Conway eliminates all drama
CONWAY — Down to its final out a day earlier, Conway didn’t mess around Saturday, taking a lead in the bottom of the first and not looking back in a 13-3 victory over Morrilton in the finals of the Central Arkansas Invitational at Wampus Cat Field.
Three Morrilton pitchers allowed 9 hits, walked 3 and hit 3 batters. Marcell Lemmer, who had caught the three earlier games in the tournament, started but lasted only 12/ innings.
Conway got a good outing from left-hander Baker Kendrick, who allowed 3 hits, walked 2 and struck out 6. He struck out five in a row at one point.
“This is the fourth game of a three-day tournament, so there’s no telling what you are going to see,” Conway Coach Noel Boucher said. “They had a lot of young guys throwing. We had our lefty, and he pitched pretty good. He hasn’t pitched a lot so that was really good for his situation. I guess that’s pretty much what everyone had going today.”
With one out in the top of the first, Connor Boyle singled and stole second for Morrilton. After a popout by Jaren Hill, Dylan White stroked a double off the wall in center to score Boyle. Maddux Long struck out to end the inning.
In the bottom half, Lemmer got off to a bad start, hitting Parker Gavazzi on a 3-1 count, then waking Jack Stroth on four pitches. Matt Lloyd got a hit on an attempted sacrifice bunt to load the bases. Jordan Wicks flied out to center, scoring Gavazzi, leaving runners on first and second.
Stroth and Lloyd advanced on a balk, allowing Andrew Hreha to drive in another run on a flyout to center.
The Wampus Cats put the game away in the bottom of the second, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring six runs for an 8-1 lead.
Clay Tollett scored the only Conway run in the third when he walked and scored on a Gavazzi double.
Hill opened the fourth with a single for Morrilton, then moved to second on a wild pitch. White walked, then both moved up on another wild pitch. A groundout by Long scored Hill and another groundout by Blake Dunn led to another run.
Pinch-hitter Garett Fusilier opened the fourth for Conway by getting hit by a pitch. A Cade Halbrook balk advanced him to second, and Fusilier scored on a single by Cade White. A hit by Reed Hughes put two runners on for Tollett, the ninth-place hitter. He ended the run-rule game with a three-run home run over the wall in left.
“That’s actually his second one of the year,” Boucher said. “He catches ‘em. He’s a full-throttle guy so he’s gonna swing it. He’s still learning things, but he’s got a lot of upside. We like him in the nine hole.”