Leopards rough up Cobras, win 15-1
HOT SPRINGS VILLAGE — Held without a hit against Fountain Lake starter Montana Carden in the first two innings, Malvern found its groove the second time through the lineup Monday night.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead, the Leopards (13-4, 2-0 3A/4A-8) plated seven runs on six hits in the top of the third before rolling to a 15-1 win over the host Cobras (8-3, 1-2).
“The only thing I told them was to be more aggressive; you can’t let a good pitcher like that get ahead of you,” Malvern coach Matthew Weigand said. “The first time through the lineup, he got ahead in the count. He was pounding the strike zone and he got ahead of our hitters.
“He’s got three different pitches that he can throw for a strike and if you sit there and take, he’s going to pick you apart. He’s a great pitcher. We were worried about him coming in and after those first looks, we knew we had to be more aggressive.”
Parker Freer and Demias Jimerson delivered back-toback singles to lead off the third. Jace Turner followed with a two-run double, but Malvern was just getting started.
After Turner scored on an error by the Cobras, Brandon Scott pushed Malvern’s lead to 5-0 with a solo home run to left field.
With the inning extended by another Fountain Lake error, Freer later hit his second single of the frame, scoring two runs to give the Leopards a comfortable 8-0 lead. The Cobras had six errors in the five-inning game.
“We gave up a lot of free bases and we didn’t make some plays,” Fountain Lake coach Josh Wesson said. “It’s the snowball effect, and it’s really easy for that to happen when you’re young like we are. We just couldn’t respond when we needed to respond, and that was on the field and at the plate.”
Scoreless through the first two frames, Fountain Lake averted the shutout on Bryce Stauder’s RBI single in the bottom of the first before Jimerson settled in for good.
The senior right-hander allowed just one hit over the last two innings, finishing his day with one run allowed on two hits, striking out eight while issuing one walk in five innings pitched.
“We just couldn’t get anything going offensively,” said Wesson. “I don’t want to take anything away from Jimerson; he’s the real deal. It just wasn’t our day.”
Leading 8-1, the Leopards broke the game open in the top of the fourth thanks to a patient approach at the plate. Drawing five walks, Malvern plated six runs on just one base hit in the frame, pushing its advantage to 14-1.
Eight of Malvern’s nine starters reached base at least once in the game.
“One through nine, we’re talented,” Weigand said. “I think one through six have all gone deep, but even when you go down to our eight hole hitter, Drew Golden is as hot as anybody. We’re strong offensively.”
Malvern’s Darion Weaver set the final margin with his second RBI of the game in the top of the fifth before Jimerson retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame to enact the mercy rule with the Leopards leading by more than 10 runs.
Garrett Mayhan, Whit Jones, Scott and Golden each had one RBI for Malvern. Batting ninth in the order, Freer finished with three singles and three RBIs in three at-bats.
“He could very easily be our leadoff and that’s hats off to him,” said Weigand. “It’s not easy when you’re that good of a hitter to be in the nine hole, but he’s done a great job of getting it back to the top of the order.”
Kody Moody singled and stole a base in three plate appearances for the Cobras.
The Leopards were scheduled to face Beebe (5-8) on Tuesday and travel to Bismarck
(2-5, 2-1) today. Fountain Lake is scheduled to host Episcopal Collegiate (2-3) on Thursday before resuming conference play Friday at Jessieville (7-5,
1-3).
“That’s the beautiful thing about baseball,” Wesson said. “In football, you have to wait another week, but with baseball, we can get right back out there on Thursday. We’ll definitely look to bounce back against Episcopal.”