Doubleheader sweep versus Williamson trade gives Knights a 7-0 record during homestand
By Paul Miller
Knightly News Co-Adviser
Photos by Noah Lopez
Knightly News President
The Central Penn College Knights swept both games of a doubleheader versus the Williamson Trade Mechanics on Wednesday, winning the first game 12-0 and the second game 5-2, in an ESAC Conference clash at FNB Field on City Island in Harrisburg.
The sweep capped off an amazing homestand for the Knights, going 7-0 over the past eight days, including 3-0 in the ESAC Conference.
Game 1
Central Penn sent Jowan Morales to the hill for the first game of the doubleheader, and he turned in one of the best starts of the season for the Knights, keeping the Mechanics off the scoreboard and only allowing two runners to reach second base. Morales dominated in the first, striking out the first two batters and allowing a ground ball to second for the third out.
The Knights’ bats got going early and often in Game 1 of the doubleheader, though Williamson Trade’s starter Aiden McHugh struggled mightily to find the plate in the opening frame. Jamarcus Wilson walked to lead off the game and quickly stole second. McHugh then walked Jordon McCahan and Tanner McCoy to load the bases. Nic Joseph got the Knights on the board with an RBI single, plating Wilson.
After the Knights ran into an out at home plate, the rally continued, seeing David Thomas lace a double and drive in a run. Gabe Kaufman then walked, while Tanner Boyd reached on a fielder’s choice, driving in another. Terrell Smith-Cole then singled in another run, while Darwin Cruz walked. Back to the top of the order, Wilson drove in two more, giving the Knights a 6-0 lead after the first.
In the top of the second, Morales pitched around a lead-off double to Daniel Gross to keep the Mechanics at bay. And while the Knights couldn’t get anything going in the bottom of the second, Morales continued his dominating ways in the top of the third, striking out the side in one of the most impressive innings you will ever see.
The Knights continued piling on the offense in the bottom of the third. Boyd got on with a lead-off walk, followed by another Smith-Cole single. As the Knights came around to the top of the order, Wilson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. After a McHugh balk, all of the runners moved up, plating a run for the Knights. With two runners in scoring position, McCahan drove a ball to center, bringing Smith-Cole home on a sacrifice fly. After Wilson stole third, McCoy drove in another with a line drive up the middle, giving the Knights a 9-0 lead.
In the top of the fourth, Morales got two quick outs, striking out Ramone Sanchez and getting Jacob Naumann to ground out. Gross then worked a walk and Hagan Nagle got on with a single, putting two Williamson Trade runners on base for the first time all day. But, as Morales had shown consistently, he battled back to strike out Michael Sheller to end the threat.
The Knights continued their strong offense in the bottom of the fourth, sending nine Knights to the plate, scoring three more times. In an interesting call, Cruz executed a squeeze play to drive in a run, while Tanner McCoy continued his torrid start to the season with another single, driving in Wilson and McCahan and extending the Knights’ lead to 12-0.
As Morales came out for the fifth, he made short work of the Mechanics, getting Zachary Ladislaw to fly out and striking out the final two batters of the game, as the mercy rule was invoked after five innings with the Knights winning the game, 12-0.
Morales was the Weis Knightly News Player of the Game, tossing five shutout innings while striking out 10. Additionally, McCoy was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a steal, while Wilson was 2-for-2 with three runs and two RBIs.
Game 2
The second game of the doubleheader saw a much closer affair, as the Knights sent ace Cameron Smiley to the mound. Smiley wasn’t as sharp as he had been in the two earlier games of the homestand, but still showed the determination to keep Central Penn in the game.
In the top of the first, Smiley walked Michael Krakrovitz, the lead-off hitter for the Mechanics, then followed up by hitting Sanchez to put two runners on base. Then, Gross blasted a single to the outfield, scoring both Krakrovitz and Sanchez to put the Mechanics up 2-0 after the top half of the first.
After a fairly comfortable first game, this was the first time that the Knights had faced a deficit, but that gap didn’t last long. In the top of the first, McCahan blasted a triple to the outfield wall, putting a runner on third base with no one out. Then, as he has for the entire season so far, McCoy came up with a clutch base hit, driving in McCahan. Later in the inning, Thomas launched a ball to deep left-center field, plating McCoy, bringing the score to 2-2 at the end of the first.
For the Mechanics, Naumann took the hill, bringing back memories of an unforgettable contest in the 2024 ESAC Championship game, when he battled the Knights in a 7-6 loss. In the bottom of the second, Naumann pitched around two baserunners to keep the Knights at bay.
Smiley shook off the first-inning trouble in the second and third innings, retiring the side in order in both frames, striking out two. As the Knights headed to the bottom of the third, tied at two, the momentum shifted in Central Penn’s favor.
After McCoy was hit by a pitch, he was able to advance to third base after two passed balls, giving the heart of the order for the Knights an opportunity to take the lead. And that they did, as Thomas reached base on an error, allowing McCoy to score, giving the Knights a 3-2 lead.
Both teams were quiet offensively in the fourth, as Smiley allowed only one baserunner while striking out two. Naumann allowed back-to-back baserunners in the bottom half of the fourth after a walk to Charles Lawrence and a single from Wilson, but the Knights were not able to get either runner home.
In the top of the fifth, in his final inning, Smiley started showing some fatigue. After Bobby Stanton was able to reach base on an error, Smiley walked Krakrovitz and Dominic DePoulter to load the bases. Nauman came up with a chance to help his own cause, though he promptly bounced back to Smiley, who came home for the force out. He then battled against Gross, inducing a flyout to right to keep the Mechanics off the board.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Knights added some insurance, as four consecutive Knights reached base, highlighted by a Cruz RBI single. They added another run in the bottom of the sixth, as McCoy scored on an error to give the Knights a 5-2 lead.
Senior Jordan Spadafore came on in the sixth to close the door on the Mechanics, offering what was his most impressive outing of the season. In the sixth, Spadafore retired the side 1-2-3 to keep the momentum high for the Knights. After they added the run in the bottom of the frame to give Spadafore a three-run lead, he was able to pitch around a Krakrovitz single to shut down Williamson Trade and pick up the save. The Knights were victorious in the second game, 5-2.
The Weis Knightly News Player of the Game was Thomas, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a walk and a run. In total, Thomas reached base on eight consecutive occasions across both games, setting the pace for the Knights. McCoy was 2-for-3 with three runs and an RBI for Central Penn, while Smiley pitched five innings of two-run ball, striking out six.
It was a memorable homestand for Central Penn College at FNB Field, winning all seven of the games played over the last eight days. Short of the second game of the Christendom doubleheader being postponed due to rain, the homestand could not have gone any better for the Knights, moving to a 7-2 mark on the young season.
The Knights will be on the road this weekend, traveling to Penn State Hazleton for a doubleheader on Friday, then to ESAC rival Bucks County Community College for another doubleheader Sunday. They will return to FNB Field on April 14 to take on Manor College.
During the game, Paul Miller and Steve Hassinger were on the call. The Knightly News will be broadcasting all of the Central Penn College home contests on our YouTube channel. Subscribe to be notified about our future broadcasts!
