By Rob Patrick
It was a frustrating stay at the Zone 4 Senior American Legion tournament for Little Rock Continental Express. In its first game, 11 runs proved to be too little to beat the rival Little Rock Blue team and, on Saturday, despite out-hitting Benton McClendon's 10-6, it managed only two runs.
The 5-2 loss to Benton ended Continental's season and continued the run by the upstart Benton team which came in as the No. 6 seed and has knocked off the No. 3 and No. 5 teams, respectively.
Benton was set to play Little Rock Blue in an elimination game on Sunday at 4 with the winner advancing to a losers bracket final at 7 against the loser of the 1 p.m. game between Bryant and Texarkana.[more]
Michael Long smashed a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh to extand a 4-2 lead for Benton and right-hander Jace Mitchell closed out the win by pitching out of trouble in the eighth and ninth, earning a save. Lefty Steven Brooks pitched five shutout innings as the starter for Benton, leaving after Continental managed an unearned run in the sixth.
Right-hander Dillon Owen matched Brooks for four innings, allowing just two hits. Benton was able to snap the tie in the bottom of hte fifth when Ashton Wilson doubled, stole third and drew a wild throw.
Brooks, meanwhile, had pitched around a walk to Scott Chalene and a single by Jim Manney in the first, overcame a one-out single by Lance Black in the second, a two-out error in the third and a two-out single by Black in the fourth. Long ended the fourth by throwing out Black when he tried to steal.
In the fifth, Will Parham led off with a single for Continental. Brooks set down the next two before issuing a walk to Ivan Tate. But, after a long battle that including five two-strike fouls, Brooks caught Chalene looking to get out of the jam.
But, after Benton had taken the lead, the Express managed to tie it in the top of the sixth. With one out, Justin Williams reached on an error and Tyler Hayes beat out an infield hit. Brooks got Black, who had three hits in the game, to pop up to first but Parham came through with an RBI single to tie the game.
Benton, however, took advantage of a pair of errors to plate a couple of runs in the bottom of the inning. Long reached on the first miscue, taking second on the bad throw to first. Austin Pfeiffer then got a bunt down and drew a wild throw to first that not only allowed Long to score but was enough to get Pfeiffer to third.
Owen retired the next two batters and kept Pfeiffer at third but Beau Fulcher's infield hit got the run home to make it 3-1.
With Mitchell on in relief, Continental trimmed a run off the margin. With two down in the top of the seventh, Chalene was hit by a pitch and he sprinted all the way home when Manney plugged the gap for a double. But with Manney representing the tying run, Mitchell ended the inning with a strikeout.
To open the home seventh, Seth Hobbs yanked a double down the left field line. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Blake Childress. On the next pitch, Long lined one deep, clearing the fence just inside the left-field foul poll to make it 5-2.
Continental gave itself a chance to rally in the top of the eighth when Hayes beat out an infield hit then Black laced a double to right to put both in scoring position with no one out. But, with one down, Clint Green hit one back to Mitchell who caught Hayes off third. After the ensuing hot box, there were two down and runners at first and second. Jordan Getchell flew out to center to end the threat.
In the ninth, Mitchell retired the first two only to have Manney cracked a double to right-center. Williams reached on an error to bring the potential tying run to the plate. But the Benton knuckle-baller got Hayes to fly out to center to end the game.
BENTON McCLENDON'S 5, LITTLE ROCK CONTINENTAL EXPRESS 2
Senior American Legion
Continental Express ab r h bi McClendon's ab r h bi
Getchell, ss 5 0 0 0 S.Hobbs, ss 3 1 1 0
Tate, rf 4 0 0 0 Childress, cf-lf 3 0 0 1
Chalene, c 3 1 0 0 Long, c 4 2 2 1
Manney, 1b 5 0 3 1 Pfeiffer, 1b 2 1 0 0
Williams, cf 5 1 0 0 Mitchell, p 1 0 0 0
Hayes, dh 4 0 2 0 Brooks, p-cf 4 0 1 0
Black, 2b 4 0 3 0 Bates, 2b 4 0 0 0
Parham, 3b 4 0 2 1 Fulcher, 3b 4 0 1 1
Green, lf 4 0 0 0 Wilson, rf 3 1 1 0
Owen, p 0 0 0 0 R.Hobbs, lf-1b 2 0 0 0
Totals 39 2 10 2 Totals 30 5 6 3
LR Continental 000 001 100 — 2
Benton 000 012 20x — 5
E—Bates, Chalene, Pfeiffer, Black, Parham, Fulcher. LOB—LR Continental 13, Benton 6. 2B—Wilson, Manney 2, S.Hobbs. HR—Long. SB—Manney, Brooks, Hobbs 2. S—Pfeiffer. SF—Childress.
Pitching ip r er h bb so
LR Continental
Owen (L) 8 5 2 6 3 3
Benton
Brooks (W) 6 1 0 6 2 6
Mitchell (S) 3 1 1 4 0 2
HBP—Chalene (by Mitchell). WP—Brooks, Owen.
