On Sunday, May 2nd, the Northern Essex Knights had a home game doubleheaderagainst the Uconn Avery Point Pointers.

Prior to these two games, the Knights had matched u pagainst the Pointers on three other occasions, beating them all three times.

Three wins out of thefive total games against each other meant that the Knights had won the season series against the Pointers but were very excited to get out and play for a series sweep and win all five games against them.

Before the doubleheader sophomore Hunter Wilochowski said, “these guys are  here to compete. Something I have picked up is that this team has played better every time we have played them. All of us gotta stay sharp today.”

It seemed that the Knights had the righ tmentality and mindset when they showed up to Haverhill Stadium that morning.

The Knights hitting was very slow throughout the day, only generating a mere four hits and one run throughout both games. As the day went on, the Knights ended up trailing by 3 runs at the end of both games.

After a six game win streak, the Knights dropped two to the Pointers at their homefield to still win the season series but bring their record to 17-10.

“Nobody likes to show up tothe baseball field and lose both games at your home field,” said sophomore Dylan Duval in the huddle with his teammates the next day of practice.

Duval also said,“we all talked about how we all believed we would win these games. That is the mistakewe made. We underestimated a team that has fought with us in games all year. Theyshowed up and wanted it more than us. We need to carry the right mindset we have before the game onto the field and with every single of us everytime we step on the fiel dor into the batter’s box. We need to stay focused for a whole day of baseball because onc ewe lose focus as a team, we allow ourselves to be beaten.”

The Knight’s plan is to focus on this part of their game for the rest of the year. They all feel tha tis what the last piece of the puzzle they need to complete to make them the best team they can be as they get ready to enter their regional tournament.

Maintaining focus throughout your entire time at the field is a must as a team that wants to succeed.

It seems that the Knights have had this problem when it comes to them occasionally losing games throughout the year.

Sophomore Levi Burrill said, “we are the best team on the field every time we step out for a game. We have theskill taken care of. Our main focus is learning how to become great players and work together asa team to win games.”

It seems that this mindset is everyone’s main focus so hopefully theseguys are onto something and can carry this mentality to their regional games.

Due to thepandemic throughout the past year, many of these players have not played consistent games likethis since 2019.

Getting a feel back into the game and away from the training aspect of the sportis a major adjustment. Now that these guys have 30 games under their belt, they should be ready  to leave the losses behind them as they strive for a College World Series.

Editor’s Note: Joe Muzio is a member of the NECC Knights baseball team.