By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
The season didn’t end with a regional championship, but it was still a phenomenal run made by the Jacksonville Junior American Legion team.
The Gwatney Chevrolet squad closed the season on Monday with an 11-0 loss to regional host and champion Bryant, but won games en route to a district championship, a state runner up and a regional semifinal appearance.
After beating the Texas state champion on the first round of the regional on Friday, Jacksonville lost 2-0 to the Little Rock Cobras to fall to the losers’ bracket. It was the first loss to the Cobras in four meetings this season.
Once in the losers’ bracket, Gwatney faced an even more familiar foe in Cabot-Centennial Bank, and hammered the rival 15-1 as the Panther pitching struggled to throw strikes throughout the game on Sunday.
Things began poorly for the Chevy Boys in Sunday’s match up, as two fielding errors by pitcher Blake Perry led to the first and only run of the game for Cabot.
Perry pitched his way out of the jam in the first inning and got some help from poor base running by Cabot.
Centennial Bank leadoff hitter Lee Sullivan bounced one slowly back to Perry, but he failed to haul it in and wasn’t able to make a throw to first. Dylan Bowers then bunted back to the mound. Perry bobbled it, then his throw to first was wide and sailed into foul territory in right field. That allowed Sullivan to score and left Bowers safe at third base with no outs. Chris Odom hita hard grounder to shortstop and Bowers tried to score on the play. He was thrown out easily by shortstop Derek St. Clair. Gavin Tillery then hit a grounder to short for a 6-4 fielder’s choice, and Jonathan Latture flew out to right field to end the inning.
Centennial never got a hit off Perry, who dominated the rest of the game and threw his third no hitter of the season for the win.
Odom took the mound for Cabot and struggled to find the strike zone. The right-hander has pitched well this season, well enough to earn a few spot appearances for the senior team, but didn’t have it on Sunday.
St. Clair hit a leadoff double of the head of left fielder Austin Null. Odom walked Ryan Mallison and Perry to load the bases for catcher and cleanup hitter Greg Jones. Jones also ripped a double all the way to the wall in left, scoring all three base runners.
Odom finally settled in and didn’t give up another run in the inning, despite having a man at third with no outs. But he ran into trouble quickly again in the second and left the game after just an inning and a third.
Trevor Ransom and Laderrious Perry, Gwatney’s eight and nine hitters, combined to go 5 for 6 with five RBIs, two walks and two runs scored.
They started their tear in the second inning. Ransom led off with a single to left field. Laderrious Perry tried twice to bunt him over, but sent both bunts foul. Way behind in the count, he slapped a 1-2 pitch into the power alley in right-centerfield for an RBI triple.
He scored on a wild pitch during St. Clair’s at bat. The shortstop grounded out to third, but Mallison got another rally going with an infield single on a check swing that worked like a perfect bunt to shortstop.
Odom then walked Blake Perry and was finished for the day. Sullivan took the mound and also struggled, walking the first two batters he faced, the second for an RBI.
After getting Brandon Hickingbotham to fly out to centerfield, he walked James Tucker and gave up another single to Ransom, his second of the inning. He then walked Laderrious Perry, finishing his day with just one out recorded, four walks and one base hit allowed.
Null took the mound and got St. Clair to fly out to left to end the inning with Jacksonville leading 9-1.
Null started the third just like he ended the second, but getting Mallison to fly out to left. But he walked the next two and gave up a single to Courtland McDonald to load the bases.
He then walked Hickingbotham to make it 10-1. Tucker hit into what should have been an inning-ending double play, but the relay throw from second base was wild, allowing one run to score and leaving everyone safe. Ransom then walked and Null’s day was finished.
Tyler Gilbert took the mound and gave up an RBI single to Perry to make it 13-1, but struck out St. Clair and got Mallison to pop up to shortstop to end the inning.
Jacksonville’s last two runs came on four singles in the fourth, once each by Blake Perry, McDonald, Tucker and Ransom, who finished the day 3 for 3 with three RBIs and a run scored.
Laderrious Perry and McDonald got two hits apiece while Blake Perry went 1 for 1 with three walks and scored four runs.
Cabot pitchers walked 11 Jacksonville batters, while the Gwatney team compiled 12 base hits.
