TEXARKANA -- A little rain seemed to warm up Benton's bats.
After sitting through a 39-minute weather delay in the sixth inning, the Panthers collected five of their seven hits on their way to an 8-0 victory over the Marion Patriots in Friday's quarterfinals of the Class 6A baseball state tournament at Razorback Field.
Winning pitcher Drew Dyer limited Marion to four singles. He struck out seven and walked no one, setting the stage for today's semifinal matchup with defending state champion Russellville.
"Sometimes rain delays will help you and sometimes they can hurt you," Benton Coach Mark Balisterri said. "You never know, but it woke us up today."
Benton (23-5) led 3-0 when the rain forced officials to stop play. Until that point, the Panthers' offense had been limited to two hits. After the delay, Dyer continued to baffle Marion's batter while Benton's offense showed some life.
The Panthers banged out five hits in the sixth inning, sending nine men to the plate and getting RBI hits from Drew Harris, Colten Nix and Jared Barker.
Benton scored two runs in the first without a hit, using four walks and a hit batter. The Panthers added a run in the fourth on a two-out double by Kyler Nitchske, who later scored on a wild pitch.
"I really think we were just too anxious," Balisterri said. "We were about as amped up as I've ever seen us in a long time. I was excited because they seemed really pumped up and focused, but we just couldn't get anything going."
Marion staring pitcher Peyton Moore lasted only two-thirds of an inning. Reliever Peyton Steele allowed two hits over the next 4 1/3 innings, but he ran into trouble after the rain delay, giving up three consecutive hits in the sixth.
Colten Nix had two hits and scored two runs. Chase Nix also scored two runs. Barker drove in two runs.
Marion (12-13) picked up two singles from Caleb Marconi.
RUSSELLVILLE 11, EL DORADO 4
Russellville Coach Matt Long had no qualms about sending Garrett Freeman to the mound for the Cyclones' quarterfinal game against the Wildcats.
Freeman had lost his previous five outings, but the senior right-hander held El Dorado to six hits and struck out nine as the Cyclones advanced.
"He has been our hard-luck kid," Long said. "We were 0-5 against the 7A schools in our conference. He pitched well, but we couldn't score any runs for him."
That wasn't the case Friday. The Cyclones (10-13) banged out 14 hits, including five doubles and a triple. Senior Matt Moyer went 3 for 3 with 1 double, 1 triple and 4 runs scored. Senior Andy Campbell also had three hits and drove in three runs.
Junior Cole McKnown singled twice and drove in two runs. Freeman also drove in two runs with a double and a sacrifice fly.
"That's not typical of what we have done this season," Long said. "That's the best we've hit the ball all year."
El Dorado scored three unearned runs off Freeman in the second and trailed 6-4 before the Cyclones put away the game by scoring a combined five runs in the fourth and fifth innings. A single by Caleb Stutts and a sacrifice fly by Blake Cunningham provided the Wildcats with their only RBI.
SHERIDAN 7, GREENWOOD 0
Senior Tyler Raney tossed a three-hitter and the Yellowjackets took advantage of the error-prone Bulldogs to advance to the semifinals.
Sheridan sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth, scoring five runs. Sophomore David Rainwater drove in a run with a double, and junior Brady Bibb knocked in another run with a sacrifice fly.
Greenwood, which committed five errors, loaded the bases in the fifth inning thanks to a walk and singles by Tanner Cooper and Weston Sagely, but Raney got Max Higgins to fly out to center to end the threat.
JONESBORO 8, ALMA 4
Skyler Boyle hit a two-run home run and Sam Ezell had three hits and drove in two runs as the Hurricane outlasted the Airedales.
Jonesboro scored three runs in the fifth inning to break a 4-4 tie.
Senior Wilson Murff drove in two runs for Jonesboro. The Hurricane collected 10 hits and Luke Hinson picked up the victory.
Evan Burris went 3 for 3 for Alma, which finished with six hits.
Sports on 05/16/2015