Knights baseball wins battle with Spartans 9-4
The Sussex Central baseball team moved into the DIAA semifinals with a 9-4 win over Saint Mark’s May 28 at Sports at the Beach near Georgetown.
Central had seven hits in the contest. Golden Knights right fielder Joaquin Rodriguez led the team at the plate, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Jace Jarmon and Noah Burroughs each had a hit and an RBI. Osiah Kelley and Brayden Tidwell each garnered a hit.
Kelley started on the mound for the Knights. He went four innings, allowing six hits and three earned runs, striking out two Spartans. Burroughs came in from the bullpen in the fifth inning, allowing three hits and one earned run. He struck out one batter.
“I think we made the defensive plays that we needed to today,” said Burroughs. “I think the game went well. They made some mistakes that led to a couple of our runs. We just played better baseball today.”
The Spartans drew first blood, putting up a run in the first, but the Knights got all the runs they needed in the second inning, when they put up six in the bottom of the inning. They added one in the fourth and two in the sixth.
Sussex Central will play Salesianum in the DIAA semifinal Thursday, May 30, at Frawley Stadium in Wilmington. The Golden Knights defeated the Sals 15-2 April 6 in Georgetown.
“We still have a lot of pitching left,” said Knights coach D.J. Long. “We got to Sallies early in the year. They are a totally different team now. You have to think about how they are playing now. We just have to continue doing what we’ve been doing, playing good defense and having tough at bats. We played them early in the season on a really cold Saturday, so we didn’t see their best shot. We have to be ready for anything they throw at us on Thursday.”
