Malvern baseball opens season with a win, to take on Searcy in Benton Classic
With the untimely cancellation of last year’s season, the Malvern Leopards baseball team was ready to hit the diamond for the 2021 season.
That chance came Monday as the Leopards took the diamond at Everett Field at Panther Stadium in Benton at the Benton Panther Classic. The Leopards battled hard in their season opener against the Pine Bluff Zebras and pulled out the win in the sixth inning, 5-2.
Second year head coach Jordan Knight thought the Leopards played a clean baseball game, meaning they committed no errors over the course of seven innings. “We played a clean defensive game, no errors,” he said.
Knight was also impressed with how the Leopards played in all phases of Monday’s game. “We pitched it well, we hit it well, we had great timely hitting with big time hits with runners in scoring position,” he said. “I think the thing I’m most proud of is our ability to bunt the ball tonight. We bunted the ball well and it put us into positive positions and if we bunt balls well then we give ourselves a chance to be productive offensively, so extremely proud of that.”
Now the Leopards look forward to tonight’s game against Searcy at Everett Field. Knight said that tonight’s game will be very tough for the Leopards, but added that it also feels good to just be playing baseball after everything that has happened in the past months. “It feels good, you know the benefit game got canceled and with everything with COVID and the blizzard, it feels good to play baseball, A and then B, to get a win on opening day,” he said. “(We are) going into a very very tough game against Searcy.”
Knight added that although Searcy will be tough, getting the win against Pine Bluff helped build confidence. “It builds confidence, it lets everybody know that we can win, and we can play a great round of baseball while doing it. So hopefully the kids build on it and we just continue to gain confidence and go forward.”
First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Everett Field in Benton.
In Monday’s game, the Leopards opened the top of the first inning on defense with senior Cole Carey on the mound. Carey struckout the first three batters the Zebras put up at bat. In the bottom of the first senior Jacobe Hart was hit by the pitch but left on base as the next three batters went out.
Over the next one and a half innings, neither team was able to cross home plate to go into the bottom of the third knotted at 0-0. Hart was the first player to cross home plate after a hit up the middle by senior Robert Bowman drove in the RBI. The next two batters went out but the Leopards had taken the lead 1-0.
Neither team scored in the fourth inning as the Leopards continued to lead 1-0, but the Zebras came back in the top of the fifth with two runs. Pine Bluff’s Curtis Standoak Jr. was able to hit the ball up the middle to drive in an RBI by Cason Blunt. Standoak Jr. scored the second run after Will Howell hit the ball up the right side of the field. Going into the bottom of the fifth inning, the Zebras led 2-1 over the Leopards.
The Leopards answered right back with junior Chace McAlister scoring off a hit from Bowman to tie the game at 2-2. Sophomore Tyler Golden then scored the second run of the inning after a hit up the middle by senior Braxton Allen. The run put the Leopards up 3-2 with only two more innings left to play.
Momentum started to build even more as Allen came in as the relief pitcher at the top of the sixth. Allen faced three batters and struckout all three to keep the Leopards ahead. In the bottom of the sixth, the Leopards added two more runs to go up 5-2. Malvern’s Tyson Cooper scored one run after Bowman was walked to base with the bases loaded. Carey scored the second run after Allen hit the ball up the center of the field. Hart also tried to score during the play but was tagged out at home for the Leopards second out of the inning. The Zebras came up with a double play and the third out as they tagged out Bowman at third base after tagging out Hart at home plate.
With a three-run lead though, the Leopards clinched victory after Pine Bluff’s David Carroll hit the ball to short stop Dalen Weaver who threw to third base for the third out.
For the game, the Leopards had five runs on seven hits and no errors. The Zebras had two runs on six hits and two errors.
Knight feels that the 2021 Leopards team has a lot of athleticism and that they can overwhelm teams with how they run the bases, bunt the ball, and apply pressure. “I think we’re the kind of team that we have athleticism, we’re not going to be a team that hits a lot of balls out of the ball park,” he said. “So for us, I feel like we can overwhelm teams with how we run the bases and bunt the ball, and by putting pressure on them. Going forward we for sure want to play fast and attack the game in that way.”