BY JASON KING
Leader sports writer
IN SHORT: North Pulaski took the second game of a twinbill against conference rival Oak Grove Monday.
The North Pulaski Falcons split a pair of AAAA-Southeast conference games with Oak Grove on Monday at Dupree Park. The original date at Oak Grove was rained out, prompting the make-up games to be played in Jacksonville. The Hornets edged out the Falcons in the opener 7-6, but a dynamic performance from Tyler Uptergrove in the nightcap propelled North Pulaski to a 13-3 rout.
The first game started out in the Falcons’ favor, with a run scored in each of the first two innings for North Pulaski.
Zach James put himself in position with a single in the bottom of the first inning. James was driven in with a triple from Uptergrove for an early 1-0 lead.
Shane Graham was the next Falcon to score when a RBI single from Tim Craven gave him the safe path to the plate.
The Falcons held on to the 2-0 lead until the Hornets came to life offensively in the top of the fourth inning. Oak Grove put five runs on the board in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead.
Uptergrove came away with another RBI in the bottom of the fifth inning when he drove in Josh Mansfield with a single. North Pulaski had closed back to within two runs, but the Hornets added a pair of scores in the sixth inning to keep control of the game 7-3.
North Pulaski added three more runs in the sixth inning. Graham reached base with an error, and was driven in with a single from Jason Regnas. After a single from Craven, courtesy runner Andre Nalen stole second to put the Falcons in position for another score. That run was scored when Mansfield singled, who was then driven in by a double from Andrew Peters.
The trio of runs in the sixth inning pulled the Falcons to within one, with the seventh inning still to go. The bottom of the seventh saw the Falcons in position to win with the bases loaded, but reached the third out before any of the runners could score.
Game two went much smoo-ther for the Falcons. The top of the first resulted in three runs for North Pulaski. Graham and Thurman both drove in runs, and Uptergrove scored on a passed ball during Scott Bolen’s at bat.
James and Uptergrove helped three more runs come in for the Falcons in the second inning. Uptergrove’s triple scored James and Peters after James singled to bring in Mansfield, giving North Pulaski a 6-0 lead after two.
North Pulaski extended its lead in the third inning with four more runs. Oak Grove’s first scores of the game came in the third as well, with two unearned runs to make it 10-2.
Another three runs in the fourth inning put the game into run-rule status, as the Hornets were only able to come up with one run in the bottom of the fifth inning. The Falcons took the game with the 10-after-two rule for the conference split.
Uptergrove was the player of the day, going 3 for 4 in the first game with two RBI’s, and also going 3 for 4 in the second game with four RBI’s.
The senior finished the games with two triples and a double, and made two diving catches defensively.
North Pulaski’s records now stand at 7-6 overall and 4-4 in the Southeast conference. The Falcons will play at Helena-West Helena Central on Thursday.
