By RYAN WALKER
MARION — Norwell’s hot bats and a solid outing from Lleyton Bailey propelled the Knights to a 20-2 win at Eastbrook Friday afternoon.
The Knights’ (4-0) entire starting lineup recorded at least one hit in the nonconference victory over the Panthers (0-2), a much better showing from the two runs scored on South Adams earlier in the week.
“I thought we had a good approach at the plate,” head coach Dave Goodmiller said after the game. “We were hitting balls where they were pitched, and I didn’t think we were trying to force stuff like we did earlier in the week. It seemed like we hit more balls on the line, up the middle — more gap-to-gap, which is nice to see.
Drew Graft roped a single on the first pitch of the game and stole second, and later scored on a Luke Graft RBI double. Brody Bolyn brought Luke home with an RBI groundout to take an early 2-0 lead.
Eastbrook, though would have an answer. Starting pitcher Conner Boyd helped his cause with an RBI double to cut the lead in half.
That one-run lead wouldn’t last long. Catcher Trey Bodenheimer and Luke Graft drove in a pair of runs on base hits, and Cade Shelton drove home two more on a double.
Lleyton Bailey would take the momentum from the offense to the mound, striking out the side and setting the table for a big third inning at the plate.
Norwell scored a whopping eight runs in the third inning, but none bigger than Luke Graft’s triple over the centerfielder’s head to score two more runs. He was three-for-three on the day already with a single, double, and a triple, which is all too familiar to baseball fans as what a home run would mean. Even Luke’s teammates were in on making sure he knew the possibility of hitting for the cycle.
“You know, my friends did tell me,” Graft said with a smirk on his face. “My teammates did tell me. I was aware of it, but I was just trying to get on base and do whatever I can to help the team.”
The Panthers were more cautious on his third at-bat, walking the slugger on four-straight pitches. His fifth and final time up hit a medium-depth fly ball to center field for a sacrifice fly, tacking on his fifth RBI of the game.
Graft admitted that he wanted the cycle but took Goodmiller’s words from before the game rang in his head.
“Coach told us before the game if you just try to hit singles, you’ll hit a home run. So, I was just going up there, not trying to do anything special,” he said.
On the mound, Bailey gave Norwell a good outing to earn the win. He hurled five innings, which ended up being a complete game with the 10-run mercy rule, allowing two earned runs and struck out five Panthers.
What counted the most was his ability to get out of jams. He allowed five hits and a walk in the game but limited damage to just those two runs and left runners stranded multiple times.
The senior throws strikes and plays more to ground balls that allows his defense to scoop up any contact Eastbrook made.
“He’s always around the plate, maybe he doesn’t strike out a lot of guys, but he gets a lot of ground balls,” Goodmiller said of Bailey. “If we play defense behind him, he can usually limit the damage. He’s a real competitor, and he does a good job fielding his position and, like I said, hitting ground balls through the infield. That limited the damage where he didn’t give up any gap shots or anything when he did have runners on base.”
Norwell will host Marion in its next game starting at 5:30 p.m. Monday, April 10.
sports@news-banner.com
