice. Hawkins (.348) had a hit and drove in a run his 14th of the summer, while Gough-Fortenberry went 2-3. Fury started and went three and two-third innings. He gave up four earned runs on four hits. He struck out four, but issued nine walks. Reliever Jordan Rittiner (1-1) suffered the loss. He gave up two hits including a solo homer with three strikeouts and one walk.