By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The Centennial Bank Junior American Legion Team 1 is the Zone 3 tournament champion, cruising through the tournament with four wins and no losses, and only being seriously threatened in one game.
Cabot opened play in the state tournament on Friday night against Paragould and will continue play on Saturday in Sheridan.
Heading into state, Panther coach Chris Gross feels good about how his team has played lately.
“They’ve been playing really good actually,” Gross said. “They’re hitting the ball really well. It’s a totally different team from when the season started. They’re playing together really well and getting quality at bats.”
The Panthers opened with a 14-1 win over Conway. They beat Sylvan Hills 8-4 to advance to the winners’ bracket finals, where they handled Jacksonville 16-11. Taking on Clarksville, which battled its way out of the loser’s bracket, the Panthers escaped 1-0 before facing Jacksonville again on Tuesday night for the tournament title. The Gwatney Chevrolet team beat Conway to get back to its rematch with Cabot.
This time it wasn’t as close as the first one, with Cabot winning 16-3.
The Panthers piled up 13 base hits in the championship game with leadoff hitter and starting pitcher Riley Knudsen leading the way. Offensively, Knudsen went 3 for 5 with two doubles and five runs batted in. He also went the distance on the mound, giving up just two hits while striking out eight and walking five.
Cabot pounced early and controlled the entire game. The Panthers plated eight runs in the top of the first inning and were never threatened. They added three in the top of the second to make it 11-0 before Jacksonville got on the board with two in the bottom of the second.
Gavin Tillery also had three hits in the game while Lee Sullivan and Tristan Bulice got two base hits each. Sullivan also finished with three RBIs.
Gross believes the team’s 40-game schedule is a big reason why it has come on so strong at the plate.
“We’ve just been playing a bunch of baseball,” Gross said. “We haven’t had a lot of hitting practice or anything. We’ve gained a lot of experience at the plate just through playing a lot, and we just started to feel really comfortable up there.”
In the previous game against Clarksville, the game’s only run came in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jonathan Latture beat out a grounder to the gap between shortstop and third base. Clarksville’s shortstop made a good stop, but Latture beat the throw for an infield single. Dalten Hurst then hit a line drive to the gap in right-centerfield for an RBI double that proved to be the game winner.
Landon James started on the mound and threw four innings, giving up three hits while striking out four and walking no one. He yielded to Tillery, who pitched the final three innings, giving up just one hit while also fanning four and walking none.
Cabot’s pitching has also been solid in recent weeks, leaving Gross feeling very confident about that aspect of his team’s game as they head to state.
“I don’t know if we have the deepest in the tournament because I don’t know what everyone else has,” Gross said. “But I do think we have a lot of depth at pitching. I believe I have four solid starters that I can count on to pitch a whole game.”
Cabot, 26-14, finished with five base hits with Knudsen, Adam Hicks and Sullivan getting on each along with Latture and Hurst.
The Panthers have now won 11 of their last 12 games and have scored 118 runs in those 11 wins.
A win on Friday means Cabot will play at 7:30 p.m. today against the winner between Jonesboro and Sheridan.. A loss means a game at noon against the loser of the same game.
