Trojans earn win with Patriots forfeit
Hot Springs picked up its sixth win of the season Wednesday, despite playing less than two and a half innings.
The Trojans (6-6) were facing off against Little Rock Parkview (2-3) off Tuesday’s 21-0 shutout at El Dorado when tempers flared in the top of the third inning, leading Patriots head coach Jerry Bruce to be ejected and the team to forfeit the game.
With the score tied with a run apiece, Parkview senior pitcher Marwin Edwards was called out following a pitch that appeared to cross the plate too high.
“He called a strike,” Bruce said. “The ball was at the kid’s forehead, strike three. I mean, it’s a 1-1 ballgame, going pretty good.”
Bruce said that tempers flared, leading to his being ejected after an exchange at the plate.
“Pretty much, (the umpire) explained, his words were, he said that when the ball crossed the plate, it was at his head, but then it broke down into the mitt where the rule book states, you know, when a ball goes across the plate, it is the strike zone,” he said. “So, I mean, we all know that, so, from there, all I pretty much asked him was, ‘Well, if that’s the case, what is the strike zone?’ … And as I’m walking back to my third base coach position, I was tossed. … Well, it really doesn’t matter about me. It’s more about my kids and not getting an opportunity to finish the game.”
Trojans first-year head coach Trevor Durham said that after Tuesday’s devastating loss, his team was ready to take the field again, but he feels the game is more important than the win at this point in the season.
“Well, we had a rough game last night and, honestly, it’s like I told the guys after last night, the good thing about baseball is we don’t have to wait long to play another one,” he said. “So we were, even after the rough one last night, we were excited to get to play again. So it’s not good that we don’t get to finish that game. You know, win or lose, we just need reps, so we’re looking forward to getting more reps (Wednesday) before we take on Lake Hamilton Friday.
“I mean, I hate it for both teams that that’s the way it turned out because I think — I know they said they’d only played four games, and so they needed innings, and we were anxious to wipe the taste from last night’s game out of our mouths. And, you know, our kids are ready, and so it’s just not a good situation.”
Parkview’s run came in the top of the first inning as sophomore Brendan Smith crossed the plate after a failed pickoff attempt of senior Rylan Hill. The Trojans responded with an RBI grounder down the third base line by freshman Matt Contreras to plate senior
Kaimani Gray to knot the score.
Trojans senior pitcher Elias Parker struck out freshman Kyveon Perkins on a bunt attempt before Edwards stepped to the plate, who was ultimately the last batter of the game.
“Elias’ been our most consistent arm all year,” Durham said. “I mean, a senior, and I like his demeanor. Been working on his tempo, trying to pick up his pace a little bit, but he’s been our most consistent arm all year. And the plan was for him to go, really, just a few more pitches anyway before I was going to go get him in case we need him on Friday.
“In that sense, that’s about the only positive that came out of today, is, you know, it worked out for him. But that’s why we’re practicing today because Xavier (Parker) was next, and I wanted to get him in the bullpen working. So, I mean, we’re going to go ahead and finish up.”
Parker recorded three strikeouts with no walks in his two innings from the mound while Edwards struck out one and walked one after pitching one inning for the Patriots. Parkview’s Alex Brown came in to pitch the rest of the way through, recording two strikeouts with one walk.
The Trojans will travel across town to take on the Wolves (9-3, 2-1) Friday in a
5A-South conference matchup while the Patriots will host Little Rock Christian Academy
(7-6) today.