Offense carries Drillers to sweep of Badgers
After making a run to the championship game of the Texarkana Tri-State Junior Tournament last weekend, the El Dorado Drillers continued their winning ways with a Zone 4 sweep of Arkadelphia on Thursday, winning the opener 12-8 before outlasting the Badgers 13-10 in the nightcap.
The sweep gives the Drillers wins in seven of their last 10 games.
Jacob Webster-Moore keyed the Drillers’ offense, collecting four hits in the two games that included a home run in Game 2 that landed in the creek beyond the leftfield fence.
In Game 1, the Drillers scored the game’s first seven runs before surviving a fifth-inning rally by the Badgers.
The Drillers didn’t waste any time getting an early lead by scoring five runs in the opening inning.
Shadarious Plummer led off with a single, Peyton Yarbrough was hit by a pitch and Webster-Moore singled to load the bases.
Justin Dumas then lined a base hit down the left-field line to score Plummer to give the Drillers a 1-0 lead.
With the bases still loaded, Kolin Parker belted an 0-2 pitch to right-center for a double that scored Yarbrough and WebsterMoore to push the lead to 3-0.
Dumas later scored on a passed ball, and after stealing third, Parker scored on a sacrifice fly by Bretaveon Brown to make it 5-0.
The Drillers scored twice in the third to extend their lead.
Webster-Moore led off the frame with triple to left-center and Dumas drove in his second run with a double down the left-field line that made it 6-0.
One out later, Brown collected his second RBI of the game with a base hit to center to bring home Dumas.
The Badgers scored three runs in the fourth to pull within 7-3, but the Drillers answered in the bottom of half of the inning.
Brody Little drew a fourpitch walk to start the
frame, and he scored moments later on Michael Osgood’s double to center to make it 8-3.
Daniel Roblee followed with a double of his own to left-center to score Osgood to give the Drillers a 9-3 lead.
Plummer singled to put runners at the corners, and Yarbrough followed with a double to right-center to score Roblee.
With runners at second and third, Dumas capped a perfect day at the plate with a two-run double down the left-field line to make it 12-3.
The Badgers scored five runs in the fifth, but Cayson Martin was able to close out the game.
Zander Rice (1-0) worked 3 2/3 innings to pick up the win. He allowed five hits, walked five and struck out three. Of the three runs he allowed, only two were earned.
Dumas finished 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and four RBIs for the Drillers.
Roblee went 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI, while Webster-Moore was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Plummer finished 2-for-3.
Brown and Parker each had one hit and two RBIs with Osgood and Yarbrough adding one hit and one RBI.
In the nightcap, the Drillers repeated their feat of scoring five runs in the opening inning.
With two outs, Plummer and Webster-Moore walked, and Xorian Robinson delivered a single down the right-field line to score Plummer with the game’s first run. Parker then drove in a run with a single, and Miles Moreland followed with an opposite-field double to score Robinson to give the Drillers a 3-0 lead.
Little then drilled a two-run double to right-center to score Parker and Moreland to make it 5-0.
But the lead would be short-lived.
The Badgers scored six runs in the second to take the lead, but the Drillers reclaimed the lead in the third.
Webster-Moore led off with a single to left, and the Drillers tied the game after Robinson belted a 1-0 pitch off the left-field fence for a triple that scored Webster-Moore.
Osgood then gave the Drillers the lead back with a base hit to right to bring home Robinson.
Again, the lead wouldn’t last, as the Badgers scored two runs in the fourth to take an 8-7 lead.
However, the Drillers came back with the decisive blow in the bottom half of the inning.
Maze May and Schuler Sewell drew walks, and Brown tied the game with an RBI double to right-center.
With runners at second and third, Dumas gave the Drillers their third lead of the game with a two-run double off the fence in left.
Plummer followed with a double off the fence in center to bring home Dumas, which set the stage for Webster-Moore, who crushed a two-run homer that capped the Drillers’ scoring in the contest.
The Badgers scored twice in the fifth, but Roblee, who picked up the win in relief of starter Jameson Dumas, was able to avoid further damage.
Roblee walked five and struck out four while allowing two hits in three innings of work. He allowed four runs with two being earned.
Dumas allowed six runs with three being earned in two innings of work. He allowed two hits, walked four and struck out three.
Webster-Moore went 2-for-2 with his aforementioned home run and scored three runs for the Drillers.
Robinson went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, and Justin Dumas drove in two more runs to finish with six for the doubleheader.
Little went 2-for-3 with two RBIs, while Osgood, Parker, Brown, Plummer and Moreland all had one hit and one RBI.
Sewell had one hit, drew a walk and scored a run to round out the Drillers’ attack.
The Drillers (13-8, 8-1) head to Sheridan for a Zone 4 doubleheader on Monday.