Golden delivers season finale victory performance for Leopards
Cooper, Paul, Beene celebrate victorious on senior night; Malvern defeats Hope, 10-6
MALVERN — The hometown Malvern Leopards provided a stout victorious performance in their final game of the season by pulling off a 10-6 win against their visiting league opponents Hope at Malvern National Bank
Field. The Diamond Leopards avenged their defeat against Hope from the first meeting and finished out the year on a high note for senior night in Leopard Country. Leopard seniors Tyson Cooper, Logan Paul and Noah Beene went out on top to celebrate a memorable occasion led by a phenomenal pitching performance from Tyler “TG” Golden on the mound.
Golden pitched a complete game, allowed four hits, three earned runs and struck out 10 batters and threw 65 strikes across the plate to ignite the strike zone.
While Golden led the defensive execution, Cooper and Paul also sparked the offense on their night. Cooper collected one hit, drove in a run for an RBI while senior teammate Paul scored a run, hammered a hit in the frame and drove in three runs for three RBIS. Hunter Adams and Golden each had two hits apiece and the true-freshman Ben Rock sparked and powered a hit at the plate. Rock also drove in two runs for two RBIS, Golden and Evan Myers each had a RBI apiece. Adams and Jerrod Barber led the scoring attack and scored two runs apiece, Dalen Weaver, Golden, Myers, Patrick Doss, and Cedric Cook all soared around the bases for a run.
Malvern baseball head coach Jordan Knight dreamed about his players showcasing an impressive display of team unity and chemistry for the proud hometown fans. Knight thought several players stepped up and made their final game of the season a special outing on senior night.
“I am pleased with our kids for the way we finished the season. As a team, we have battled through many trials and tribulations, but the game against Hope shows the growth we are on,” Knight said.
“W e fought until the very end of the season and our character showed in the way we continued to coach our kids and the way our kids continued to play the game the right way.
It is always an enjoyable experience to come up with a big win on senior night for our seniors.”
Knight mentioned that [Logan] Paul, [Tyson] Cooper, and [Noah] Beene have all been a big part of their program.
“We are thankful for their contribution to the Malvern baseball program and are proud to call them alumni— [Tyler] Golden continues to prove that he can pitch for us going forward, and will only continue to grow during the summer season,” Knight said.
“[Ben] Rock, is only a freshman, and made the defensive play of the game at second base and came up with a huge line drive RBI single,” Knight added.
UP NEXT
The Diamond Leopards will take the offseason to regroup and journey back next season and create some noise to be a threat and aim to capture championship hardware for 2023.
“We have a lot of youth coming back for next season and look forward to working and growing with our young men over the summer,” Knight said.