By CHAD MATCHETT
Special to The Leader
The Sylvan Hills Bruins put themselves behind the 8-ball in the first inning Monday night in a 14-5 loss to the North Little Rock Colts.
The Bruins scored in the top of the first, but gave up eight runs in the bottom half thanks to an error, three walks, two hit batters and three hits as their record fell to 1-5.
“We seem to have one bad inning every game,” said Sylvan Hills coach Jim Fink said. “We had been doing it late in games, but we did it right off the bat today.”
The Bruins looked to be in good shape with their early run. Conner Eller walked, moved around on a single by Korey Arnold, then scored on a ground-out by Blake Manning.
Things didn’t improve for the Bruins in the second inning after being set down in order in the top half. The Colts added four runs to take a 12-1 lead. Three consecutive singles, followed by an error and another single put North Little Rock firmly in control.
“Our defense isn’t consistent right now, but give them credit, they hit the ball hard,” said Fink. “We just have to keep working. This is just our second game having everyone together and we’re still working out the kinks.”
Sylvan Hills did show some offense after having eight in a row retired. Arnold doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the fourth inning. Cory Jones and Mike Lock started off the fifth with walks. Dalton Freeling was hit by a pitch and all three scored after a wild pitch and Eller’s two-run single.
