By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
With a season spanning more than 30 games in a little more than two months, you just never know what to expect from one night to the next.
A prime example is senior American Legion Gwatney Chevrolet’s dramatic win on Tuesday night followed by a disappointing loss on Wednesday.
The Chevy boys ran their record to 4-0 by rallying for a 7-4 victory over Sylvan Hills Optimist Club Bruins on Tuesday night, but came out flat in a 12-3 loss to North Little Rock on Wednesday.
Sylvan Hills pounced on the Chevy boys for a pair of first-inning runs and led 2-1 heading into the fourth inning. Patrick Castleberry singled and, after Caleb Mitchell was plunked with a pitch, Jared Toney put Gwatney ahead with a 2-run single.
The Bruins tied it 3-3 in the top of the fifth, but Gwatney blew the game open with a 4-spot in the bottom half. Terrell Brown singled and Cameron Hood walked. Castleberry delivered both runners with a single, and Mitchell followed with a run-scoring double.
Dustin Pelky’s RBI single added some insurance as Gwatney went up 7-3.
Gwatney starter Clayton Fenton allowed a run in the sixth, but held on to go the distance for the win.
Things got off to an equally slow start for Gwatney on Wednesday night, but this time there was no turnaround. After the Colts went down 1-2-3 in the first inning, they lit up Gwatney starter Brian Thurman for eight runs in the second inning on six consecutive singles. The Colts were aided by three Chevy boy errors.
Gwatney, which left two on in each of the first three innings, got a run in the second on a pair of walks, a ground out and a balk.
The Colts, though, got to Thurman for three more runs in the third, and he was liftedfor Pelky. Caleb Mitchell’s RBI single in the third brought home Cameron Hood to make it 11-2. The lone highlight for the Gwatney Boys on Wednesday came in the fourth inning, when pinch hitter Matt McAnally belted a home run over the fence in left-center.
The Chevy Boys’ first four outs of the game came on grounders to Colt third baseman Hunter Benton, who turned in an outstanding defensive performance. His best of the game came on Castleberry’s bid for a double down the third base line in the third. Benton dove to his right, backhanded it, and threw out Castleberry. Of Gwatney’s 15 outs in the 5-inning affair, six were grounders to Benton.
Ironically, North Little Rock pitchers didn’t record a strikeout until two outs in the fourth, then fanned the final four Chevy boys of the game.
