MVP Wallace brushes off strikeout
BASEBALL EAST 10-9, WEST 10-6
CONWAY — After striking out in his first plate appearance Tuesday night, Paxton Wallace enjoyed a much more productive evening at Bear Stadium.
Wallace, a broad-shouldered third baseman from Greenbrier, drove in runs with his final three at-bats to earn MVP honors at the Arkansas High School Coaches Association’s All-Star baseball doubleheader. Playing for the West, Wallace tripled in a run, lifted a deep fly ball for a sacrifice fly and hit the base of the center-field wall for a two-run double in his final three trips to the plate.
After the two teams fought to a 10-10 tie in the first game, the East scored three runs in the final inning of the second game to earn a 9-6 victory. The East holds a 14-13-3 advantage in the series.
Although Wallace did not play for the winning team, his long drives stood out in a doubleheader that produced a combined 30 hits and 10 errors.
“It was awesome playing here,” said Paxton, who slugged 10 home runs and drove in 52 runs for the Panthers (31-5) this spring. “I met some players I’ve been wanting to meet. I enjoyed everything about it.”
Wallace’s first at-bat, however, was not something to remember for the senior heading to Wichita State this fall. Bryant’s Beaux Bonvillian struck out Wallace on three pitches.
“That was a great way to start the day,” said Wallace, laughing. “You got to come back after that. It happens. It aggravates you a little bit, especially when you’re facing one of your friends. He had some good pitches on the outside corner. He was running them off the corner. He’s good. He’s a good pitcher.”
Batting against River Hunt of Sylvan Hills, Wallace made amends for his first at-bat by hitting a line drive that fell just out of the reach of left fielder Drew Mullins (Greene County Tech) for a run-scoring triple in the third inning.
There were a combined 19 hits in the first game and the pitchers did not help their cause, allowing a combined 14 walks and 2 hit batters.
“You’re really not sure what these kids have been doing [since the season ended],” said West Coach Kyle Slayton, who coached Nashville to a Class 4A state title last month. “A lot of them have been playing ball, but I didn’t know how much some of these guys have been pitching. We just try to get kids in the game.”
Riverside’s Gavin Stone, who was selected as the outstanding player from the East, broke a 6-6 tie in the second game with a run-scoring single to left. In the first game, Stone walked and delivered a two-run single.
Stone’s game-winning hit came off Lamar’s Zack Dillard.
“I was up on him [2 balls, 1 strike] in the count,” said Stone, who will play for the University of Central Arkansas next spring. “He had been struggling with his curveball before my at-bat, so when I got ahead in the count, I knew a fastball was coming.”
Van Buren’s Ethan Holmes went a combined 2 for 4 with 2 RBI in the two games and was named outstanding player for the West, which also picked up two hits from Vilonia’s Chris Bass in the first game.
For the East, Conway’s Cade Tucker was 3 for 3 with 3 RBI. Searcy’s Adrian Hannah drove in two runs with a triple in the first game. North Little Rock’s Nick Butler drove in three runs with a bases-loaded triple. Spring Hill’s Josh Winfield was 2 for 2 with a RBI double in the first game. Bald Knob’s Dylan Bradley was 2 for 2 with 3 RBI, including a tworun hit that followed Stone’s RBI single.