By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
North Little Rock’s midnight madness left Cabot Community Bank empty-handed after a stellar comeback on Wednesday night.
Cabot erased every bit of an early 4-0 deficit to North Little Rock to force extra innings, but the Optimist Colts rallied with four runs in the top of the ninth to take an 8-4 win at Conrade Memorial Baseball Field in Senior Legion play.
A long junior game to start the evening and a trophy presentation put the game behind schedule, and the two additional frames pushed the game into the early moments of Thursday morning.
Drew Burks belted a solo home run in the sixth inning to tie it, but North Little Rock parlayed two hits, two walks and a Cabot error into four runs in the ninth against reliever Josh Brown.
UAFS’ Colin Fuller started on the mound for Community Bank, and struggled in the first inning before gaining his composure in the top of the second.
Fuller gave up singles to NLR leadoff man Clark Sims and two-hole hitter Dean Larson, who eventually came in on a bases-loaded walk and a ground out to give the Colts a 2-0 lead.
Walks and errors contributed to the Colts’ two runs in the third to extend the lead to 4-0.
But Cabot began its comeback in the bottom half. Powell Bryant led off the frame, reaching on an error. Burks drove him in with a single to right field.
Starting NLR pitcher Kyle Thompson had walked only one batter through the first three frames, but started out the bottom of the fourth inning with walks to Matt Turner and Tyler Erickson with a strikeout in between. Powell Bryant drove Turner in with a ground out, and Ericson made his way in on a passed ball to narrow the deficit to 4-3.
Fuller gave up a pair of hits to start out the top of the fifth inning, but turned up the heat on the Colts after that with two strikeouts and a ground out to first to leave the potential runs stranded.
Burks’ blast over the right field wall tied the game up at 4-4, and Fuller had to work a little more magic in the top of the sixth to preserve that tie.
Fuller got himself in another pickle to start out the top of the sixth inning. He got the first out with a strikeout of Carroll Newton, but Kell Krane doubled from the nine-hole slot, and made his way to third on a return throw from the outfield. An error put runners at first and third, and Cabot coach Jay Darr made the decision to intentionally walk Dean Larson to load the bases.
That move paid off, as Cabot shortstop Tyler Erickson fielded a grounder and threw to catcher Ben Wainright for a force at the plate. Hunter Benton flew out to center for the third out.
Burks was 2 of 5 with a home run and a RBI to lead Cabot. Community Bank is now 10-8 on the season. They will play a doubleheader at Forrest City on Monday.
