Winning Streak? Sure, 2 in a row. We’ve started to finally put some things together. Some timely hitting, and some solid defense. Most of the year our pitching has been solid, and the last two games are further evidence of that.

Sean Lopata came out and pitched a masterful complete game 4-1 victory for the Knights last Friday 6/6 out at Rec Park in Willimantic. Sean has emerged as a dominant pitcher on the squad this year, and he showcased it against the Ridges. Sean threw a solid 7 innings, giving up the only 1 run while striking out 8. In that game Mike Scanlon had 2 hits including a key 2 RBI ground rule double, while Justin Kilker added an RBI single.

In a bit of crazy news… thanks to Instagram, I (Scott) could see that Kyle Gravlin, our former pitcher/OF from 2005-07 was back in town vacationing and visiting his family. Kyle had pitched in many key games in his 3 year career with the team, including part of the 2007 championship. So I reached out via instagram to see if Kyle if he might want to come out to a game, and maybe pitch a little. Kyle came out Tuesday and when we only expected an inning or two before turning the game over to our solid pitchers Rick Blais and/or Luke Palma. Well, Gravlin went out and other than a hiccup in the second inning completely shut down the Moodus Nationals. Gravlin ended up falling 2 outs shy of a complete game victory, while throwing 114 pitches and striking out 6. A gutty and remarkable performance after not playing for us for 7 years. We also featured some timely hitting with Rick Barrett getting a huge 2 RBI double and Scott Dickens getting an RBI single. We scored the go ahead run in the top of the seventh when Sean Cameron worked a walk, stole second after a failed bunt attempt, took third on a ball that scooted away from the catcher, and then scored on a passed ball to take the lead. With one out in the bottom of the seventh we brought in Earl Oakes to shut the door, and he did just that… striking out the final two batters to end the game, get the save, and preserve the victory. It was a crazy game, a well played game… and I think more signs that this team is really starting to shake off the rust and come alive.