Panthers pounce on Blackhawks

GREENLAND — Siloam Springs’ baseball team jumped on Pea Ridge early and never let up Friday in a nonconference 13-4 win on the new turf field at A.J. Allen Park.

The Panthers collected 10 hits and took advantage of five Pea Ridge errors in both teams’ first game in more than a week.

“We hit the ball well today,” said Siloam Springs coach Alan Hardcastle. “We saw some pretty good pitches, but being off a week the boys were ready to come out and play.”

The Panthers (7-5) scored three runs in the first inning and added five more in the third, two in the fourth and three in the fifth.

“At times this year we have struggled with timely hitting,” Hardcastle said. “The boys came through and did a lot of good timely hitting today, so it was good to see. Good overall win today for the team.”

The three runs in the first inning all came with two men out. J.P. Wills and Jacob Gilbert had back-to-back singles and Andrew Pilcher was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Brayden Fain also was hit by a pitch to score the game’s first run. Nick Driscoll followed with a two-run single to make it 3-0.

Pea Ridge took advantage of three walks from Gavin Henson and an error to get two runs back in the top of the second, but Gilbert relieved and got the Panthers out of the inning with the 3-2 lead.

Gilbert (4-0) went on to pitch 3 2/3 innings and got the win.

The Panthers went back to work offensively in the third inning. Gilbert singled and Pilcher was hit by a pitch. Fain had a bloop single, and Gilbert and Pilcher would score on wild pitches.

Lucas Junkermann roped an RBI double and Nathan Lee had a single. Elijah Coffey scored a run with a sacrifice fly and Henson’s RBI single made it 8-2.

Siloam Springs added two more runs in the fourth to go up 10-2 aided by three Pea Ridge errors.

“Anytime you have a team as good as Siloam and you give them six outs in an inning, they’re putting up crooked numbers,” said Pea Ridge coach Matt Easterling. “Not a lot of good can come from that.”

The Blackhawks (3-6) took advantage of two Siloam Springs errors in the fifth to pull within 10-4, but the Panthers answered with three runs to go up 13-4. The big blow in the inning was a two-run single by Pilcher.

Spencer Stephenson pitched two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh innings to close out the win for the Panthers.

Blackhawk junior Hagen McGarrah took the loss for the Blackhawks, while Blackhawk senior David Andrus pitched in relief.

(NWA Democrat-Gazette/Graham Thomas) Blackhawk pitcher Hagen McGarrah, junior, throws a pitch during Friday’s game against Siloam Springs at Greenland. The Panthers defeated the Blackhawks 13-4.