Bulldogs break losing streak with Zebras in 6 innings
White Hall took a step forward in the growing-up process on the baseball field.
The Bulldogs snapped a six-game losing skid Thursday with a 16-4, six-inning win over Pine Bluff at Taylor Field, scoring seven runs through two innings.
“We had a really good practice [Wednesday],” Bulldogs Coach Shane Harp said. “We didn’t talk. I told them as soon as they got dressed, there was no talking. Everything we did, we sprinted everywhere. There was no nonsense going on.”
The 5A-South Conference rivals met a day earlier than scheduled due to Good Friday. White Hall (3-8, 1-3 in 5A-South), which had last won a game
March 15, will have a good Friday off despite only four hits Thursday.
“I think at first, we didn’t hit as well, but we got our bats going in the end,” Harp said. “They got their confidence up and timing up. We made plays in the field and pitching did a good job. Caleb Taylor did a good job pitching.”
Taylor had four strikeouts and allowed one hit in four innings for the win.
Pine Bluff (1-6, 1-3 in 5A-South), which has lost three in a row, had only three hits.
The Bulldogs scored four runs in the first, three in the second and two in the fourth in earning a run-rule victory. The Zebras ended that shutout bid with four runs in the bottom of the fifth, with two runs coming on a fielder’s choice, a one-run single and another on a missed double-play attempt.
White Hall responded with seven runs in the sixth. Taylor hit a one-run single and Noah Smith sent two across on a double in that frame.
Lucas Gray and Aiden Harrell also had a hit each for White Hall.
Jorrell Grant, Curtis Standoak Jr. and Landon Holcomb accounted for Pine Bluff’s hits. Holcomb gave up five runs, one earned, on no hits in 1 innings before Cason Blunt allowed a run on four unearned runs in 2 innings.
White Hall will play at Stuttgart in a nonconference meeting Monday and host Hot Springs on Tuesday. Pine Bluff will visit Sheridan on Tuesday.
“We had a really good practice [Wednesday]. We didn’t talk. I told them as soon as they got dressed, there was no talking. Everything we did, we sprinted everywhere. There was no nonsense going on.”
— Shane Harp, White Hall High School head baseball coach