By FRED CONLEY
Forrest City Times-Herald
Going into Monday’s conference doubleheader, fourth-ranked Sylvan Hills needed to win only one of the two games to clinch the AAAAA-East Conference title.
Forrest City, 0-12 in the league with nothing to lose, tried to play the spoilers role, but the Bears had plans of their own.
Sylvan Hills won game one 10-1 and then completed the doubleheader sweep by winning the nightcap 15-3 in five innings.
Next up for the Bears, 12-2 in the East, is the Class AAAAA state tournament on Saturday, where they will face the No. 4 seed from the AAAAA-Central at 5 p.m., at Burns Park in North Little Rock.
Forrest City, 7-19 overall, will finish up Wednesday in a varsity doubleheader at West Memphis.
Facing one of the state’s best pitchers in Sylvan Hills senior southpaw Ashur Tolliver, the Mustangs kept the game scoreless through three innings, holding the Bears to just three hits behind the pitching of senior Travis Holloway.
In the top of the fourth inning, the Bears made their move, scoring four runs to chase Holloway.
The Bears scored their four runs on four hits – all singles, by Jarrett Boles, Mark Turpin, Hayden Miller and Tolliver.
Sylvan Hills added a run in the fifth to make it 5-0 when Hunter Miller singled with two outs and scored on
Boles’ RBI single. The Bears then plated five runs in the top of the seventh using base hits by Austin Gwatney, Hunter Miller, Boles, Trupin and Roark.
The Mustangs got their only run in the bottom of the seventh with Sylvan Hills reliever Ross Bogard on the mound when Kiel Smith and Chance Pearson walked and advanced on Blake Davis’ sacrifice fly out. Smith scored on Baker Aldridge’s RBI single to left field. Holloway worked 3 1/3 innings and allowed two Sylvan Hills runs on five hits and two walks.
Terrance Pendleton took over in the top of the fourth with two on and one out to finish out the first game.
Pendleton gave up eight runs on nine hits with two strikeouts. Tolliver held Forrest City to just two hits while striking out nine.
Forrest City picked off two Sylvan Hills runners in the first game and erased two others in rundowns.
Taylor Roark and Hayden Miller were each tagged out in the top of the first inning of game one after being caught in rundowns. Roark between first and second and Miller between second and third. Roark was picked off at first base in the top of the third and Jarrett Boles was picked off at first in the top of the fifth. Hayden Miller and Boles scored two runs each for the Bears.
In game two, Forrest City’s Ray Patillo started and pitched into the bottom of the second before giving way to Davis. Barett Beshears took over in the bottom of the third. Forrest City used runs by Davis and Aldridge in the top of the second inning to lead 2-1 in game two.
Sylvan Hills tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second and took a 5-2 lead on Tolliver’s three-run, home run with Roark and Hayden Miller on base. Sylvan Hills’ starter Tony Pavan set down the Mustangs in order in the top of the third before the Bears plated four runs in the bottom of the inning to make it 9-2.
Sylvan Hills closed out the five-inning victory by scoring six runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Forrest City got their final run in the top of the fourth inning when Holloway legged out an infield single, went to second on a Sylvan Hills’ throwing error, stole third and scored on a straight steal of home.
