Mason McKenzie is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Arizona College Prep for AZPreps365.com

The Arizona College Prep Knights baseball team started off the Coach Bob Invitational tournament with a 13-4 win over the Niwot Cougars on Thursday.

In the bottom of the first inning, Knights senior Porter Creal, who led the Knights with four runs scored, hit a three-run home run to give his team a 5-0 lead.

“It felt really great to get a good barrel for once,” Creal said. “I’ve been kind of struggling at the plate, but that definitely helped me—a nice little breakthrough.”

Knights junior Jaden Guglielmo, who was at second base, advanced to third base after a well-placed hit by senior Josh Burlend to center field. Moments later, junior Ashton Sanchez grounded out to the first baseman, allowing Guglielmo to score the first run of the game. 

Guglielmo and Creal each collected two hits for Arizona College Prep.

Arizona College prep junior pitcher Clayton Nachman surrendered six hits and four runs throughout seven innings, striking out 11 and walking four.

Niwot sophomore pitcher Jack O’Hara went four innings, allowing 10 runs on seven hits and striking out two.

When asked if there are any improvements needed for their next game, Cougars sophomore pitcher Jack O’Hara maintained a positive outlook.

“No, not really. We made some errors, but we bounced back from them, so nothing really big,” O’Hara said. “We just have to keep doing the simple things.” 

Despite the loss, Cougars coach Ken Rosales said he remained optimistic, highlighting the importance of learning from the other team.

"I don't think they were better than us. Our errors cost us the game," Rosales said. "That is a very fundamentally sound team, and I told the guys it's something we can learn from.”

Despite letting Arizona College Prep take a big lead early, the Cougars made a push to find their spark.

Niwot senior Charlie Shaw came through with a line drive single to center field, which allowed senior Haden Shaw, who led Niwot with two hits in four at bats, to score and junior Jude Schechter to advance to second base, adding more offensive pressure for the Cougars. 

In the fifth inning, with the score 8-4 and multiple runners on base, Cougars junior Henry Noblin hit a deep shot to left field that was heading out of the park before the Knights' Austin Longfellow made a jumping catch just before it cleared the fence.

“Its kind of unreal that that happened. It's something you dream of,” Longfellow said. 

This catch stopped the Cougars from scoring multiple runs.

“If our center fielder doesn't catch that ball, some runs score, and we’ve got a really close game,” Knights coach Andrew Pollack said.

As the game went on, Nachman effectively ended the fourth inning with a strikeout. The defensive efforts continued as well, with solid plays erasing potential scoring opportunities for the Cougars.

As the game concluded with the Knights securing the win, they will look to build on their performance in Friday's matchup.

“Offensively, we started off hot. We had a couple of big innings, and then it dipped down and got quiet in the middle, and that team fought back a little bit,” Pollack said.

The Arizona College Prep Knights improved their record to 8-2 with the win, while the Niwot Cougars dropped to 3-2.