By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot’s Centennial Bank class AA American Legion team got its third win of the season Monday night at the city ballpark in Cabot. The AA squad beat Lake Hamilton 3-0 in the second game of a doubleheader. The junior team went extra innings in the first game to notch a 9-8 win, making it a sweep of the visiting Wolves.
“It was a fun night,” Cabot AA fill-in coach Craig Nyborg said. Cabot’s usual coach, David Smith, who is also the Cabot High assistant coach, cannot have any contact with players through the current two-week, Arkansas Activities Association-enforced dead period.
“The guys were really loose and just had a good time with it. They played really well.”
Southpaw Kason Kimbrell was dominant on the mound. He carried a no hitter into the fourth inning before giving up a leadoff single to Shawn Faught, but the Wolves never seriously threatened until the final inning.
Cabot got a lead early with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first inning. Charlie Hancock got things rolling with a single to right field. Tyler Wilkie was hit by a pitch and Hayden Vinson beat out an infield single to load the bases. Josh Mathis then walked to drive in the run.
Cabot capped the scoring in the next inning with three consecutive hits plus a Lake Hamilton error.
Nathan Thomas started things off with a one-out single to right. Grant Bell then singled to center, bringing Riley Knudsen to the plate. Knudsen singled to left and Thomas tried to score from second, but the Lake Hamilton left fielder’s throw bypassed the cutoff man and hit the catcher’s glove right in the baseline path of the runner. The terrific throw got Thomas, who made a leaping attempt to avoid the tag.
Two runners remained on base, and a routine grounder to second turned into a two-run error, giving Cabot a three-run lead that remained the rest of the game.
Lake Hamilton rallied in the final inning. Faught singled to start the frame, and a one-out error at second base left runners on first and second. Kimbrell yielded to right-hander Cole Thomas, who gave up a hit to Trent Curry to load the bases, but struck out the final two batters to seal the Cabot victory.
Vinson led the way offensively for Cabot, getting base hits in each of his two at bats. Bell, Knuesen, Hancock and Thomas each got base hits in the game.
Kimbrell went four-and-a-third innings for Centennial Bank, giving up just two hits while fanning six.
The Cabot AA team improved to 3-9 on the season, and will host Sylvan Hills on Thursday at the city park.
In the earlier game, Lake Hamilton came back from three runs down to tie the game in the fourth inning. With time expired in the sixth, Cabot came back to score and get the win. Devin Burke got the game-winning hit, a drive to centerfield that scored the winning run.
