Baseball rolls to sweep of Vilonia
The Siloam Springs baseball team couldn’t have asked for a better start to 5A-West Conference play on Wednesday.
The Panthers exploded for eight runs in the first inning of Game 1, rolling to a 14-0 mercy rule victory over Vilonia at James Butts Baseball Complex. Siloam Springs completed the sweep with a 7-1 win over the Eagles in Game 2.
“Very excited,” said Siloam Springs coach Alan Hardcastle. “Like I told the boys, if it’s Greenwood or if it’s Vilonia, I don’t care, it’s 2-0 in conference and that’s where we’re at, so we’re excited.”
Game 1 Panthers 14, Eagles 0
Gavin Henson (1-1) fired five shutout innings with six strikeouts and the Panthers sent 13 batters to the plate in an eightrun first inning.
Henson struck out the side in the first inning, setting the stage for the bottom of the inning.
“Gavin coming out in game one throwing strikes and jumping out on them, it was kind of the offensive burst we had against Gravette, game one,” Hardcastle said. “These guys, we scored eight runs and fed off of it and Gavin threw strikes. We made some great defensive plays behind him tonight.”
The Panthers finished with 14 hits in Game 1.
Andrew Pilcher went 3 for 3 at the plate with three runs scored and three RBIs to lead Siloam Springs offensively.
Jacob Gilbert had two hits, scored two runs and drove in two runs. Nick Driscoll also had two hits, two RBIs and scored a run, while J.P. Wills had two hits and scored a run.
Brayden Fain had a hit, scored a run and drove in two, while Christian Ledeker had a hit and scored two runs.
Nathan Lee had a hit, RBI and run scored, while Elijah Coffey had a hit and RBI and Henson a hit and run scored. Courtesy runners Ryder Winfrey and Nolan
Wills also scored runs.
“It’s nice,” Henson said. “We played really good competition last week. The last couple of games we felt like we should have done better in. To come out in a game that was as big as this and perform and play as well as we did, it definitely feels good. It gives us a lot of confidence in our team.”
Siloam Springs 14, Vilonia 0
Vilonia 000 00 — 0 5 3 Siloam Springs 815 0X — 14 14 1 Archer, Blazier (1), Davis (2), Langley (4) and Crawley; Henson and Wills. W - Henson. L - Archer. SV - None.
Game 2 Panthers 7, Siloam Springs 1
The Panthers turned to junior Jacob Gilbert on the mound in Game 2, and after allowing a home run in the first inning, Gilbert rebounded to pitch six scoreless innings after that.
Gilbert (2-0) went the distance and finished with seven strikeouts, five hits and one earned run, which came on a home run by Brett Justice. Gilbert threw 84 pitches, 63 for strikes.
“Gilbert, you’ve got to give it to him,” Hardcastle said. “That kid was all around the plate.”
Vilonia led 1-0 until the bottom of the third inning when Siloam Springs scored a pair of runs to take a 2-1 lead.
Nathan Lee walked to open the inning and Gavin Henson doubled. Lee tied the game by scoring on a wild pitch. J.P. Wills singled to drive home Henson.
The Panthers added four runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth.
Siloam Springs only had three hits in the second game as Gilbert, Wills and Henson each had a hit and RBI. Elijah Coffey, Henson, Christian Ledeker, Andrew Pilcher, Nathan Lee, Nolan Wills and Ryder Winfrey each scored runs.
Vilonia loaded the bases in the seventh inning but the Panthers turned a double play to end the game.
Siloam Springs 7, Vilonia 1
Vilonia 100 000 0 — 1 5 2 Siloam Springs 002 041 X — 7 3 2
Justice, McCubbin (4), Wilson (5), Moore (6) and Crawley; Gilbert and Wills. W - Gilbert. L - Justice. SVNone. HR - Justice.
Springdale 7, Siloam Springs 6
Springdale scored a run in the bottom of the seventh inning to force extra innings and scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Siloam Springs on Thursday in Springdale.
The Bulldogs led 3-1 after the first inning, but Siloam Springs rallied to take a 6-4 lead after four innings, including a home run from Jacob Gilbert.
Gilbert finished with three hits and three RBIs. Elijah Coffey had a base hit and scored three runs, while Andrew Pilcher had a hit, a run and RBI. Christian Ledeker had a hit and run scored, while J.P. Wills also had a hit.
Brayden Fain was the losing pitcher, pitching the final 4 1/3 innings. Pilcher started the game for Siloam Springs and pitched 2 2/3 innings.
Siloam Springs 4, Huntsville 2
The Panthers bounced back from the loss to Springdale with a win at Huntsville on Friday.
Spencer Stephenson went the distance for the Panthers, pitching seven innings, allowing seven hits, no earned runs and striking out nine batters.
The Panthers scored single runs in the third and fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead. Huntsville got one back in the fourth, but the Panthers scored two more runs in the sixth to go up 4-1. Huntsville answered with a run in the sixth to make it 4-2 and neither team scored in the seventh.
Christian Ledeker had two of Siloam Springs’ four hits and an RBI. Elijah Coffey had a hit and scored a run, while Jacob Gilbert had a hit and scored two runs. Brayden Fain also scored a run.
Up next
The Panthers (5-3, 2-0) return to conference play at home on Tuesday against Mountain Home, which swept Alma last week.
“Mountain Home coming here next Tuesday,” Hardcastle said. “They’re going to have a good team. They’re well coached (by) Tim Carver and they’ve got good discipline, good baseball in Mountain Home.”