Foulon, Young team up in 4-1 victory over Gems

Shortstop Alex Foulon (pictured) combined with starter Eric Young to stymie the Klamath Falls Gems 4-1 on Tuesday night.

An opening-night crowd of 811 at Goss Stadium watched a brilliant performance by Young, a junior right-hander who was Delaware�s top starter this spring.

He didn�t give up a run, struck out two and allowed just two hits in an efficient 55-pitch effort in his summer starting debut. He saved a victory at Walla Walla on June 4 in his other appearance.

Young got 11 of his 15 outs on ground balls. Only three of the 19 Gems batters he faced hit the ball out of the infield.

"I felt good and I was forcing a lot of contact early in the game," he said. "I'm trying to get better every day."

Primarily a reliever in his 32 previous appearances, Tuesday was the first victory in his three-year Knights� career.

"It's good to be back in the community," he said. "I love the coaching staff and team. I'm glad to be back for another year."

Reliever Mark Trentacosta went the final two innings for this first save. The Gems (2-2) had runners at second and first to start the eighth, but a 5-4-3 double play and a comebacker enabled Trentacosta to escape unscathed, and he pitched a perfect ninth.

The Knights (2-2) scored twice in the second inning on consecutive RBI singles by Mt. Hood CC teammates Matt Nylen and Foulon. Griffin Boyd singled in a run in the fifth and another scored on Foulon�s sixth-inning fielder�s choice.

The Gems had two runners on in the fourth and sixth but couldn�t score. They finally broke through in the seventh on an RBI single by Rich Sanguinetti after consecutive singles by Bo Cornish and Joel Atkinson.

Third baseman Graham Saiko doubled twice for the Gems, who now have lost two games in a row after defeating Bend twice at Kiger Stadium to open the season. Cornish also had two hits.

The series concludes at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday. The probables are lefty Alex Levin of Nebraska (0-0, 0.00) for the Gems and righty Matt Pechmann of Mt. Hood CC (0-1, 9.00) for the Knights.