Mavs top Bulldogs for first league win

FORT SMITH — The Fort Smith Southside Mavericks got big hits for a big inning and built a big lead, and they needed all of it on Monday in a 7-6 win over Springdale in the first game of the homeand-away 6A-West Conference baseball series.

The win was the first in conference play for the Mavericks (3-6, 1-4), who travel to Springdale today.

“I was proud of the kids,” Southside Coach Scott Johnson said. “They did a real good job of competing. We seemed to be more relaxed early. We were aggressive early.”

Southside wiped out an early 1-0 deficit with a fourrun third inning.

Parker Ellis led off with a walk, took second on Jackson Pruitt’s single and both moved up a sacrifice bunt by Drake Grimm.

Peyton Zimmerman scored Ellis and Pruitt with a double into the gap in right-center field, and senior catcher Will Hanesworth belted a towering home run to left for a 4-1 cushion.

“It was a hanging curveball on the inside part of the plate,” Hanesworth said. “I’ve been swinging it well lately, barreling balls up just right at people. I finally got a pitch and hit it pretty well. It felt good. It’s much needed momentum going into the next few weeks.”

Southside added two more runs in the fifth inning with no hits but three walks with Pruitt and Zimmerman scoring.

The Mavericks went up 7-1 in the sixth inning when Grimm was hit by a pitch, forcing home Cayden Maness, who had walked with one out before Ellis walked and Pruitt was hit by a pitch.

Freshman Mason Howe cruised through six innings on the mound for Southside, allowing 4 hits, walking none and striking out 7.

“Mason did a real good job of throwing strikes,” Johnson said. “If you throw strikes and play defense you give yourself a chance to win baseball games. His change-up and breaking ball was real good. He was able to throw his fastball and get ahead in the counts. We were able to come off the off-speed stuff off the fastball early. At times with 1-2 counts, 2-2 counts, he was able to freeze them on fastballs. Him going six innings really helped us.”

Howe needed just 90 pitches for his six complete innings with 53 strikes. He struck out the side in the fourth inning.

“He was filling up everything,” Hanesworth said. “He had his fastball going, curveball going, and it’s not often when you have everything going, but this was one of those nights.”

Springdale (0-7, 0-5) sent 10 batters to the plate in the top of the seventh inning and grounded out for the third out with runners on second and third after scoring five runs.

David Rodriguez singled to start the inning. Nick Brady and Josh Malacara each had one-out doubles with Rodriguez scoring. After an error that allowed Brady to score, D.L. Morton walked and Jack Pounders was hit by a pitch that forced Malacara home. After a line out, J.P. Scoggins singled home two runs that had the Bulldogs within, 7-6, before the final ground out.

Springdale took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. A.J. Woods opened the game with a sharp single, stole second and scored on Andrew Lind’s hard grounder past third base.

Howe didn’t allow another hit until the fifth when Morton and Jack Pounders opened the inning with singles before Howe retired the next two batters and ended the threat with a pickoff at first.

“Mason did a real good job of throwing strikes. If you throw strikes and play defense you give yourself a chance to win baseball games . ... We were able to come off the off-speed stuff off the fastball early.

Fort Smith Southside Coach Scott Johnson on freshman pitcher Mason Howe