Noles, Lions cross up Cobras
GLEN ROSE — What worked before when Fountain Lake played Jessieville wasn’t attempted until late in Thursday’s rematch.
Walking Michael Mendez and Chase Anderson intentionally three times each helped the Cobras to an 8- 4 regular- season win over the Lions, but Fountain Lake coach Justin Gregory didn’t employ the tactic until the fifth inning of the teams’ Class 3A- 5 quarterfinal. Greg Noles then foiled it, following an intentional pass to Mendez with a two- run single that sparked Jessieville to an 8- 1 win.
Getting a 10- strikeout complete game from Mendez, the defending Class 3A champion Lions ( 14- 7) clinched a spot in next week’s Region 2 tournament at Harding Academy. They play conference top- seed Glen Rose at 11 a. m. Saturday, the championship game following at 6 p. m.
Fountain Lake ( 10- 13) led 1- 0 on Cody Fortner’s first- inning RBI single and Tyler Robertson’s four shutout innings when Jessieville leadoff batter Josh Mitchell doubled with one out in the fifth. Robertson walked Anderson on a second 3- 2 pitch, Gregory signaling to send Men- dez to first base automatically to load the bases.
“I was kind of mad at first,” Mendez said. “They pretty much gave us a run with Greg coming up. He’s been hitting well all year.”
Noles singled sharply into left- center field for a 2- 1 lead. The senior second baseman completed a 3- for- 3 day — Mitchell was 4- for- 5, scoring twice — by walking in a six- run sixth highlighted by sophomore Johnny Chambers’ two- run single off Michael Pope.
Noles and Mendez started on Gregory’s Hot Springs Village
Amerian Legion team last year.
“( Noles) looked at me and smiled when I did that,” Gregory said. “It was no disrespect for Greg. Mendez can hit that long fly ball, and you don’t know what will happen. Greg hits the ball on the ground a lot. The double play is what I was looking for, but Greg came through. ... He came to play today. He was the reason they were able to pound us.”
Since the intentional walk- filled loss to the Cobras, Jessieville coach Jamie Saveall moved Noles from the leadoff spot to cleanup, Anderson rising to the second spot ahead of Mendez.
“You look at Michael and you forget about Greg,” Saveall said. “He’s been one of our better hitters, and he can hit to every field.”
Mendez ( 6- 4) retired 11 straight batters from the third through the sixth. The roll began with strikeouts of Robertson and Justin Gunnoe, Fountain Lake’s No. 3 and 4 hitters, with runners on second and third.
“We’ve been waiting for him to throw like that all year, and it was in a pressure situation,” Saveall said. “Even at the end with the bases loaded he stayed calm. If he can do that he’ll be successful, even on the ( collegiate) level.”
Mendez held Fountain Lake to two hits before James Cooper, Pope and Jordan Stone singled to start the seventh. The Cobras failed to score, Mendez getting the last three outs on two pop flies and a strikeout.
“I’ve got to give all the credit in the world to Mendez on the mound,” Gregory said. “He was just blowing it by us.”
Pope, the Cobras’ lone senior, went 2- for- 3 and Fortner and Stone both 1- for- 2.
Andrew Barber scored Fountain Lake’s run after drawing a leadoff walk in the first. Hw advanced on a passed ball and wild pitch before Fortner’s soft single to right.
Pope’s single to center in the second was the only other hit off Mendez until the seventh. In the third, Barber reached on an error, stole second and third, and Fortner walked and stole second before the strikeouts ended the threat.
“We wanted to take the twostrike approach, take a short swing,” Gregory said. “When you have runners on second and third and can’t hit the ball on the ground and don’t score you’ll get beat. These kids just don’t understand it yet, but I don’t know how many high- school teams do.”
Jessieville had 14 hits, Hunter Mayfield and Jake Applegate both going 2- for- 4 with an RBI.
Both of Applegate’s hits came in the sixth, when he and Bradon Davis led off with singles, Davis’ deflecting off Gunnoe’s glove on the mound. Applegate scored on Mitchell’s single to left, and Davis on an error after Pope relieved. Chambers’ two- run singled and run- scoring hits by Mayfield and Applegate capped the scoring.