Leopards rally with seven-run inning to down the Cobras
After Fountain Lake’s Jack Wurz hit a grand slam in the bottom of the second inning, the Malvern Leopards baseball team found themselves in a hole Tuesday on the road in Cobra Country.
The hole deepened after a bad defensive effort by the Leopards allowed the Cobras to score another run in the bottom of the third inning to lead 5-0. The Leopards were able to clean up their defense and offensively found their rhythm in the next four innings to rally back and beat the Cobras 14-7.
It wasn’t the first time the Leopards found themselves trailing like that in a game as head coach Jordan Knight referenced the Leopards game against Harmony Grove on March 15, saying they had the exact same thing happen with Harmony Grove, but also pulled out the win in that game 10-7.
Knight credits the Leopards’ ability to be able to compete in any kind of situation as the main reason the Leopards got out of their fiverun hole against the Cobras. “We play a very, very tough schedule intentionally and it’s so we’re never overwhelmed in any kind of situation,” he said. “We had the exact same thing happen with Harmony Grove a few weeks back, we’ve had extra inning games that we’ve played with Magnolia, a great team, and so I think what it is, is our kids, we hope they don’t feel comfortable getting down but if we do get down then we hope that they feel comfortable being able to comeback and bounce back.”
Knight added that he feels the Leopards have done a great job of buying into the approach of never giving up and continuing to fight despite trailing in game. “We’re really proud of that,” he said.
After being held scoreless for three innings and finding themselves down 5-0, the Leopards got back on track with heavy hitting in the top of the fourth quarter. Malvern’s Tyson Cooper got things started by being hit by the pitch to get on base. Cole Carey was the first out after he popped the ball up where it was caught, but Malvern’s Evan Myers and Dalen Weaver were able to load the bases after two big hits. Tyler Golden was able to bring in the first run, Cooper, when he hit the ball to left field. From there things started to open up for the Leopards, Robert Bowman popped the ball up but the Cobras dropped the catch which allowed Myers to score. Weaver then scored off a hit by Braxton Allen to put the Leopards down 5-3. The Leopards tied the game after Jacobe Hart hit the ball to the outfield that allowed Golden and Bowman to walk across home plate. The final two runs were Allen and Hart after Logan Paul hit the ball to the right for the two RBIs. Copper then went back up to bat and was walked. The Cobras switched pitchers then and were able to earn the second out of the inning when Carey flew a ball to the right where it was caught. Myers was then walked to load the bases, but Weaver struckout for the third out to end the top of the inning.
In the bottom of the fourth the Leopards defense tightened but gave up a home run to Fountain Lake’s Bryce Brownlee to only lead 7-6 going into the fifth. The Leopards didn’t let the score get to them though as they bounced back with another four runs in the top of the fifth. Bowman, Allen, Hart, and Jacoby Lock were all able to score after RBIs by Hart, Paul, and Cooper.
The bottom of the fifth and the top of the sixth went scoreless for the Cobras and Leopards as the Leopards led 11-6. The Cobras were able to score one last run in the bottom of the sixth with Kadin Hilton after a hit to left field by Bryce Stauder. The Leopards weren’t done scoring though as they added another three runs in the top of the seventh. Scoring for the Leopards was Hunter Adams, off a hit up the gut by Paul, and Lock and Cooper who scored after Weaver hit another ball up the middle for the two RBIs. In the bottom of the seventh, the Leopards defense earned the win when they went three up, three down. Carey got the first out at first base, Cooper got the second out on a caught fly ball, and Hart got the third out also on a caught fly ball.
For the game, Knight said that after the Leopards gave up the grand slam and made some mistakes defensively, he thought the rest of the game played how just how they wanted it to. “I thought we pitched the ball well, we played cleaner defense, then we were able to offensively do some things that we enjoy doing, you know, run the bases and do all that kind of stuff,” he said. “Proud of the way that it played out after the first couple of innings so hopefully what we can do now is put together a seven inning game.”
In total, the Leopards were able to rattle off 19 hits for 14 runs while holding the Cobras to nine hits and seven runs. The Leopards used three pitchers, Carey, Bowman, and Allen. Carey started the game and pitched four innings. He had 16 first pitch strikes and three strikeouts. Bowman pitched for two
innings and had three strikeouts. Allen finished the game, pitching in just the seventh inning and faced three batters.
For their next game the Leopards are on the road to face a tough Bauxite team tonight. Knight said that it’s a big game for the Leopards as Bauxite is currently undefeated in conference play having beat Nashville. Nashville defeated the Leopards in early March, their only conference loss. “We’ve got a big game on Thursday against Bauxite,” Knight said. “It’s an exciting opportunity to go to their ball park and compete and see what happens. Obviously we’re going to feel confident that we can come out with the win and we want the kids to feel that way, but we respect their abilities and what they’re able to do.”
Game time for the Leopards and Bauxite is set for 5 p.m. in Bauxite.