Storm stifles Knights’ rally

The Glenrock Knights were on the precipice of their second win of the season before Mother Nature crashed the party June 18.

At the start of the seventh inning, the game had been going on for almost three hours, the Knights were down 17-12 as lightning flashed across the horizon.
Less than 20 minutes later, Glenrock cut the score to 17-15 with one out and a runner on second base. They were poised to take control. After one particularly grand burst of lightning, the umpires convened at the pitchers mound and called the game as it stood.
The Knights couldn’t pull off the comeback and, even before they could pack their bags, a torrential downpour overtook the field.
While the night ended in a late-night storm, it started with a whir.
A helicopter from Life Flight came down to deliver the ceremonial first pitch before Glenrock and the Douglas Cats Legion B began their doubleheader. The first game was utterly forgettable for the Knights, losing 18-2 and exhausting a pair of pitchers.
For the second game, the Knights went with Kaden Jackson on the mound. Jackson pitched five innings, allowing only 10 runs.
He said that he knew his team was going to support him no matter what, so he just focused on pitching. In the first inning, the Cats jumped on Jackson early and scored a pair of runs.
Glenrock got on the board by capitalizing on defensive misplays. With runners on the corners, Adam Bearfield stole second.
As Bearfield raced to second, Aidan Orozco passed home plate. Bearfield was able to take third base on the throw. When the Douglas catcher attempted to throw him out at third, the ball skirted past the Douglas defender and Bearfield was able to come in with the tying run.
Glenrock picked up another four runs by the end of the inning. The two teams were evenly matched at the plate and on the mound.
By the end of the third inning, the sun had set and the Knights led 8-5. In the top of the fourth inning, accidental contact led to an injury for Glenrock’s first baseman. Eric Suppes was helped off the field and didn’t play the remainder of the game.
After picking up another few runs on each side, by the time the top of the fifth inning rolled around, the Knights led the Cats 11-7. After Douglas picked up another trio of runs in the top half of the inning, there was one baserunner and the leading run was at the plate.
Jackson threw an errant pitch that catcher Bryston Jennings was able to recover and get the baserunner out trying to advance. Just two pitches later it was Jackson striking out the Cats’ hitter to close out the inning.
Everything changed when the Knights had to go to their bullpen. Going into the top of the sixth inning, the Knights had an 11-10 lead and brought Hunter Blaylock onto the mound.
Blaylock struggled, and the Cats were able to get crucial hits combined with mental mistakes from the Knights.
“We compounded our errors when we tried to rush our throws and stuff,” Orozco said.
The lead could have been insurmountable, but Glenrock was able to score another run in the bottom of the sixth. Jennings came out to the mound for the top of the seventh and shut the Cats down.
Then the storm hit. It went down as a loss on the stat sheet, but Glenrock was carrying momentum and had a good scoring opportunity.
“If it wasn’t for the rain delay, I knew we would’ve come back and won,” Jackson said.
The next home game for the Knights will be July 2. The team will be heading to Sheridan later in July for the B State tournament.