Lake Hamilton unable to make up for mistakes in loss to Texarkana

PEARCY — Texarkana’s sixrun fourth inning carried more weight than Lake Hamilton’s late rally Friday night.

Mired in a seven-game losing streak, the Wolves (1-9, 0-3 in 5A/6A-6) were unable to complete the comeback from a 6-1 deficit, falling, 8-6, to the Razorbacks (9-5, 2-0) at Lake Hamilton Field.

“This is one that we should have won and we let it slip away,” Lake Hamilton coach Mac Hurley said. “We left way too many men on base in the first three innings. A team like that, we have to score some runs early and put the pressure on them. We don’t need the pressure.”

Trailing 1-0, Texarkana put the pressure on the Wolves with an offensive outburst in the top of the fourth inning.

Austin Nix led off with a double and later scored on a suicide squeeze bunt by Cody Adcock, but the Razorbacks were just getting started.

Leadoff man Graydon Martin plated two runs with a single and Gage Gore had an RBI single of his own as Texarkana built a comfortable 6-1 advantage.

“With that big six spot there in the fourth inning, it was hard to stop the bleeding there for a minute,” said Hurley. “That broke our back right there and it was tough.”

After Gore retired the Lake Hamilton side in order in the fourth, the Wolves showed signs of life in the bottom of the fifth.

Weston Dobyns delivered an RBI single to give Lake Hamilton a glimmer of hope, pulling within 6-2 at the end of the frame. Dobyns finished with two RBIs in four plate appearances for the Wolves.

“He’s seeing the ball and playing really well right now,” Hurley said. “It’s like a big old balloon in there coming to him. I’m very proud of him. He continues to lead our team in hitting and he’s going to be a dandy for us moving forward.”

While Payton Winston held the Razorbacks without a hit in the fifth and sixth innings, Lake Hamilton continued to trim the gap.

After Jace Robbins and Cole Plyler each drew a walk, Winston followed with a single and Braden Qualls drove in two runs to bring the Wolves within 6-4 entering the final frame.

The momentum was shortlived as Texarkana answered with a sacrifice fly from Dylan Adcock and a pinch-hit RBI single by Nick Vaughn to push its lead back to 8-4 midway through the seventh.

Aided by a Razorback error, Lake Hamilton scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, including an RBI double by Robbins, but the deficit proved too much to overcome.

Texarkana’s Drake Browning struck out the last two batters he faced to end the comeback bid and earn the save.

The Wolves were left wondering what might have been if not for five stranded runners in the first two frames, leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the second.

“Any runs against this team are going to be big,” said Hurley. “We’ve had some wars with them over the years. I feel like we let this one get away.”

Nix had two doubles in four at-bats for the Razorbacks, while Browning finished with one double and one stolen base. Spencer Gracie singled twice and drew a walk in four plate appearances for the Wolves.

Plyler surrendered four runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 3 1/3 innings pitched. Gore scattered two runs on four hits with five walks and one strikeout in five innings of work for Texarkana.

Lake Hamilton is scheduled to travel to Benton (6-3) Monday night, starting a stretch of four games in five days. The Wolves are scheduled to resume conference play against visiting Hope (4-6, 1-3) Tuesday night.

“I told them after the game that April is ours,” Hurley said. “We need to focus and make the best of April. It’s going to determine a big part of what we’ll have in the conference tournament. We have a lot of baseball to play and a lot of good teams to play.

“I’m excited about it. I had high expectations before we got started, and I still have those. I will continue to have those until they tell us we can’t play anymore.”