In the regular season finale, if the Knox baseball team was going to lose, the Prairie Fire were determined to do so memorably.
Knox certainly did that, scoring a season-high 18 runs. Unfortunately for the Prairie Fire, it was not enough as Ripon claimed a 21-18 victory. Knox ends its season 6-34 overall and 3-18 in the Midwest Conference.
Early in the game, Knox trailed 4-0 after the first inning, but the Prairie Fire offense came to life, scoring two in the second and seven in the third inning for a 9-4 lead.
The Redhawks came back with three in the bottom of the third. In response, Knox's offense exploded in the top of the fourth, scoring nine runs.Â
Ripon's pitching took over, though, not allowing a Prairie Fire run the rest of the way. With the Knox offense locked down, the Redhawks chipped away. Ripon scored one in the fourth, one in the fifth, and 11 in the sixth, taking a 20-18 lead. Ripon added one final run in the eighth to account for the final tally.
Despite the defeat, plenty of Prairie Fire players had big offensive days. Seven different players had an RBI and a hit, and nine Knox players scored at least one run.
Nicholas Nitti concluded his huge week with a four-RBI, two-run, one-hit performance. Hayden Derlein added three hits, two runs, and two RBI. Thomas Wilmot had three RBI, two runs, and two hits. Andrew Garrett had three RBI, two hits, and two runs scored. Parker Engel had two RBI, four runs, and three hits, and Owen Shannon had two RBI, three hits, and a run scored.Â
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