by Devan Matthews
Correspondent
With the playoffs fast approaching, the Nordonia High School baseball team is continuing to show improvement.
The Knights won two of three games recently to improve their overall record to 8-13. They're also 3-3 in the Lake Division of the Northeast Ohio Conference.
Nordonia battled division rival Normandy on the road May 4, falling to the Invaders by the score of 8-7.
The Knights trailed 8-5 entering the top of the seventh frame and managed to score two runs on a home run by A.J. Janiszec, but that's all they were able to muster.
"Both sides hit the ball pretty well," said Nordonia head coach Eric Cormell. "We just fell a little short. Normandy's not a bad team. They were 5-1 [in the division] after that win."
Eric Simon started on the mound for Nordonia, lasting five innings.
"Eric had some walks, and that's where he got into trouble a little bit," said Cormell. "He only gave up four earned runs, though."
Zach Lewis relieved Simon. Offensively, Zach Siemon was 3-for-3 with two singles, a double, a walk and two runs scored.
The following day, Nordonia hosted Normandy, handing the Invaders a 3-2 defeat in nine innings.
Alex Smith pitched a gem for the Knights, going the distance and striking out 17 batters in the process. He only walked three Invaders.
"Not only did Alex do a great job, but we played a solid game overall," said Cormell. "We only had two errors, which is below our average."
Jason Jacobs led Nordonia at the plate. He was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.
On May 7, the Knights hosted Akron Firestone in what was a make-up game from earlier in the season. Nordonia downed the Falcons by an 11-6 margin.
Steve Becker was the starting pitcher for the Knights. He threw 3 2/3 innings before being relieved by Lewis.
Nordonia exploded offensively, collecting 14 hits. Jacobs was 2-for-2 with two singles, two RBIs and two walks. In addition, Ben Shoop went 3-for-4 with a single and two triples.
Other major contributors were Trevor Hawks (3-for-4, two singles, double) and Siemon (2-for-4, single, double).
Defensively, the Knights committed just one error. According to Cormell, that continues to be a barometer for his team's success.
"That's making a difference," he said. "If we don't make many errors and we cut down on our walks, we're tough to beat. We're hitting over .330 as a team and our on-base percentage is over .400, but we have about 50 errors. We're starting to play a lot better defense, though, and our pitching is coming around. We're getting more ground balls, fielding them and getting outs."
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