Knights focus on approach and results in opening win
Senior righty Santiago Rojas spun an opening-night three-hitter with seven strikeouts for the Knights.
By Chuck Frye, Senior Staff Writer
TAMPA – At least for opening night, Alex Barron’s approach is bearing fruit.
“Without trying to damage our guys’ psyches, we’ve really been trying to be very transparent with them about who they are,” Robinson’s head coach explained after a season-opening 15-1, 4 1/2-inning win against visiting Leto. “Be good at what you’re good at. For a lot of these guys, if they buy into that, it auto-simplifies things for them. They realize, I don’t need to do some of the things I was doing because it’s not what I’m good at, and it gives us a better chance to win.
“It is (hard to do) and that’s why I admire the guys for being able to, at times, have a mental and emotional maturity that may be above a typical 15- to 17-year-old.”
Coaches and captains from Leto and Robinson meet with the umpires to go over the ground rules.
That approach fit the Knights to a T as their disciplined approach helped shake off an early Falcons lead and gave their offense ample opportunities to shine.
Every Robinson starter reached base, seven of them more than once. Seven of the nine starters plus courtesy runner Brogan Hall, subbing for catcher Tommy Fitzgerald, crossed the plate in the fourth inning alone, turning a 6-1 rout into a blowout.
Providing the key hit in the fourth frame – a two-run single off the base of the centerfield fence – was DH Rhyder Robinson as the lefty closed out a 2-for-2 night while also being hit by a pitch, crossing the plate three times in the victory.
“I felt great after the first AB kind of soothed the nerves and I got up there and did my thing. Do some damage and drive in my teammates,” Robinson said.
Joining Robinson in the hit parade were … well, pretty much everybody:
- Ben Bryan: two singles, walk, RBI, three runs scored,
- C.J. Maglalang: double, two walks, two RBI, two runs scored,
- Cason Cooper: single, two walks, two runs scored,
- Fitzgerald: two walks, two runs scored,
- Collin Rosenberg: two walks, sacrifice fly, two RBI,
- Andrew Zimmerman: two-run single, walk, run scored
Leto starter Alex Abreu battled through 1 2/3 innings against Robinson, allowing four runs.
All told, five Falcons pitchers struggled against the Knights’ lineup, giving up eight hits, walking 11, and hitting a pair.
“We tried to err on the side of putting too much emphasis on trying to prepare at the plate in place of some defensive work we could have done more on,” Barron said. “Just because we knew we were going to need that, we were going to need the offensive help, as much as we could get and more than a typical year.”
With teammate Andrew Zimmerman (18) looking on, DH Rhyder Robinson steps on the plate for one of the Knights’ four second-inning runs.
And enjoying all of the run support was starting pitcher Santiago Rojas, as the righty pounded the strike zone to stay in control of Leto’s lineup.
Opening with a pair of strikeouts, Rojas finished his three-hitter with seven Ks over his four innings of work and only yielded a walk in the last two frames. T.J. Maiello worked a 1-2-3 fifth to close out the game.
“I was really confident,” Rojas said. “Just focused on my mechanics, making sure my tempo was good and rolling from there.”
Sophomore Ben Bryan slides behind Leto catcher Alex Hernandez in the third inning, turning his leadoff single into his second of three runs scored.
“We’ve been really trying to get him to understand that if he can self-adjust from pitch to pitch, he’s going to limit how far things get away from him,” Barron said. “He’s got plenty of stuff, making pitch adjustments to stay in counts, and pitch to his strengths.”
Leto’s high point came in the top of the first when Maykol Fernandez lashed a single down the rightfield line, stole second, and came home on clean-up hitter Alex Hernandez’s base hit through the shortstop hole.
“It’s definitely a time of learning,” Barron said of the early stretch. “The scoreboard doesn’t determine if we feel good or don’t feel good. How are we playing? Are we competitive? Are we making adjustments? Are we having good approaches? Do we leave the ballpark feeling good about the body of work we’re building? I’d rather be the most frustrated man in the world in February and one of the happiest in the world come April (and the end of a good season).”
Looking to advance on an errant third-inning pitch, Knights baserunner C.J. Maglalang was instead tagged out by Leto third baseman Brett Valerio.
⚾
Robinson 15
Leto 1 – four innings
L 100|0xx|x – |1|3|1
R 042|9xx|x – |15|8|1
W – Rojas (1-0); L – Abreu (0-1)
2B – Manglalang (R). Records – L (0-1); R (1-0).
