by Andrew Barbieri
FINAL: Floral Park Knights 2, Phenom Baseball 0
Jake Horton tossed a complete game shutout and the Knights will await the winner of the Bayside Yankees and Titans Baseball- Fergo. pic.twitter.com/3KpatlnN17— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 12, 2023
The Floral Park Knights won their semifinal matchup against Phenom Baseball, 2-0, at Eisenhower Park behind a complete game shutout from Jake Horton who took full command on the mound from start to finish.
While Floral Park would come away with the win, runs still came at a premium for them. Cooper Scheriff of Phenom Baseball also gave a quality outing for his team with the only 2 runs he gave up happening in the 2nd inning. Horton would help his cause with a lead off single. He was run for by Noah Soe after Jake Gutierrez walked to give the Knights an opportunity to get on the board. Soe wreaked havoc on the bases as he took off for third after Scheriff let the ball get away after he delivered a ball to Dylan Aquino. Scheriff misfired in an attempt Soe breaking for third, the ball went out of play, and the Knights grabbed the lead. With Aquino still up, a wild pitch made its way to the backstop and Gutierrez slid home safely to make it 2-0.
MID: Floral Park Knights lead 2-0 after a run scored from an E1 and a wild pitch allowed Jake Gutierrez to score. pic.twitter.com/4BIoCorZxT
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 12, 2023
Phenom would look to climb back in the bottom half of the inning as they got back-to-back walks from Luke Scale and Greg Catz with 2 outs. With the pressure growing, Horton found a way out by getting Jake Lynch looking to end the threat.
In the 3rd it was almost the same situation for Horton on the mound, this time the bases were loaded for cleanup hitter Alex Brand. The righty would pick up another strikeout at a crucial juncture by getting Brand swinging to wiggle his way out of trouble once more and keep the score 2-0 Knights.
Scheriff would stay strong to keep his team in striking distance, as he would go 5 innings and not let another Knight runner reach second base after the 2nd.
Phenom once again would load the bases in the 5th. This team it was Scheriff with a chance in a clutch situation after Chris Van Dyke, Luke Every, and Nick Tortamella all got on base. In the pitcher vs. pitcher duel, it would be Horton who would prevail by getting Scheriff to groundout.
Postgame interview with Floral Park Knights coach Nick Burzynski. pic.twitter.com/84vhm4NUiW
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) August 12, 2023
Horton would finish the game off by getting Van Dyke to pop out in foul ground and send his team to the final with a 2-0. With 6 strikeouts, Horton provided a brilliant performance for the Floral Park Knights who played great team defense behind Horton and came through with just enough offense.
