Fairview trounces Troy 14-0 in six

Hot Springs put together solid defense in four innings, but the Camden Fairview Cardinals found holes for two big innings and routed the Trojans 14-0 Thursday.

“The first three innings, we played really, really well,” said Trojan head coach Brandon Bates. “We’ve got to figure out how to carry those first three innings and continue the game. I was really proud of our energy, the way we came out.”

A two-run single by Mark Smith and a single-turned-triple by DX Moore, who stole home, highlighted the seven-run Fairview third. DeAnte Sanders hit Alex Chavez with a pitch before Moore’s belt.

Sanders represented Hot Springs’ first base runner in the bottom of the third but was caught stealing.

Fairview scored twice in the fourth, Samuel Gomez hitting into a double play in the bottom half and Hayden Wisener flying out to center with Ryan Mussa on base.

Jared Fitzgerald hit a two-run homer in the sixth and John Dawson, Niles Smith and Riley Klober each scored for the Cardinals, who closed out the victory in the bottom half.

Tim Crumpler pitched a complete-game three-hitter with seven strikeouts. Sanders absorbed the loss giving up nine runs, two unearned, seven hits and six walks in five innings. Sanders and Wisener combined for seven strikeouts.

Despite four errors, Bates saw improvement defensively.

“Considering that we’ve been averaging double-digit errors for the past four games, since Lakeside, we played better defense today,” Bates said. “I was really pleased until we got to that last inning and nobody wanted the ball. For the most part, I thought we played better. Their kid did a good job of putting it in the zone, making us swing the bat. We had a couple of hard swings that just found gloves. It’s that way sometimes. It’s part of baseball. We played a lot better than we have been.

“We played good defense the first three innings, and then they started hitting the baseball,” Bates said. “You’ve got to tip your cap to them on that. They did a good job of hitting it where it was pitched. They drove the ball to the opposite field a lot. They did a good job there.”

Hot Springs is 4-10-1, 2-8 in 5A/6-6, before Tuesday’s home game against Texarkana. Fairview (7-8, 4-4) plays home games Monday against Texarkana and Tuesday against Lakeside. Camden Fairview;007 205 — 14 12 0 Hot Springs;000 000 — 0 3 3 W—Crumpler. L—Sanders. 2B—Smith, Chavez, Klober (2), Milner, Crumpler (2). 3B—Moore. HR—Fitzgerald. SB—Smith (3), Dawson, Moore, Martin, Milner.