By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
A Lonoke player was heard saying, “that third out is a killer.” And that was the perfect summation Monday of the Remington Bullets’ 2-1 loss to Harrison in the American Legion AA state championship. Lonoke led 1-0 with two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the seventh inning against the tournament host. Then suddenly pitcher Blake Gooden’s dominance ended. Harrison reeled off back-to-back doubles to the wall in left field to tie the game, and a blooper just beyond the reach of first baseman Zack Risner drove in the game, and championship-winning run.
The Bullets were playing shorthanded and heavy-hearted. Christian and Madison James were home mourning the loss of their father, who died Saturday. With the starting catcher and starting third baseman gone, the Bullets were down to 10 players, and were playing players in positions they weren’t used to.
“These guys have nothing to hang their heads about and I just couldn’t be more proud of them,” Remington coach Steve Moore said. “To fight through everything they’ve been through and then come out here and play like this and almost win a state championship, there’s no way I could be any prouder of them.”
The Bullets were also the victims of bad luck on a few occasions, not the least of which was the last base hit of the game, which came on a Gooden pitch that completely fooled the batter. A last second decision to fight off the pitch resulted in a late poke at the lower outside corner, and it fell in perfectly for the home team. But there were other instances.
Twice Lonoke (17-10-2) loaded the bases with one out, and twice Gooden hit hard line drives. The first time was in the top of the fifth inning. Gooden pulled a hard grounder down the third baseline, where Harrison was playing him. A quick step onto the bag and a throw home got the double play and ended the inning.
In the seventh inning, Gooden ripped a line drive down the first baseline, but the ball hit teammate Josh Mathis in the ankle for one out, and dribbled towards the line where the first baseman only had to pick it up and touch the bag to get out of the jam.
“That would’ve been at least a double for sure,” Moore said. “It could’ve changed the game, but that’s just baseball. Sometimes you get the breaks and sometimes they go against you.”
Gooden had only given up two base hits through six and two-thirds innings before Harrison ripped off the three straight to win it. But there was help from the defense.
Earlier in the game, Lonoke shortstop Gage Johnson made a relay throw from well into left field that hit catcher Shane Pepper right on the baseline corner of the right batters box, halting a Harrison runner in his tracks at third. Lonoke got the next two outs without allowing the run to score.
Lonoke’s one run came in the fifth inning when Lane Moore singled to lead things off. Two batters later with one out, Nick Watson hit a fly ball deep into left field to score Moore on the sacrifice.
Only Moore, Gage Johnson, Pierce Johnson and Risner got base hits for Lonoke.
To get to the championship game, the Bullets needed a superb pitching performance for a first-round win over Pangburn, then a lot of runs to stay in the winners’ bracket. They got both to advance to the semifinals before dropping a game to Harrison on Sunday. That led to the elimination game on Monday.
In game one against Pangburn, Halbert threw six-and-a-third innings, giving up just four hits and one earned run while striking out seven and walking only one. He needed to be just that good as the Lonoke team scored just three runs for a 3-2 victory.
Pangburn’s Johnny Miller also gave up just four hits and one earned run, but Lonoke took advantage of a few Pangburn fielding mistakes and made the most of its opportunities. Miller struck out 12 Lonoke batters while also walking just one.
Lonoke got its first run when Gooden reached second base on an error at shortstop. Pepper moved him to third on a grounder, and Gooden scored on a passed ball during Moore’s at bat.
The Bullets made it 2-0 in the next inning after getting its two leadoff hitters on base. Halbert struck out, but reached first base on a strike-three passed ball. Johnson then walked and Watson advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt back to the pitcher. Christian James got the RBI with a sacrifice grounder to third base that scored Halbert.
Pangburn finally scored in the top of the fifth when Miller reached second base on an error, then scored on a Josh Bell single to left field.
No one scored again until the bottom of the sixth when Lonoke added an insurance run it turned out to need.
Moore got a leadoff single and Halbert was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Johnson then singled to load the bases with no outs, but Miller turned up the heat. He struck out the next three batters, but Moore was able to score on a passed ball during Watson’s at bat.
The error proved costly, as Pangburn added a run in the top of the seventh on another infield error. Gooden closed the game, getting the last two batters to strike out and ground out to shortstop.
Saturday’s game was totally different, with the Bullets pounding out 15 base hits in a 12-9 win over Hot Springs Lakeside. The Rams compiled 13 base hits, but also committed three errors that helped the Bullets take the win.
Five Bullets got multiple hits in the second-round game, led by three each by Moore and Halbert. Mathis, Risner and Pepper got two hits apiece while Gooden, Watson and Pierce Johnson got one each.
Moore and Mathis threw for Lonoke. Both have been excellent this season and even dominant of late, but Lakeside had the answer for both on Saturday. All nine Ram runs were earned as Lonoke committed no errors.
Remington scored four runs in the top of the first inning, only to see Lakeside match it in the bottom half of the same frame. Lonoke then scored two more in the second and added three in the third – two feats the Rams couldn’t match as Lonoke took a 9-4 lead into the fourth inning.
They made it 11-4 in the top of the fourth, but Lakeside finally got back on the board with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Lonoke added a run in the top of the sixth before Lakeside put together another four-run inning in the bottom of the sixth.
After watching Mathis struggle in the sixth, he decided to stick with him in the seventh inning, and his gamble paid off. Mathis got a pop up to second base, gave up a double to centerfield, got a fly out to right and clinched the game with a grounder to third.
In the first meeting with Harrison, Lonoke led 4-2 after five innings, but gave up a three-run sixth and lost, despite out-hitting the host team 9-5. Four errors, two of which came in the decisive sixth inning, aided Harrison’s victory.
The Bullets had to beat a familiar foe earlier in the day to advance to the championship nightcap. They beat White Hall for the third time this season 9-5. Just like in the win over Lakeside, both teams had big first innings, scoring three runs each. And just like against Lakeside, Remington began to pull away with runs in the second and third while not allowing any.
Risner led the way offensively in that game, going 3 for 4 with two doubles, two RBIs and two runs scored. Half of Lonoke’s 10 hits were doubles. Halbert hit one for two RBIs while Gooden and Watson added extra base hits.
Mathis got the win on the mound with four and two-thirds of work. He gave up just four hits and one earned run, but struggled at times with control, walking two and hitting four batters.