CLASS 7A : Rockets solve riddle of slow breaking pitches
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/225412/
Little Rock Catholic finally figured it out.
After spending six innings trying — and mostly failing — to make adjustments at the plate, the top-seeded Rockets managed just enough offense for a 4-3 victory against Rogers in the second round of the Class 7 A baseball tournament Saturday at Burns Park in North Little Rock.
Chris Driedric singled off Rogers right-hander Harrison Stanfill in the bottom of the seventh inning, allowing Hunter Rankin to score the gamewinning run from third.
That seventh inning, which began with Rankin reaching base on a fielding error and continued with a double by Jordan Getchell, was about the only time Catholic’s lineup got the better of Stanfill, who to that point had given up only four hits.
Stanfill, Rogers’ No. 2 starter, stayed with Catholic ace Mark Thompson by keeping the Rockets (19-8 ) off balance with a steady diet of slow breaking pitches that made his otherwise ordinary fastball look quicker by comparison.
“Very difficult,” Catholic Coach Dustin Strube said. “That was something we haven’t seen a lot of this year.
“ He was kind of sneaking his fastball in. We’re used to seeing more fastballs.”
Stanfill made one of his few mistakes early, leaving a ball up and over the plate that Michael Alonzo hit to left for a two-run home run in the bottom of the first.
With Thompson scattering two hits over his first five innings, Rogers fell behind 3-0 when Drew McMahan scored from second off an error in the third.
But Thompson faltered in the sixth, giving up back-toback doubles to Scott Hatcher and Andy Couture and later giving up an RBI double to Seth White.
The result was a three-run sixth that tied the score and gave the momentum squarely to the Mountaineers (15-10 ).
“We really felt like we had a chance to win after we tied it up,” Rogers Coach Tom Woodruff said. “And we could’ve. That’s the thing.”
But Rogers was held hitless the rest of the way by righthander Dylan Owen, who came in to relieve Thompson with two outs left in the sixth.
“Dylan’s been our No. 2 all year, and he provides a different look,” Strube said.
Owen struck out two of the four batters he faced in the seventh inning, setting up Driedric’s game-winning hit.
“I swung at a pitch that looked good,” Driedric said. “This being the first game of the state tournament for us, I think we all were a little nervous.”
Catholic will face Springdale Har-Ber at 6: 30 p. m. Monday in a semifinal game at Burns Park. Rogers (15-10 )...................... 000 003 0 — 3 6 3 LR Catholic (19-8 ).................. 201 000 1 — 4 6 1 Stanfill and Hall; Thompson, Owen (6 ) and Chwalinski. W — Owen. L — Stanfill. HR — Alonzo. FAYETTEVILLE 3, VAN BUREN 2 The No. 1 seed from the 7 A West, Fayetteville needed two runs in the bottom of the sixth to beat Van Buren. Weston Harbaugh came through on a two RBI single in the sixth to break a 2-2 tie, setting up a semifinal game with North Little Rock at 4 p. m. Monday. Van Buren (15-12 )..................... 000 110 0 — 2 3 0 Fayetteville (28-3 )...................... 000 012 x — 3 6 3 Loyd and Butikofer; Shaddy and Hollenbeck. W — Shaddy. L — Loyd. NORTH LITTLE ROCK 13, FS SOUTHSIDE 0
North Little Rock peppered Ft. Smith Southside for 15 hits over five innings to score an easy second-round victory over the Rebels. North Little Rock will face Fayetteville at 4 p. m. Monday. FS Southside (19-12 )................. 000 00 — 0 3 3 North LR (20-10 )........................ 742 0 x — 13 15 1 Young, Henderson (1 ), Kamp (3 ) and Henry; Thompson, Paige (5 ) and Cormier. W — Thompson. L — Young. HR — North Little Rock, Benton. SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 10, BENTONVILLE 1
Springdale Har-Ber left-hander Zack Hall held Bentonville to four hits while earning a complete game victory. Har-Ber will face Little Rock Catholic in a semifinal game at 6: 30 p. m. Monday. Bentonville (14-17 )................... 001 000 0 — 1 4 7 Har-Ber (22-9 )......................... 204 004 x — 10 8 3 Garza, Tabler (3 ), Exner (6 ) and Seal; Hall and Thames. W — Hall. L — Garza.