By TODD TRAUB
Leader sports editor
Slow-starting Jacksonville Gwat-ney Chevrolet made it interesting, but Benton was able to hold on for an 11-8 victory in the Fourth of July American Legion Classic at Dupree Park on Sunday.
Gwatney rallied from a 4-0 deficit to tie it, and cut a 9-4 lead to 9-8 with a big fifth inning. But Benton got a pair of insurance runs in the seventh to outlast the host team.
“We made a little change on our approach at the plate,” Benton coach Russell Goodwin said. “We wanted the fly balls done away with, and we hit it hard too.”
“We just ran out of pitching,” said Gwatney coach Bob Hickingbotham, who left starter Jared Toney in for the whole game.
Gwatney tied it with a two-run fourth in which catcher Daniel Thurman hit an RBI single and scored when shortstop Kenny Cummings hit into a fielder’s choice.
Benton responded with a five-run fifth in which Jacksonville committed two errors and Blake Childress hit an RBI double and Chase Southworth hit a two-run home run over the left-field fence.
But Jacksonville wasn’t finished as it batted 10 in the bottom of the fifth. Caleb Mitchell, Jared Toney and Alex Tucker all singled and scored, with Tucker driving in a run and chasing starter Nathan Pirl from the game.
Daniel Thurman walked and scored, and D’Vone McClure drove in a run with an infield hit and Cummings drew a bases-loaded walk from reliever Cory Fitzhugh to drive in another. But Fitzhugh got Patrick Castleberry to fly out and Mitchell to ground out to finally end the inning and leave Benton clinging to its 9-8 lead.
“We hit the ball extremely well,” Hickingbotham said. “I was real proud of that. I would say that it was probably, in the last two weeks, that’s probably the best we’ve played.”
Fitzhugh collected himself to retire Gwatney in order over the final two innings. Neither he nor Pirl had pitched in the tournament.
“We’ve got the pitching, probably as strong as anybody in the state,” Goodwin said. “We’ve just got to be smarter as coaches and get the right ones in at the right time.”
Benton tacked on its final two runs in the seventh. Gene Duncan led off with an infield hit and Steven Brocks followed with a single to drive in Duncan, who advanced to third on an error and a wild pitch by Toney.
Brocks, who got to third on a throwing error by Toney, scored on Toney’s second wild pitch of the inning. Hickingbotham was about to pull Toney after he walked Southworthwith two down in the inning, but Toney signaled for one more hitter and got Austin Pfeiffer to fly out.
“That’s all you can ask them to do. That’s all I could ask them to do,” Hickingbotham said. “And again, we’re just totally out of pitching, that’s what killed us. And the kid did a great job on the mound. He stayed out there.”
Ashton Wilson walked and later took home on a double steal in the Benton first and Gene Duncan reached on a fielder’s choice and scored when Childress doubled to left. Wilson and Ethan Holicer hit RBI singles to make it 4-0 in the second.
Jacksonville, which got two on in the first and couldn’t score, cut it to 4-2 in the third when Castleberry hit an RBI double and scored on a throwing error to first by the catcher Holicer after Pirl threw a wild pitch.
“Jacksonville is swinging the bat real well,” Goodwin said. “They look good at the plate.”
