Slow- starting junior Rams fall to Pine Bluff
It was a rerun, and not a good one for Lakeside.
The Junior American Legion Rams dug themselves an early hole for the second time in as many games, this time giving up six runs ( four unearned) in the first inning against Pine Bluff Smart Dodge. The rough start, including errors on the first two plays, led to an 11- 2 loss in a scheduled nine- inning game Saturday at Lakeside.
As in a loss Thursday by the same score to Hot Springs Village, Lakeside ( 6- 8) played without legion duel- certified players Spencer Hecke, Bo Ritter and Marcus Fisher, 2012 high- school starters who traveled with the Class AA Rams to the Sheridan Wood Bat Tournament. Junior coach Jay Darr, however, treated that as a minor point.
“The bottom line is we’ve got to bring a better effort as a team,” said Darr, the assistant/ pitching coach under highschool and junior legion head coach Andy Runyan who led the Rams against Pine Bluff ( 3- 3), a team made up of White Hall players. “We lost the last two games 22- 4, and I don’t think it was the talent that got us beat.”
Pine Bluff pitchers Daniel Grey, Daniel Sprinkle and Jeff Jones combined for a threehitter and 17 strikeouts. Both Lakeside runs were unearned, Hayden Lindsey reaching on an error and scoring on a Grey wild pitch in the first and another miscue setting up Tanner Crumpton’s RBI infield single off Sprinkle in the third.
Each Pine Bluff hurler went a planned three innings. Grey allowed no hits while striking out four, the hard- throwing Sprinkle gave up two hits and struck out eight, and Jones surrendered Charlie Hancock’s eight- inning bad- hop single while striking out five.
“My pitching is really good,” Pine Bluff coach Russ Sparks said. “Defensively, we’re pretty solid. We don’t hurt ourselves a lot.”
Sprinkle, the brother of University of Arkansas football signee Jeremy Sprinkle, was especially dominant. The only out he recorded not on strikes was his pickoff of Aiden Watson at second base, Watson reaching on an error and advancing on Lindsey’s single to right — the only ball the Rams hit out of the infield.
“They didn’t throw anything we hadn’t seen prior to this,” Darr said. “We just didn’t have a very good approach today. They did well to throw their breaking balls for strikes. We just didn’t make adjustments.”
Pine Bluff’s first two runs scored when Lakeside starter Brandon Hall hit Sprinkle, who started at third base, with a pitch and walked B. J. Pullman with the bases loaded. Turner Sparks followed with a two- run single, Jake Green’s sacrifice fly making it 5- 0 and the sixth run scoring on the third of the
Rams’ five errors.
Watson relieved Hall with one out in the third and went 6 2- 3 innings, holding Pine Bluff scoreless in the fourth and fifth before giving up Sprinkle’s runscoring double and Sparks’ RBI groundout in the sixth. Pine Bluff’s last two runs came on two- out singles in the ninth by Connor Freeman and Justin Archer.
“I thought Aiden Watson pitched well today,” Darr said. “He came in and settled ( the Rams) down.”
Pine Bluff had 14 hits, Jones going 3- for- 5, Grey 2- for- 3, Richmond 2- for- 4 and Archer 2- for- 6.
The Rams play a doubleheader Tuesday at Cabot before hosting the eight- team, 12- game Ryan White Memorial Tournament Thursday through Sunday, playing a split Cabot squad at 7: 30 p. m. Friday.