HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL
SYLVAN HILLS 12, PULASKI ACADEMY 6
Sylvan Hills Coach Zach James said he was pleased when he received a call Wednesday from Pulaski Academy offering a game against the Bruins.
He was even happier after his Bears (10-9) held on for a 12-6 victory over the Bruins (6-13) in a windy nonconference contest Thursday night at Bruins Field in Little Rock, just the second game played on the new artificial surface.
"I am thankful that we got to play,'' James said. "They had an opening and had not gotten to play all week, so I am thankful that we got to play.
"I thought at the plate we had really good approaches, which is something we have been working really hard at. Every guy they threw at us, we were able to make adjustments, get guys on and execute plays we wanted to execute."
Both teams had conference games rained out earlier in the week, so they got together at the Bruins' resurfaced home field Thursday.
Sylvan Hills scored via hits, errors and passed ball, as did the Bruins, and the Bears led 9-6 going into the fifth inning. But Luis Gabriel, in the fifth and sixth, and Everett Bird, in the seventh, closed the game with three shutout innings.
"Our pitching was a little rough. We didn't throw enough strikes early in the count and we have got to do better than that'' James said. "That has happened for us. Our pitching has been our strength so I am not sure that happened there."
Playing in wind gusts of up to 30 mph, the Bears took advantage with a wind-blown triple by Jayden Sloan to start the game. Alex Davis followed with a walk and a stolen base before both scored on Landon Carter's single to left field.
But the lead didn't last long. With one-out in the bottom of the first, Pulaski Academy freshman Luke Edwards' deep shot to right kept carrying for a 3-run home run that scored Tilley Gildon and Luke Dallas, who had singled.
But that didn't last long either. The Bears regained the lead on a fielder's choice RBI from Jacob Hooper and another by Jayden Sloan.
Leading 4-3, the Bears scored five runs in the third inning. Andrew Pearson had a two-run double, Carter had an RBI groundout and a pair of runs scored on passed balls.
Trailing 9-3, the Bruins scored in consecutive innings. William Svaboda scored on a passed ball in the fourth. In a two-run fifth. Pulaski Academy scored a run on an RBI groundout from Edwards and another on a passed ball.
Hooper drove in a run for the Bears in the sixth on a groundout and Payton Zeilstra, who had four hits in the game, scored on a delayed double steal.