ALBANY – The Deerfield-Windsor Knights made the most of their Spring Break doubleheader Friday at Addison Field, using dominant pitching and clutch hitting to secure wins over Westwood and Abbeville Christian. The Knights opened with a 9-2 victory over Westwood, racking up 17 strikeouts, and capped the day with an 11-1 win behind a two-hit gem from Colten Marshall.
The Westwood Wildcats took an early lead when the second batter of the game, catcher Sam Summerlin, blasted a home run over the left field fence in the top of the first inning off Deerfield-Windsor starter Collins Clark.
The lead didn’t last long. In the bottom of the first, Deerfield-Windsor’s Boyd Pollock led off with a double to center, Lan Wiggins walked, and Lane Sceals lined a shot to left to drive in two runs, putting the Knights ahead 2-1.
The Knights stretched their lead to 6-1 with a four-run second inning, chasing Westwood starter Max Joyner off the mound. An error on a ball hit by Grier Morey started the rally. Brantley Michlig followed with a line-drive single to right to knock in a run, and Gabe Daniel added a single. Pollock walked to load the bases. One out later, Sceals delivered again with a line drive to right, driving in two more runs.
Sceals also finished the game on the mound, relieving starter Collins Clark in the fourth inning. Sceals pitched three and one-third innings, allowing just one hit and striking out eight. Clark pitched the first three and two-thirds innings, giving up two hits and two runs while walking six and striking out nine.
Against Abbeville Christian, the Knights managed just five hits but capitalized on six walks and three errors by the visitors.
Pollock scored the first run on a passed ball in the first inning, and the Knights added four more runs in the second. Gage Tomlinson and Morey hit back-to-back singles after Quinton Peterson walked. Drake Wiggins followed with a sacrifice fly to right to score Tomlinson. Abbeville then committed back-to-back errors on balls hit by Pollock and Daniel, allowing three more runs to cross the plate.
The game ended in the fifth when Deerfield-Windsor added four more runs. David Hutchins walked to lead off the inning, and one out later, Peterson smacked a double to left to bring in the first run. Tomlinson was hit by a pitch, and Morey walked to load the bases. Wiggins then drew another walk to score Peterson, and Pollock ended the game with a line drive to left, putting the final score at 11-1.
Marshall earned the win on the mound for the Knights, pitching five innings while allowing just two hits. He walked two and struck out two.
The Knights will host Schley County on Monday at 5:30 p.m. in Albany.
