By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville’s Gwatney Chevrolet junior American Legion team went 1-2 over the weekend at the North Little Rock Memorial Day tournament at Burns Park. After hammering Beebe 16-0 on Friday, Gwatney lost back-to-back games in the bottom of the last inning, falling 4-3 to Benton on Saturday and 7-5 to Cabot Centennial Bank Team Gross in the late game on Saturday.
Those are tough to lose like that,” Jacksonville coach David St. Clair said. “You just have to put those behind and move forward. They’ll bounce back.”
It was the loss to Benton Sports Stop that was particularly tough to take. Jacksonville found itself on the bitter end of a few dubious calls. One allowed a Benton run to score from second base on a pitch in the dirt that rolled underneath the fence.
Rules state that when a ball rolls out of play, base runners get one additional base. The umpires ruled the runner was already on third when the ball went out of play and allowed him to score. The run was the third for Benton in the top of the fifth inning, and gave the Sports Shop team a 3-1lead. Jacksonville pitcher Derek St. Clair struck out the first two batters of the inning, but then gave up two singles and double to allow two runs. Tyler Lewis, who hit the double, is the player that scored from second on a dead ball.
Jacksonville took an early lead when Troy Allen led off the bottom of the first inning by drawing a walk. He stole second base and scored on a two-out double by Just Abbott. The game stayed 1-0 until Benton’s rally in the top of the fifth, but Jacksonville answered and tied it in the bottom of the same inning.
St. Clair got a leadoff single to left field. Abbot then singled to score St. Clair and scored himself on a single by James Tucker.
Benton got the final run of the game in the top of the sixth with a little help from a Jacksonville error. Cody Fortner reached with one out on an error in right field. He scored on the next at bat when Tyler Hamilton singled to center to drive Fortner home.
Jacksonville had a rally going early in the bottom of the sixth, but another strange call helped thwart the rally. Eight-hole hitter Ryan Mallison got a leadoff single to centerfield. Nine-hole hitter Dejon Scott followed with a single to right field. But the field umpire ruled the ball off Scott’s bat hit Mallison as he was running to second. So instead of two runners on and no outs, there was one runner on with one out. Scott was then caught stealing and leadoff hitter Troy Allen struck out to end the game. After getting base hits on its first two at bats, the Gwatney club went down in order in the final inning.
St. Clair went the distance for Jacksonville. He gave up seven hits and two earned runs, struck out four and walked two.
Jacksonville faced four Benton pitchers in the six-inning encounter. The Gwatney team got six base hits, but drew six walks. They left seven runners stranded and were thrown out on the base paths twice.
Gwatney’s next game is a junior-senior doubleheader against Little Rock Blue tonight at Dupree Park. The junior game is set to begin at 6 p.m.
