TOWAMENCIN – The North Penn Knights Baseball team put on a clinic on Thursday afternoon against the Continental Conference rival Pennridge Rams. The Knights were led by senior third baseman Jared Melone, who went 2-4 with four RBIs, senior shortstop Mike Christy, who went 1-2 with three runs scored, and senior first baseman Douglas Apple, who went 2-3 with one run and one RBI. Senior Pitcher James Witner picked up the win after a dominant display on the mound that saw him hold the Rams scoreless.

The Knights, who improved to 12-3 overall and 10-2 in conference, maintained their spot atop the conference standings, while Pennridge dropped to 12-4 overall, 8-4 in conference. The Knights started scoring quickly in the bottom of the first inning, as Christy led off with a single off Rams pitcher Joe Molettiere. After a strikeout by freshman Ryan Bealer, junior Mason Nadeau beat out a groundball to shortstop for a single to move Christy to second, and after Melone popped out to right field, Douglas Apple reached on an error by the Rams to load the bases. Christy then scored on a wild pitch, scoring the first run of the game. Junior Jake Schuster then struck out to end the inning, but the Knights led by a score of 1-0.

After Molettiere held the Knights to a one-two-three inning in the second, the Knights got into trouble in the top of the third, with runners reaching first and third on a failed run down and two singles. However, Witner maintained his composure, and senior right fielder Zach Zeigler put away the inning with a catch in right field for the third out. The Knights looked to be grabbing some momentum in the bottom of the third, with Christy reaching base on a single, Bealer getting hit by a pitch, and Nadeau walking to load the bases. Melone, however, hit a laser to shortstop, which was caught and tossed to second to get Bealer out, and thrown to first to catch Nadeau and complete a triple play for the Rams.

The Rams could not carry the energy from their big play in the third into the fourth, only getting one hit off of Witner. Christy fielded a hard hit groundball and made the play at first for the first out of the inning, and senior second baseman Anthony Cameron made a diving play at second and flipped it to Christy to prevent a ground ball from reaching the outfield and then fielded a groundball and made the play at second for the second and third outs of the inning.

The Knights really heated up in the fourth, with Apple singling to center field and Schuster singling to left field. Zeigler then walked to load the bases, and Cameron reached first on an error by the Rams to bring in Apple and push the lead to 2-0. Junior Greg Kerr entered the game to pinch hit, and drove in Schuster on a flyout to center and make the score 3-0. Christy was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, and after Bealer popped out to left field, Nadeau reached on an error to score Zeigler and make the score 4-0. Melone then singled up the middle two drive in two runs, with Cameron and Christy coming around to score and making the score 6-0. Apple came up to bat again and singled to left to bring home Nadeau, and Schuster popped out to centerfield for the final out of the inning, ending with a score of 7-0.

The Rams went one-two-three in the top of the fifth, and the Knights came up to bat for what ended up being the final inning of the game. Zeigler hit a line drive to third and Cameron popped out to left for the first and second outs of the inning. Sophomore Matt Marino and Christy walked and Bealer was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and after Nadeau scored pinch runner, senior John Posavec, Melone smacked the game ending single to center that scored Christy and Bealer to end the game by a score of 10-0.

While happy with the way that the Knights dominated the Rams on offense, head Coach Kevin Manero was especially proud of Witner and the way he threw against the Rams.

“One of the things we’ve been looking for is productions of some guys in the lineup, and I think we did that today because we had a lot of guys hit the ball hard,” said Manero. “Also, I would like to say, that when you score ten runs, a lot of attention gets put on the hitting, but James Witner threw a great game. That has been important to us this year, getting quality production from our pitchers, and he through a great game.”

The Knights will look to continue their momentum on Friday, May 8th, when they travel to Hostelley field to face Lansdale Catholic at 7pm.