Pace Academy plays 'clean' in win over Whitefield Academy
On Monday, the Pace Academy Knights baseball team began their week with an 8-2 win over the Whitefield Academy Wolfpack in a game, coach Nelson Pedraza, considered a "clean" game with the exception of the to runs allowed. Offensively, the Knights would get their bats going in the second inning as they picked up three runs, sparked by an RBI triple by Terrence Kiel to give them a 1-0 lead. RBI singles by both Ryan Reiss and Henry Levenson would then extend the Knights lead to 3-0.
Meanwhile on the mound for Pace, junior pitcher Charles Smith would have a solid outing on the mound, giving up just one run through six innings, with the one run allowed coming in the sixth inning. "He's learning a lot of stuff from out pitching staff, but he threw strikes and when you throw strikes it's very difficult to score," Pedraza said of Smith's outing on Monday. Smith's one run allowed would make it a 5-1 game in favor of the Knights but Pace would respond with three more runs in the top of the seventh inning to extend their lead to 8-1 and eventually Pace Academy would pick up the 8-2 win.
And while Pedraza believes that the Knights ultimately played their best game through the first four matchups, he explains that he and the coaching staff are relying on their players to focus on playing together as the season continues in order for the Knights to reach the success they desire. "This year we're focusing on playing as a team and coming together as a unit," Pedraza said as he explained that last season the Knights dealt with some "finger pointing" and they want to make sure to avoid those type of problems this season.
