By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
It took five and a half hours to complete one baseball game. Cabot and Jacksonville met at 7 p.m. Thursday at Burns Park in North Little Rock for a first-round matchup in the Zone 3 Senior American Legion tournament. After an hour and 45-minute delay for lightning in the middle of the second inning, they finally finished at 12:30 a.m. Friday with Cabot coming out on top 12-10, thanks largely to numerous base running blunders by Jacksonville that blew prime scoring opportunities.
Jacksonville also committed six errors on defense to give up eight unearned runs. Cabot wasn’t pristine either. The Centennial Bank Panthers committed four errors and gave up five unearned runs.
The Gwatney Chevrolet squad battled back from an 8-3 deficit to take a 9-8 lead in the sixth inning.
The Chevy Boys put their first two batters on base in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings and got just one run because of base running mistakes.
Meanwhile Cabot scored the final four runs of the game on three hits, three Gwatney errors, three walks and a hit batter.
With one out in the top of the seventh, Just Goff reached base on a throwing error by Gwatney third baseman Chris McClendon. Dustin Morris then doubled to left-centerfield to score Goff. Cole Thomas flew out to center, but an error by shortstop Kenny Cummings allowed Morris to score and give Cabot a 10-9 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh, McClendon singled toright field to lead off the inning. Jared Wilson then bunted for a singled down the third baseline. Catcher Greg Jones struck out by fouling off three bunt attempts. Austin Allen reached on an error by Dustin Morris at shortstop that loaded the bases. Cummings then popped up to second base for the second out. Alex Tucker singled to centerfield to score McClendon. Wilson stopped at third, but Allen didn’t stop at second and got caught on the base paths for the third out of the inning.
In the eighth, Gwatney’s Jamie McCranie took the mound in relief of starter Jesse Harbin. He struck out Tristan Bulice and Casey Vaughan to start the inning, but Tyler Carter and Dustin Morris singled to make it 11-9.
Jacksonville again got its first two batters on base when Ryan Mallison and Xavier Brown drew walks from reliever Cole Thomas. McCranie then hit a hard line drive to left field where Scott Burnett made the catch and doubled up Mallison, who failed to wait and see if the catch was made before trying to score on the hit. McClendon then hit an infield single to shortstop to put runners on the corners with two outs. Wilson then went rogue and tried to reach on an uncalled bunt, but was thrown out for the third out of the inning.
Cabot (17-13) added aonther run without a hit in the top of the ninth. Scott Burnett reached on a one-out error by Mallison at second base. McCranie then hit Bryson Morris and walked Bulice to load the bases. Vaughan, who McCranie had struck out in his last bat, then called three timeouts on two pitches before Jacksonville coach Bob Hickingbotham brought Brown to the mound. He walked Vaughan to drive in the final run of the game.
Jacksonville got another rally going in the ninth when the eight and nine hitters reached base to start it off. Jones walked and Derek St. Clair checked in to run for the Gwatney catcher. Allen singled with a hard line drive off closing pitcher Ryan Logan’s leg to put runners at first and second. With Cummings at the plate, a breaking ball got by catcher Tristan Bulice, but stopped right behind him. St. Clair held at second, but Allen again lost sight of his fellow base runners and charged into second base, forcing St. Clair to try to get to third where Bulice easily threw him out. Cummings then struck out and Tucker grounded out to first base to end the game.
Cabot got on the board first in the top of the second inning, scoring three runs on four base hits and one error. Goff, Dustin Morris, Wilkie and Burnett each got base hits to account for the three earned runs. Jacksonville made it 3-2 with two earned runs on two hits, a walk and sacrifice by Jones. Gwatney tied it in the third when Cummings beat out an infield single, stole second base, reached third on a balk by starting pitcher Kyle Kaufman, and scored on a sacrifice grounder by Tucker.
Cabot scored five in the top of the fourth for an 8-3 lead. Thomas led off with a single but was thrown out on a 5-4 fielder’s choice by Wilkie, that also saw an error by Brown on his relay throw to first. Cummings then fumbled a double-play ground ball off Burnett’s bat that left everyone safe.
Bryson Morris then hit a grounder to second base. Brown made the play, but McRanie dropped the ball at first, leaving the bases loaded. Bulice then walked to drive in a run, Vaughan singled to drive in another RBI. Carter hit a sacrifice grounder to second base for the third running of the inning and Goff hit a hard shot to right field that burned Tucker and bounced over the fence for a two-RBI ground-rule double.
Jacksonville then scored the next six runs of the game, starting with one in the bottom of the fourth. Mclendon walked with one out, Wilson reached on an error at second base and Jones singled to left to score McClendon. Jacksonville got three base hits with no outs in the fifth to score two runs. Tucker singled, Harbin doubled to left and Brown singled. Cabot then turned a 6-4-3 double play and Wilson grounded out to second to end the rally as quickly as it started.
Jacksonville’s brief lead came after a three-run sixth. Jones walked to start things off. Allen bunted back to the pitcher, but Thomas’ throw to second base was high. Cummings bunted the runners into scoring position. Tucker was hit to load the bases. Harbin singled to drive in one run, but two runs scored on an error by Dustin Morris. Brown hit a grounder to second base that got Tucker thrown out at second. It Allen scored on the sacrifice, but Tucker also scored when Morris’ throw to first was off the mark.
As a result of the win, Cabot faced North Little Rock at 8 p.m. last night. Jacksonville will play at 4 p.m. today against the loser of Friday’s Sylvan Hills versus Russellville matchup.
