Morrilton turns its fortunes around

Connor Boyle had two hits, one a first-inning home run, as a resurgent Morrilton took an 11-6 victory over Sylvan Hills in a semifinal of the Central Arkansas Invitational on Friday at Lamar Porter Field in Little Rock.

Boyle also pitched into the seventh inning as the Devil Dogs picked up their third consecutive victory after an eight-game losing streak. Morrilton travels to Conway to meet the Wampus Cats at 12:30 p.m. today for the championship.

"The first three weeks of the season, we played a murderer's row of a schedule," Morrilton Coach Matt Long said. "This is my first year here so I decided we weren't going to worry about our nonconference schedule.

"I just told the kids, 'If you start believing, this will change.' It's pretty obvious we started believing the last two days."

Catcher Marcelle Lemmer worked a walk to open the game. Boyle made sure he didn't have to race around the bases, hitting a 2-2 pitch over the fence in right to tie the game at 2-2.

With one out, Dylan White walked and moved to second on a single by Maddox Long. The Devil Dogs tried a double steal, but the throw got away from shortstop Gage Taylor, allowing both runners to score. Morrilton never lost the lead.

The Bears' Ray Long led off the second with a single, the first of his three hits. Two passed balls got Long to third, but Gage Taylor popped out to right and pinch-hitter Hunter Allen lined out to third. Payton Terry tripled to the gap in right, easily scoring Young, but Terry was stranded at third.

Morrilton added three more in its half of the second. Brett Jones led off with a single, and Lemmer drove him in with a double, then moved to third on a single by Boyle. Both scored on an error, giving the Devil Dogs a 7-3 lead and ending the outing for losing pitcher Connor Beeching. Dillon Smith took over for Sylvan Hills and held Morrilton scoreless for three innings.

Chaz Poppy doubled with one out in the third for the Bears, then Nick Fakouri hit the first pitch he saw over the batter's eye in left-center, narrowing the lead to 7-5.

The score stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth when White hit a towering home run over the fence in left on a 2-0 pitch. Long singled to right, then moved to second an out later when Carson Collins walked. Brett Jones cleared the bases with a double to center. Austin Williams struck out but Lemmer singled to score Jones, increasing the lead to 11-5.

Morrilton used only four pitchers -- two threw complete games -- in the three victories.

"We still have a sophomore, Marcell Lemmer, who caught the last two days," Long said. "In one of his two starts, he had a five-inning no-hitter, but we relieved him because we didn't want to hurt his arm early in the season. He's a strike thrower, so we'll see what he can do."

Sports on 03/24/2018

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