Rams take down Benton for state spot
The Lakeside baseball team clinched its spot in the state tournament Wednesday with an 11-2 victory over the Benton Panthers.
The Rams came through in a must-win game as junior Grady Ohman tossed a complete game as the offense was rolling from beginning to end.
“We came into it knowing it was win or go home,” Lakeside head coach Brooks Balisterri said. “Our guys, they just showed up and their focus was outstanding. These guys have battled a lot of adversity. We’ve lost some starters, but we’ve just had guy after guy step up and come through in the clutch and take over those roles that those guys left behind. We got on them early and just kept on them, and I think these guys knew what was on the line and they just left it all out there on the field.”
Ohman provided the difference for Lakeside. He had a pair of hits and three RBIs at the plate and hurled a complete game without much traffic besides the third inning.
“He stepped up and took over Harrison Barmore’s spot as the ace,” Lakeside’s Balisterri said. “Once he got hurt, Ohman came in and gave us quality start after quality start. He’s been pitching like that all year. He’s given us a chance to win. Not only has he been competing his butt off on the mound, but he’s been one of our top hitters too. Just a great outing. We knew we were going to get that out of him. He’s just a dog up there on the mound.”
Against one of Benton’s top arms in senior Dalton Adair, Lakeside grabbed the lead right away as Ohman helped himself out by hitting a two-run triple past the right fielder in the bottom of the first. Sophomore Beau Brock knocked in a third run the next inning with a bouncer that snuck under the third baseman’s glove, bringing home the runner from third.
Benton (18-8, 11-5) found a little offense the second time through the order. Junior Elias Payne crushed a twoout triple to right to spark the bats. Sophomore Cayden Elmore knocked him in with an RBI single and he later came around to score on a throwing error from the Lakeside shortstop.
Lakeside (17-8, 10-6) responded immediately with a rally of its own. After a leadoff single, senior Eysa Chapman hit a triple to the gap past a diving center fielder. Senior Ben Jennings brought him home with a double to left. After three consecutive hits to start the inning, Benton brought in freshman Blake Mitchem to pitch.
“We just came out flat and they swung the bat well,” Benton head coach Mark Balisterri said. “Nobody has hit Adair like they did today. He was throwing like he normally does, and they were just on time with it.”
Mitchem was met with a single to put runners on the corners. Both runners came around to score after back-toback errors in the infield, giving the Rams a 7-2 advantage. Benton was able to retire the next three batters. Mitchem also retired the side on three batters in the fourth.
“He’s done a great job all year,” Mark Balisterri said.
“He doesn’t have any nerves. He just gets out there and pitches. We made some mistakes defensively that we don’t normally make. If you take those away, it’s probably a 5-2 game instead of an 11-2 game. Hats off to them, it was a must win for them.”
Lakeside added a couple runs in the fifth from a pair of free passes. The first run scored on a wild pitch and then another run came around later that inning during a rundown between first and second, as the throw home was just late.
Benton threatened to score in the sixth as a single put runners on the corners with no outs, but Ohman recovered and got around the jam with a pair of strikeouts.
Benton’s defensive struggles continued in the sixth as Lakeside put runners on the corners behind a walk and an error to start the frame. Ohman brought in a run on a sacrifice fly and senior Brady Arnold knocked in another with a base hit.
Ohman finished off his complete game with a 1-2-3 seventh inning and the Rams clinched their spot in the state tournament with the victory.
“Man I’ll tell you what, we as coaches, we talk about it all the time, that the seventh inning is a really, really hard and stressful inning,” Brooks Balisterri said. “Even with a nine-run lead, I still didn’t feel too comfortable. Once we got that last out, it was just a great feeling. I’ve been nervous as heck. I know our guys weren’t. They’ve been anxious and ready to play. I just couldn’t be more proud as the coach of these guys.”