Lakeside bats back Bilodeau
Playing its first game in five days after competing in the Central Arkansas Invitational tournament during spring break, Lakeside showed no signs of rust against visiting Hot Springs Thursday night.
Starting pitcher Remy Bilodeau dazzled in a complete-game performance, while the offense backed him up as the Rams (123, 5-0 in 5A/6A-6) downed their crosstown rival 11-1 in five innings.
Bilodeau, a Southern Arkansas University signee, allowed just the one run on three hits with no walks and eight strikeouts in five innings of work.
“Remy is one of our best and we have to start extending our guys out to get them ready for the end of the year,” Lakeside coach Leighton Hardin said. “Today, he was going to go as long as we could go. Remy is a guy we depend on to keep the other team down to one or two runs, and he did his job today.”
Playing the Rams within 4-1 in their first meeting of the season, the Trojans (4-5, 0-5) squandered an opportunity to set the tone in the top of the first inning.
After Ben Slate singled to lead off the game and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt by Braden Sarver, Shawn Lingo was hit by a pitch and Hot Springs had two runners on with just one out.
Slate was later thrown out trying to score on a grounder by Hayden Wisener and Bilodeau struck out Sebastian Love to retire the side and leave the Trojans empty-handed.
“It could have been really big,” Hot Springs coach Brandon Bates said. “We had a contact play on and Ben didn’t get a good jump at third. We just never really recovered after that.”
In the midst of a breakout sophomore season, Lakeside’s Ethan Bates put the Rams on the board with a two-run home run to right field.
Senior Zac Melugin plated two runs with a single in the bottom of the second as Lakeside built an early 6-0 lead behind five base hits in the first two frames.
“It goes back to the twos,” said Hardin. “If we have good atbats with two strikes, we usually hit the ball well. We did that today and I think everybody found the barrel for the most part.”
Slate reached base in the top of the third and later stole home to bring the Trojans within 6-1, but Lakeside answered in the bottom of the frame. Jordan Villas drove in a run and Justin Scott followed with an RBI double to push the Rams’ lead back to 8-1.
After losing the shutout in the third, Bilodeau went back to work in the top of the fourth. The senior retired six of the next seven batters he faced over the final two innings, including four strikeouts.
“Remy threw really well and he kept us off balance,” Brandon Bates said. “Ben hit him pretty well, but nobody else could find a feel for him. Defensively, they did what they needed to do.”
A two-run single by Scott and an RBI double by Jesus Minjarez gave Lakeside a 10-run lead in the bottom of the fourth and Bilodeau struck out the side in the top of the fifth to enact the mercy rule.
Scott had four hits in four at-bats from the leadoff spot, finishing with three singles, one double, three RBIs and one stolen base. Melugin had two singles, one double and two RBIs in three plate appearances.
Slate was the lone bright spot for the Trojans at the plate, recording two of the team’s three base hits, including a triple in the top of the fifth.
“He’s been huge for us, but we have to step up with him,” said Brandon Bates. “He’s carried us the last couple games at the plate and on the mound when he’s pitching. He’s playing really well right now.”
Hot Springs is scheduled to host Magnolia (9-3, 4-1) Tuesday and travel to Little Rock Hall (0-10) on Wednesday. The Rams are scheduled to travel to Pine Bluff (4-7) Monday and Sheridan (9-1) Tuesday before resuming conference play Thursday at Texarkana (8-5, 1-0).
“We have to get going now that we’re in the second half of the season,” Hardin said. “We have to get ready for the conference tournament. Having a day like this where we hit well against a really good pitcher is a good way to get things started coming off the break.”