TOWAMENCIN – On a windy afternoon on the baseball diamond, it was North Penn (11-2) who took the wind out of the sails for the Central Bucks West Bucks (4-6) on Tuesday afternoon, as the Knights pulled away for a 9-5 conference win.

In the top of the first inning the Bucks’ third baseman, Matt Cooper hit a hard line drive to centerfield for a single and an RBI. But as has been the case with the North Penn offense this season, they didn’t wait long to respond. In the bottom of the first for the Knights with runners on second and third, shortstop Zack Miles hit a line drive down the thrird baseline for a double and two RBI. After an error by the Bucks, Miles advanced to 3B and scored another run to end the inning with the Knights up 3-1.

“I think we did well offensively at executing when we needed to. When we had runners in scoring position, we did what we needed to hit the ball and get them in. We went down early, then we came back and kept tacking on. That’s what we need to do just keep tacking on when the other team scores early,” said Siddal.

With a strikeout and two pop-ups caught, the Knights easily shut down the Bucks from scoring in the top of the second. Siddal started off the bottom of the second with a line drive down the third base line for a double, followed by a line drive to left field for a single and an RBI for Bealer. Miles hit a single down the third base line for another RBI to extend the lead 5-1 at the end of the second inning.

“I think we battled through the game. They tied it up 5-5, so I think we just needed to tack on more runs and battle the whole time. I think we need to avoid the big inning that the other team had, throw the ball low, and cut down mistakes,” said Miles.

By the end of the 3rd inning the Bucks had tied up the game 5-5. With the bases loaded, Cooper drove the ball to left field for two RBI. Shortstop, Steven Gebre then doubled to left field for 2 additional RBI, tying the game 5-5. After shutting the Bucks down in the 4th inning, Miles hits a home run to tack on two more runs for the Knights.

“I think we played well. Offensively, we had a lot going for us, and defensively we didn’t make that many mistakes in the field. We played a clean game of baseball and it turned out that the result was in our favor,” said junior centerfielder Ryan Bealer.

Pitcher Danny Kirwn held off the Bucks with 3 strikeouts to start off the 6th inning. Kirwin more than settled in, as he faced the minimum number of batters over the game’s final four frames. Left Fielder Joe Picozzi and pinch hitter, Dan Drop both added RBI hits in the bottom of the 6th to seal the lead.

“We did a nice job at the plate today, I don’t think we changed our approach from the first inning to the last. From an offensive standpoint, we were consistently aggressive all game long. When we fell back and they tied the game that inning, I felt we kept the same approach at the play and that was the most important thing,” said head coach Kevin Manero.

The Knights stand alone atop the Continental Conference as they have now begun the second half of the league schedule. North Penn is back home on Thursday to host William Tennent at 3:45.