Blackhawks’ late rally falters one run short
FARMINGTON — Pea Ridge closed within 6-5 on Waylon Fletcher’s 2-run homer in the seventh, but couldn’t get any more runs and dropped Thursday’s District 4A-1 baseball tournament semifinal.
The Blackhawks (15-8) made Shiloh Christian sweat it out after the Saints took a 6-2 lead into the last inning at Farmington Thursday. Pea Ridge got a triple, a sacrifice fly to slash the deficit to 6-3, and walk to set up Fletcher’s two-run blast.
“Our guys, this past year especially these last couple of weeks, we have made it really difficult on some teams in giving ourselves a chance to win late,” said Blackhawk head coach Matt Easterling.
Shiloh Christian switched pitchers, bringing in 6-2 junior William Halberg, who got the next batter to groundout to shortstop for the second out. The game stretched out a little longer when Jacob Ogburn walked. Chandler Anderson came on as a courtesy runner at first, but was left stranded when Halberg induced a groundout to end the game with the Saints winning 6-5.
The Blackhawks went down swinging, which is how Easterling describes their mindset preparing for regional play.
“We feel like we’re not out of a game no matter what the deficit is. We proved that Wednesday against Gravette being down five and being able to come back in the sixth and in the bottom of the seventh and then right there it showed,” Easterling said.
Easterling lamented a missed opportunity when the Blackhawks loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning yet came away empty.
“When you start getting into this level of play, you can’t rely on late rallies to get you through and we had an opportunity there in the sixth and with bases loaded, one out, to really start chipping away and make some things happen, but we didn’t. and that cost us,” Easterling said.
Pea Ridge takes the 4A-1 No. 4 seed into the 4A North Regional hosted by Morrilton and will open the tournament against the 4A-4 No. 1 seed on Thursday at 10 a.m.
That matchup wasn’t decided as of Thursday, but Easterling anticipated it might be Morrilton.
“I feel like we’re seeded real well, but we’ll probably have to
get past Morrilton,” Easterling said. “I feel like we’ve got a guy in Landen Long and a closer in Gavin Dixon that we’ve got a chance against anybody.”
Pea Ridge 7, Gravette 6
Pea Ridge stunned Gravette 7-6 in a must-win game to stay alive in post season by sustaining a 6-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday, April 24. The Lions appeared on cruise control, taking a 6-1 lead before the game changed dramatically in the Blackhawks’ last atbat.
Pea Ridge cashed in on Lion errors by scoring three runs off those miscues in the seventh, including the tying and go-ahead runs. Brayden Wright and Jaxon Stewart each contributed an RBI single, while Jake Ryals added a sacrifice fly to drive in a run.
Dixon came on in relief of Landen Long, who allowed four hits over two innings before giving way to Dixon in the third. Dixon picked up the win for the Blackhawks. Kyle Murphy topped Pea Ridge with two hits and two RBIs. With the win in hand, the Blackhawks advanced to the 4A-1 District Tournament semifinals and equally important punched their ticket to regionals.