Drillers fall in first round of state tourney
A lack of offense came back to haunt the El Dorado Drillers in their opening round game at the American Legion Junior State Tournament Monday, as the Drillers were held to just five hits in a 4-1 loss to the Little Rock Vipers.
The Drillers (10-111) faced Lake Hamilton in an elimination game Tuesday.
The Drillers took the early lead with a run in the second, but the Vipers tied the game with a run in the third before pulling away with one run in the fifth and two in the sixth.
In the second, Sam Rothwell led off with a single to center and Chase Brumley entered the game to run for Rothwell.
John Robert Burson followed with single to right-center to put two runners on.
Two outs later, Jax Todd laced a base hit to right to score Brumley to give the Drillers a 1-0 lead before the Vipers rallied.
Todd added a walk to go along with his RBI single, while Rothwell, Burson, Tyler Johnson and Shadarious Plummer each had one hit for the Drillers.
Plummer also had a walk in the contest.
A.J. Alsobrook, the Drillers’ starter, worked two scoreless frames.
He allowed no hits, walked three and struck out one.
Johnson allowed two hits and one run in one inning in relief.
He walked two and struck out two.
Brumley (0-1) took the loss after allowing two hits and one run in 1 2/3 innings. He struck out three and didn’t issue any walks.
Hunter Lawrence surrendered two runs in 1 1/3 innings. He gave up one hit, walked two and struck out one.
Burson worked a scoreless inning, allowing one hit with no walks and one strikeout.