By JASON KING
Leader sportswriter
Cabot Centennial Bank had one pitcher caught in a traffic jam, but the staff survived its other jams to limp to the finish a step ahead of the Sylvan Hills bullpen.
Cabot captured its first American Legion Senior Zone 3 District Tournament championship with a come-from-behind, 8-5 victory over the Bruins in the final at Burns Park on Monday night. With scheduled starter Chase Beasley running late because of traffic, Cabot’s short-handed and weary pitching staff kept the team in the game until Cabot rallied for three runs in the eighth to take the lead it held the rest of the way.
Cabot (22-11) will take on Benton in the first round of the state tournament at 10 a.m. Friday at Burns Park. North Little Rock claimed the No. 2 seed as tournament host.
Cabot’s unbeaten run through the double-elimination tourney was threatened before the game got under way when Beasley was caught in a lengthy delay on Interstate 40. A semi truck hauling diesel fuel overturned Monday afternoon, bringing traffic to a standstill for several hours.
Cabot coach Jay Darr tried to go with C.J. Jacoby, but Jacoby’s tender arm could not withstand another start and he was pulled after walking his first batter. That left Taylor McFarlin, listed as a catcher and second baseman on the roster, to take over.
“I can’t say enough about the job that Taylor did,” Darr said. “That kid has pitched about 1 2/3 innings all season long, and has had no at-bats. I told him to stickwith me, and when I called on him, it was going to be big. He deserves all the credit in the world for bringing us back.”
McFarlin did not allow an earned run until giving up two in the bottom of the fourth, when Powell Bryant relieved him. Bryant, primarily an outfielder, kept the Bruins scoreless until Korey Arnold belted a two-run home run over the center-field fence in the bottom of the seventh to give Sylvan Hills a 5-3 lead.
Tyler Erickson closed out the final two innings for Centennial Bank and gave up only one hit. That denied Sylvan Hills a chance to reclaim the lead after Cabot rallied in the top of the eighth to take its first lead of the game, 6-5.
“This is the first one Cabot has won to my knowledge,” Darr said of the zone title. “It’s especially hard in these senior brackets because of the way they’re formatted.
“We knew that if you can stay in the winner’s bracket, you give yourself a chance. I have to give Sylvan Hills a lot of credit for coming out of the losers bracket and playing as hard as they did — I know they were down on pitching, too. For our program, this is big.”
Sylvan Hills broke a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth when Blake Rasdon singled to left and eventually scored when Greg Atchinson singled three batters later. Leadoff hitter Ty Van Schoyck then drove in Atchinson with a single to right, making it 3-1 Bruins.
That’s how it stayed until the top of the sixth when Cabot’s Matt Turner led off with a double off the left-center field wall. Matt Evans walked and Andrew Reynolds hit a single to score both runners and tie it 3-3.
Sylvan Hills had similar pitching problems. The Bruins got six strong innings from starter Aaron Sarna, but when Sarna’s arm tired, relievers Arnold and Michael Lock struggled with a Cabot team intent on rallying.
Arnold stopped Cabot’s first rally attempt in the top of the seventh. Joe Bryant doubled and advanced to third when Atchinson misplayed Ty Steele’s bouncer to shortstop. Steele quickly stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, but Arnold struck out Turner, Evans and Erickson in order.
But Arnold was not as fortunate the next inning. He walked Reynolds and Cole Nicholson to open the eighth, then retired two hitters to bring up the leadoff man Joe Bryant, who delivered a triple in the left-center field gap to tie it 5-5. Joe Bryant scored the go-ahead run when Rasdon misplayed Steele’s grounder at third for an error.
Evans and Erickson added insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Both singled, and Evans scored on Nicholson’s sacrifice and Erickson scored on a passed ball.
Joe Bryant was 3 for 5 with a triple, two RBI and two runs. The No. 7 hitter Nicholson was 2 for 4 with an RBI.
For Sylvan Hills, Van Schoyck was 2 for 3 with two runs and Arnold was 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBI.
