Suicide Squeeze Wins Game

TIGERS UPEND PEA RIDGE, 6-5

Ninth hitter DJ Pearson was called upon and fulfilled a tall order in executing a suicide squeeze bunt to lift Prairie Grove past Pea Ridge, 6-5, Thursday.

The game was tied, at 5-5, in the top of the eighth when Prairie Grove coach Chris Mileham instructed Pearson to bunt. Pearson, who was 1 for 3 while driving in 3 runs, was so focused on the at-bat that he didn’t see Chase Wade, the Tiger runner at third, but Pearson’s baseball instincts carried him for the winning RBI.

“What happened was I got up and Coach Mileham told me we had a runner at third, that was my bunt,” Pearson said. “Honestly, I didn’t even see him. All I saw was the guys at first and second. All of a sudden I hear Coach say, ‘Go,’ I peeked in my left eye and I saw Chase (Wade) running towards me and I just punched it towards third base. I got Chase in.”

The run put the Tigers up 6-5 on the road in an extra-inning game in the top of the eighth and they held onto the lead to post an exciting, key win, marking the third time during the 2016-2017 school year that lightening has struck a talent-loaded senior Blackhawk class when facing Prairie Grove.

The schools battled for the 4A-1 league lead in football in week six with both teams coming in undefeated. Prairie Grove won 42-21, then in the last week of regular season basketball, the Tigers knocked off previously unbeaten in conference play Pea Ridge, 59-56, on Feb. 7. The latest episode will likely only increase the rivalry between the two schools.

Prairie Grove took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. After a scoreless second, Pea Ridge surged ahead with three runs in the bottom of the third to move in front, 3-1; only to have the Tigers answer with three runs in the top of the fourth. Prairie Grove owned a 4-3 advantage going into the fifth inning, but didn’t score in the top half of the inning. Pea Ridge pushed across a run in the bottom of the fifth to tie the game at 4-4. Both teams scored a run in the sixth but neither scored in the seventh, sending the game into an eighth inning deadlocked at 5-5.

“DJ Pearson was really big for us in the 9-hole hitter position,” Mileham said. “He had a suicide squeeze which he successfully executed, a sacrifice fly and opposite-field single RBI.”

Pearson said coaching prepared him to make the play.

“My step-dad Ronnie Raper, he really stressed to me at an early age how important bunting is,” Pearson said. “And Coach Mileham, he is always telling us the little things are important. Small things can lead to big things.”

Big things — like Prairie Grove’s 10th victory of the season against six losses including a 5-2 conference record.

The suicide squeeze is either the greatest play in baseball or dumbest call that could be made in that situation, depending upon the mood of the person evaluating the outcome.

Often referred to as the riskiest of baseball plays because of the variables that can turn against the success of the call while the play is in progress, the suicide squeeze can pay grand dividends when executed well. A suicide squeeze sends a runner home from third before the pitcher releases the ball in hope the batter will be able to bunt. A pickoff throw to home plate, pitchout allowing the catcher to cleanly field the ball with the batter out of his way or a swing and miss can defeat the play. A pop-up is also bad news for the team trying to score.

With the bases loaded in a tie game, the pitchout is taken out of the equation, giving the pitcher fewer options, and increasing the odds of a successful suicide squeeze.

“We ran that little trick play to get them,” Pearson said. “We hadn’t done that in practice or anything. Playing summer ball really helped us. When the game is close like that we’re not really nervous because we’ve been there before.”

Still, the game wasn’t over. Pea Ridge had one more at-bat and got three runners on board to build the drama for Mileham and the Tigers with two outs and the bases loaded.

“The Sainsbury kid came up and absolutely blistered one right towards shortstop, that’s how the game ended,” Mileham said, who praised his shortstop Drew Gates for gloving the line-drive.

“Drew Cates, that kid is playing really good right now,” Mileham said. “I’d put him up against any shortstop in our conference.”