By Doug Hall
Tennessee Director of Scouting

The Knights Baseball-American team participated in the WWBA Underclass Championship in Fort Myers, Florida that began last Thursday and finished with a 2-2 record.

The Knights used strong pitching to win their first two games of the tournament, a 2-0 win over the Doubleday Rockies on Thursday and a 2-1 walk-off win against the Dawg Pound on Friday.  They went on to lose the final pool play game on Saturday, a 10-9 contest with Big League Baseball Academy, but advanced to the playoff round by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dawg Pound.  The Knights went on to suffer an 8-0 loss to the Dallas Patriots Red 17U in opening playoff round action Sunday morning.

The following is a look at standout performers for the Knights-American squad.

David Bates, RHP, Christ Presbyterian Academy, 2017
The 6-foot-4, 250-pound right-hander started two games and picked up the win on Thursday with five shutout innings.  Bates allowed five hits and four earned runs in 7.2 innings of work.  He racked up 10 strikeouts with a fastball that reportedly topped at 85 mph.

Sam Blane, RHP/MIF, Christian County HS (KY), 2016
The 6-foot, 175-pound Blane performed well at the plate and on the mound for the Knights.  Blane went 5-for-7 with two RBIs and two stolen bases while also picking up a win and a save in two scoreless innings of work.  He allowed no hits and struck out four with a fastball that reportedly topped at 84 mph.

Isaac Howeth, OF/IF/RHP, East Robertson HS, 2017
The right-handed hitting Howeth hit at a .600 clip for the tournament, going 6-for-10 while scoring three runs.  All of Howeth’s hits were singles, and he also drew a walk and stole a base as well.

Nathan Jay, MIF/OF, Brentwood Academy, 2016
Jay, a right-handed hitter, went 3-for-8 while also drawing two walks.  He drove in two runs and scored three times as one of the Knights offensive leaders for the tournament.