SPRINGDALE -- McDonald County (Mo.) High had Arkansas' defending Class 4A state champs on the ropes.
But two seventh inning mental miscues resulted in a 2-1 win for Shiloh Christian at Servant's Field on Monday.
Shiloh Christian 2, McDonald County, Mo. 1
McDonald County^000^001^0^-^1^3^2
Shiloh Christian^000^000^2^-^2^6^1
McDonald County’s battery Cooper, Burt (7) and Brown; Shiloh Christian’s battery Brown, Roth (7) and LaRoche, Rhodes (1). W - Roth, 1-0. L - Cooper, 0-1. Sv - None. HRs - None.
"We're green. We're very young," said McDonald County coach Nick Martin. "We have some guys who haven't been in many big moments against a very good ball club like that and we just didn't execute ... But it's our fourth game, so it's early in the year. We're going to be alright."
With the Mustangs leading 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh, Shiloh Christian's Logan Raben reached on a single. He then stole second and easily advanced to third when no one covered second base on the throw. Raben then evened the score at 1-1 when he scored on an RBI single by Connor Clark.
Later, with two outs and the bases loaded, McDonald County relief pitcher Brandon Burt got Saints clean-up hitter Luke Johnson to pop up to shortstop for what could have been the final out, but the ball was dropped, allowing the winning run to cross the plate.
Shiloh Christian (7-2) threw ace pitcher Landon Brown against the Mustangs (1-3), a team that defeated the Saints 2-1 last season. The senior right-hander topped out at 91 mph and finished with 11 strikeouts while allowing two hits in six innings.
"He stuck it in our ear most of the night," Martin said. "Our bats weren't ready for that stuff this early in the season."
Brown struck out seven batters in a row before walking Emmanuel Baisch on four straight pitches to begin the sixth inning. Two outs later, Jon Martin's RBI single gave McDonald County a 1-0 lead.
"He was incredible to watch in those middle innings," said Saints coach Moe Henry. "He had a couple of innings where he walked a guy to start the inning, like the first inning and the inning when the scored. He starts the inning so jacked up that a lot of times, he's got to get through that first batter before he settles down."
Brown hooked up with McDonald County's Grant Cooper in a pitchers' duel through the first six innings. Cooper struck out six and scattered six hits in 6 2/3s innings.
"He had us chasing a bunch of first pitches," Henry said. "They weren't bad hits, but they were fly balls that they were getting to and that's why he was giving us problems."
Because of Cooper's performance against a team like the Saints, Martin said the junior right-hander likely improved his spot in the rotation.
"He's our fourth guy," Martin said. "But he did a nice job of keeping guys off balanced and put us in a position to win. He competed and he might be moving up the depth chart."
Other games
Prep Baseball
Bentonville High 6, Davidson Academy 5
Smiths Station, Ala. 14, Bentonville High 4 (6)
The Tigers scored three in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings, then got a two-out RBI-single from Bryce Davis to win it in the bottom of the eighth on Monday afternoon in the Gulf Shores Classic in Orange Beach, Ala.
Bentonville put together two walks sandwiched around a single by Cameron Duncan to load the bases after two men were out in the eighth. Davis then laced an 0-1 pitch back up the middle to drive in the game-winner.
Duncan went 3-for-4 and scored a run, while Davis went 2-for-2, scored a run and drove in three. Davis' two-run single pulled Bentonville within 5-4 in the bottom of the seventh. Kyle Knight then tied it with a sacrifice fly.
Austin Garrett pitched a scoreless seventh, striking out two, to pick up the win.
Davidson Academy, based in Nashville, Tenn., took a 5-2 lead with a four-run top of the six, but the Tigers rallied for the win.
Later in the day, the Tigers (4-4) fell behind 5-0 after an inning and never recovered in a run-rule loss to Smiths Station, Ala. Garrett and Tyler Johnson had two hits and drove in a run each in the loss.
Goodpasture Christian 10, Springdale Har-Ber 8
An eight-run fourth inning was more than the Wildcats could overcome Monday against Goodpasture Christian in Panama City, Fla.
The Wildcats (5-1) suffered their first loss of the season.
Jack Lisle pitched three scoreless innings, but could not get through the fourth in taking the loss and alllowing six earned runs.
Har-Ber belted nine hits with Blake Thompson and Caleb Grace each collecting two hits. Thompson drove in three runs and Quinton Deshazo drove in two more.
The Wildcats will continue their spring break trip today at 4 p.m. against Arnold.
Rock Canyon, Co. 2, Fayetteville 1
Hayes Cox allowed just one earned run over six innings, but Fayetteville managed just one run in a loss toRock Canyon (Highlands Ranch), Co., on Monday.
Fayetteville (2-6) managed just six hits and Greydon Turner, who tripled, scored the Bulldogs' only run. Logan Carr had a double for Fayetteville.
The Bulldogs will take on Lancaster at 1 p.m. today at Mt. Point High School, then a late game at Valley Vista High School.
Farmington 9, Hackleburg, Ala. 5
Farmington 9, Summitt 8
The Cardinals won a pair of games on Monday on the first day of their spring break road trip to Gulf Shores, Ala.
Farmington downed Hackleburg, Ala., in the opener as Ben Silvis and Kyle Gates combined for seven strikeouts. Kelton Price was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs for the Cardinals. Blake Putnam and Will Danenhauer each had two hits and each had a double and two RBIs.
In the nightcap, the Cardinals (9-3) scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, with Tripp Cheney driving home the game-winner with a two-run single.
Tyler Gregg was 2-for-4 with a home run for the Cardinals with two RBIs. Drake Vineyard was 3-for-4 with a double. Ryan Larkin was 2-for-5 with a double, and Eric Hill and Chaney each had two hits.
The Cardinals will take on First Assembly Christian at 3 p.m. today.
Sports on 03/21/2017