Wildcats upend Cyclones
After a one-year hiatus, El Dorado is back in the 6A State Tournament.
Jacob Boshears hit a pair of two-run homers and drove in five runs, and Derek Jobe pitched out of jams in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, as the Wildcats outlasted Russellville 8-7 in the opening round of the 6A West Conference Tournament Saturday at the El Dorado-Union County Recreation Complex.
El Dorado (19-7), the No. 3 seed, will play at No. 2 seed Greenwood in the semifinals on Tuesday.
“We’re excited,” said El Dorado coach Cannon Lester. “We had been scuffling a bit. We’ve actually played decent baseball, we’ve just had an inning or two there where we didn’t finish, but we did a great job of finishing today.”
The ending was not for the faint of heart.
With the game tied 6-6 in the fifth, the sixth-seeded Cyclones (11-18) loaded the bases with two outs after Ryan Talley reached after his fly ball to center was dropped for an error, Brady Burnett singled and Eli Thomas walked, but Jobe, who took over for Daniel Johnson after Talley got on, struck out Cole Hathcote to keep the game tied.
That set the stage for Boshears’ heroics in the bottom half of the inning.
With one out, Leighton Turbeville walked, and Boshears crushed Thomas’ first pitch over the fence in left-center near the scoreboard to give the Wildcats an 8-6 lead, their first of the game after trailing 4-0 and 6-4.
In the sixth, the Cyclones got a run back on Jack Snider’s RBI double, but after loading the bases on consecutive walks to Cole Dawson and Burnett, Jobe fanned Braden Butterworth to avoid further damage.
The Cyclones had runners at first and second with one out in the seventh, but Jobe closed the door on the visitors, striking out Craig DeFrancisco before retiring Snider on a ground out to first to end it.
In their final three turns at bat, the Cyclones stranded eight baserunners, including five in scoring position.
Jobe allowed four hits and one run in three innings to pick up the
win. He walked three, hit a batter and struck out five.
The Wildcats found themselves down 4-0 after an RBI single by Burnett, a tworun double by Butterworth and an errant pickoff throw at third accounted for the Cyclones’ final run.
However, the Wildcats responded. Turbeville led off with a walk, and Boshears cut the Cyclones’ lead in half with one swing of the bat by drilling the first of his two two-run homers, a blast over the fence in left to make it 4-2.
After the next two batters were retired, it seemed the Wildcats would have to settle for just two runs, but three consecutive walks followed by a hit batsman and another walk with the bases loaded tied the game with Jared Rhodes and Johnson collecting RBIs.
Although Boshears’ home run in the fifth proved to be the game-winner, his first home run allowed the Wildcats to settle down after the rocky start.
“No doubt,” Lester said. “I think the moment was a little big in the first inning. Then all of a sudden, he gets that big blow, and it’s like, ‘We’re good. It’s baseball again.’ It was definitely a huge relief to get a couple of runs on the board and tie it back up.”
The Cyclones took a 6-4 lead on a two-run double by Thomas in the third, but again, the Wildcats answered in the bottom half of the inning.
With one out, Brennan Smith reached
after his grounder to first was misplayed for an error, and walks to Rhodes and Johnson loaded the bases.
One out later, the rally was on the verge of dying, but Boshears was hit by a pitch to force in a run to make it 6-5.
Noah Gaul then hit a dribbler just beyond the reach of pitcher Reed Rispoli for an infield single that scored courtesy runner Reed Stone with the tying run.
The game remained tied until Boshears’ blast in the fifth gave the Wildcats the lead for good.
Johnson, who allowed two runs over 3 1/3 innings after relieving starter Chase Webb in the first, kept the Wildcats in position to complete their comeback, and Lester was pleased with his performance.
“We got down early, and whatever could’ve gone wrong, did go wrong,” Lester said. “Daniel Johnson came in and righted the ship, and Jacob had the big blow in the first and the fifth. That kept us in the game. It was 4-0 early, and we could’ve laid down early, but we didn’t. That’s a good sign.”
In addition to Boshears, Micah Haney went 2-for-4 for the Wildcats, who had only five hits in the win.
With the Wildcats now in the state tournament, Lester wants to use the next two games as a means for improvement.
“I told them these next two games are kind of freebies,” Lester said. “We’re getting extra games, and hopefully, we can get better every game. I’m very excited about being in the state tournament. It’s a great feeling knowing we’ve got two games left and we’re already in.”