Late surge boosts Pea Ridge over Tigers 11-4

PRAIRIE GROVE — Pea Ridge (10-6, 2-2) flipped a 1-0 deficit by outscoring Prairie Grove (2-2) 11-4 over the final three innings to emerge with a conference win in 4A-1 baseball Friday.

Prairie Grove scored a run in the second inning and held a 1-0 lead after four innings. The game looked like a pitcher’s duel until the Blackhawks made adjustments that manifested with Jake Ryals (2 for 5, 3 RBIs, run scored) driving in a pair of runs with a double in the sixth and Jaxon Stewart’s grand slam in the seventh inning. Stewart went 1 for 2, blasting a grand slam home run with 4 RBIs, 2 runs scored, 2 walks, and getting hit by a pitch.

“We were struggling. Their pitcher was doing a great job of getting the leadoff out. So, I kept telling my guys if we can get the leadoff guy on, we’re going to be in business because we’d been putting the bat on the ball,” said Pea Ridge coach Matt Easterling.

Things changed once Pea Ridge tweaked its approach at the plate. The Blackhawks took the lead by pushing 4 runs across in the fifth.

“We got the ball up the middle and got the leadoff on, bunted him over and then got a base hit. Got that run in, bunted him over again and kind of strung together four runs in that inning. We were able to get that leadoff on and manufacture [some runs] with effective bunting and then some timely hitting right behind it,” Easterling said.

After giving up 3 runs in the fifth, Prairie Grove switched pitchers with Carter Flumm taking the mound. Pea Ridge starter Landen Long helped his cause by bashing a 3-2 pitch into right field for an RBI single and the Blackhawks jumped ahead 4-1.

Landen Long earned the win, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits with 8 strikeouts and no walks in 6.1 innings.

“Landen, he’s been fighting through some soreness today. We didn’t know if he was going to be able to go today. He just came out and he’s just a competitor, doesn’t say much, doesn’t say anything, but the kid competes,” Easterling said.

The Tigers answered with one run in the bottom half of the inning. Tristan Hall’s mad dash for second base was rewarded when he was ruled safe. He went to third on a passed ball with Conner Hubbs batting and scored on Hubbs’ sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.

Prairie Grove struggled to get outs in the top of the sixth.

“We kind of struggled on the mound and walked too many guys,” said Prairie Grove coach Mitch Cameron. “We had a long talk and it’s just about sometimes you have success and the weight of that success weighs on you and you feel this pressure to win. That’s what we’re doing right now. We’re pressing a bit. We got to hit the reset button.”

Jacob Ogburn, who finished with 2 hits, reached on an error off the pitcher’s glove. Brayden Wright recorded a bunt single when the ball was bobbled, putting two runners on for Pea Ridge. Logan Long laid down a sacrifice bunt advancing the runners and Jaxon Stewart walked to load the bases with one out.

Kaiden Rochier came on in relief but surrendered a 2-run double to Jake Ryals and walked Kole Kasischke to again load the bases with Pea Ridge leading 6-2.

Cameron pulled Rochier and went with Maddox Ogle. The substitution eliminated the designated hitter for Prairie Grove. Ogle got the Tigers out of the inning by inducing a pop-up to the catcher and a fly out to right center.

Luke Vance had 2 hits in the contest and singled up the middle but Prairie Grove couldn’t advance him.

Pea Ridge put the game away by nearly doubling its run total with 5 scores in the top of the seventh.

Ogburn singled, followed by back-to-back walks, which put a Blackhawk on every base.

Cameron again made a switch at pitcher, replacing Ogle with Jaxon Beare only to watch Stewart clear the bases with his line drive grand slam on a 2-2 pitch, which gave the Blackhawks a commanding 10-2 lead. Pea Ridge added one more run on a passed ball and were three outs away from a win with an 11-2 cushion.

Landen Logan reached a pitch count of 100 after striking out the leadoff man in the bottom of the seventh. Gavin Dixon replaced him and beaned the first batter he faced in the head. Hall reached on an error to keep the Tigers’ hopes alive with two men on base.

“One of the things we’ve been struggling with is putting together a complete game and even in this one right here, we got lax a little bit, got the perfect ground ball that we wanted for a double play,” Easterling said. “We got lax, threw it away and then all of a sudden allowed them to tack on a couple of extra scores. We’re not going to be able to do that later on against the Gravettes and the Gentrys and then going into the district tournament.”

Hubbs drove in his second run for Prairie Grove with a hit that became a double on the throw home. Bryce Ledgerwood drove in a run with a groundout. Asher Linn was hit by a pitch and Vance singled to load the bases for the Tigers. Beare drew a walk scoring a run to pull Prairie Grove within 11-5.

Dixon struck out the next batter on three straight pitches to end the game and earn the save.

“There’s a long season ahead of us even though there’s only just three conference games really. No doubt, we have the tools to be where we need to be again and put us in position to get to the regionals so we’ll keep plugging away and try to solve the problem,” Cameron said.