CONWAY -- Caleb Wilson survived Friday's ovenlike temperatures at Bear Stadium by bringing some heat of his own.
Pitching on a day when the heat index climbed to as high as 108 degrees in the early afternoon, Cabot's right-handed starter limited Arkadelphia to five hits through the first eight innings in a 10-5 victory in the opening round of the American Legion State Tournament.
Cabot broke the game open by scoring four runs with two outs in the sixth inning and led 10-1 with two outs in the ninth inning.
"Man, this is not for the faint of heart playing at 1 o'clock on a turf field," Cabot Manager Casey Vaughan said. "But I thought my guys did great."
Wilson lasted 8⅔ innings. He was removed after giving up four consecutive hits in the ninth inning. Dylan Billingsley came in to get the final out.
"I was hitting the corners with my fastball," said Wilson, who struck out five and walked three. "I had good command of my fastball, and when I needed it, my curveball was working well, too."
"I'm so proud of that kid," Vaughan said of Wilson, who will be a senior at Cabot High this fall. "He's been a kid this entire year who's battled for us. He saved some of our pitching, so he helped us out. His curveball was great. He would get ahead with the fastball and then that curveball was devastating."
Cabot banged out 13 hits against four Arkadelphia pitchers. Leadoff batter Blake McCutchen went 4 for 4 with 2 RBI and a triple. Jack Broyles went 2 for 4 with a sacrifice fly and 4 RBI. Wilson, Caleb Harpole and Mike Crumbly all had two hits.
Danny Spradlin and Alec Ruble each had two hits for Arkadelphia while Dalton Guthrie drove in two runs with a ninth-inning triple.
CONWAY 7, SHERIDAN 6
*CORRECTION: Jayden Liszewski drove in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly in Conway’s 7-6 victory over Sheridan. The wrong player was named in this story.
Winston Strawn lifted a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning to send host Conway to a victory over Sheridan.
With one out, Eli Davis tripled to the left-field corner off Sheridan pitcher Tyler Cleveland. Strawn, who will be a senior at Conway Christian this fall, followed by hitting a one-ball, one-strike pitch to center field. Davis easily beat the throw for the game-winning run.
Sheridan had tied the game in the top half of the ninth when Cleveland's sacrifice fly brought home Logan Mitchell. Sheridan, however, ran itself out of the inning when Austin Wright was caught stealing home for the inning's final out.
Cade White drove in two runs for Conway with a two-run single. Strawn also drove in a run with a fourth-inning single. McCall Dail went 2 for 4 with a triple and an RBI. James Martindall also went 2 for 4 with a double.
Christopher Bass, the fourth Conway pitcher, picked up the victory.
Hunter Hicks led Sheridan, going 3 for 4 with three singles. Dalton Domrase was 2 for 4 with a double.
PARAGOULD 9,
BENTON 7 (10 innings)
Ty Gordon went 5 for 6, including a run-scoring single in the 10th inning, to carry Paragould to an extra-innings victory over Benton.
Ethan Allred also had an RBI in the 10th inning for Paragould. Grant Rambo led Benton with three hits.
LITTLE ROCK 10,
BATESVILLE 0
Little Rock collected 17 hits in a blowout of Batesville.
Lance Harvell-Thomas, Grayson Troutman, Andrew Howard and Cameron Johnson all went 3 for 5 for Little Rock, while Gaven Johnson went 2 for 4 with a double and a triple.
RUSSELLVILLE 11,
JACKSONVILLE 3
Jacob Sharp and Carter Thessing each had triples as Russellville bounced Jacksonville.
Thessing went 3 for 5 while Sharp, Joel Barker and Will Stewart all went 2 for 5 for Russellville. Jacksonville picked up two hits from both Caden Sample and Brandon Hickinbothom.
FORT SMITH 14,
EL DORADO 1
Cody Smith drove in three runs as Fort Smith hammered El Dorado.
Smith had 3 of Fort Smith's 15 hits, including a two-run double in an 8-run eighth inning. Kinner Brasher also had three hits for the winners. Brasher, Brock Thibodeaux, Daniel Demondesert and Jake Melton also had two-run hits in the contest that ended after the eighth inning.
El Dorado's lone run came on a bases-loaded walk to Colton Pratt in the first inning.
Sports on 07/22/2017