By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Remington Bullets jumped on the River Valley Tropics early then piled on late en route to a dominant 14-0 victory Monday in Clarksville.
The Lonoke AA team scored two runs in the first inning and another in the second to take an early lead, then began to dominate with four in the third, three in the fourth and four more in the fifth to end the game early on the sportsmanship rule.
“Our pitching was really good and we hit it well,” Lonoke coach Steve Moore said. “We had no errors, may have walked one. We just had a really good day in all aspects of the game. Usually when you do that you’re in pretty good shape.”
Lane Moore started on the mound and gave up just two hits in three innings of work. He yielded to Chris Fisher with a 7-0 lead, but Fisher didn’t let the big cushion ease his intensity. He gave up just one hit in the final two innings.
Lonoke got its first-inning runs thanks to a couple of errors by River Valley, but not until after Shane Pepper tripled to start the game.
Another error got things rolling for Lonoke in the second inning when Reid McKenzie reached on an E6. Christian James then singled to right field to put runners on first and second. A passed ball moved the runners into scoring position and Pepper scored McKenzie with a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.
Moore singled to start the third inning and James doubled to right field to drive in Moore. Guy Halbert drew a walk and Garrett Spears singled to score James and move Halbert to third base. Halbert then scored on a wild pitch. Spears scored on an RBI single by McKenzie to make it 7-0.
Moore got the ball rolling in the three-run rally in the top of the fourth with an infield single. He advanced to second on a throwing error. James then singled again and moved Moore to third base. Halbert reached on a 5-4 fielder’s choice that got James thrown out at second but scored Moore from third. Spears then walked and McKenzie singled to right field to drive in both base runners and give Lonoke a 10-0 lead.
Remington’s four runs in the fifth all came with two outs. Wade Stout singled to centerfield to start the rally. Fisher walked with one out and James flew out to right field for the second out, leaving runners on the corners. Halbert singled to score Stout and Chris Smith walked to load the bases.
Trevor Ransom then singled to Fisher and Halbert. McKenzie reached on an error that reloaded the bases and Madison James walked to drive in the final run of the game.
McKenzie went 2 for 4 with three RBIs. Ransom and Madison James batted in two runs apiece for Lonoke, which now stands at 9-7 overall.
After going 0-3 with a short roster in the season-opening Memorial Day tournament at North Little Rock, the Bullets have gone 9-4, with three of those losses coming to Senior American Legion teams. They are 9-1 against AA teams and 6-0 against teams in their zone, staking a claim as one of the premier AA teams in the state.
“We went into this deal initially with the state championship as our goal,” Moore said. “It’s still the same goal. We think we have a chance.”
Lonoke’s next game will be in the Newport Invitational tournament at 5 p.m. Thursday against an opponent to be determined.
