By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Jacksonville’s senior American Legion team made it 3-1 against Cabot this season, beating the Centennial Bank squad 8-5 Thursday night in the second round of the Fourth of July Classic at Dupree Park.
The Gwatney team got two home runs from leadoff hitter Jacob Abrahamson, and another from Patrick Castleberry to aid the win. It also got another good performance on the mound from Jesse Harbin.
“We didn’t do much most of the game, but we swung the bats pretty well early and then again late, so we got something,” Jacksonville coach Bob Hickingbotham said.
Indeed, Cabot pitcher Cole Nicholson gave up just three hits in the first five innings, but two of them were solo homers in the first.
Abrahamson started the game with a shot to right-center field, a spot that seemed like a black hole for baseball early in the game.
Two batters later Castleberry sent one out to almost the same spot.
Cabot wasn’t without its own power. To start off the next half inning, Centennial second baseman Tyler Erickson sent one out to the exact same spot. Andrew Reynolds walked two batters later, and an error by Abrahamson at shortstop allowed Reynolds to score and tie the game.
It was the first of four errors at shortstop for Jacksonville, all of which combined to give Cabot four unearned runs in the game.
The score stayed 2-2 until the fourth, when a pair of Cabot miscues aided a two-out rally that led to two Gwatney runs. Nick Rodriguez drew a two-out walk, and an error at third base on a groundball left Alex Tucker and Rodriguez safe.
Austin Allen then hit a hard single to left that should’ve just loaded the bases, but the ball got past Bryson Morris, allowing the base runners to score and putting Gwatney back up by two runs.
Cabot got one back in the top of the fifth when Dillon Wilson’s double to left scored Reynolds, who had reached on an E6, but Jacksonville added four in the sixth to take a five-run lead.
Colt Harmon started it off with a blooper between shortstop and left field. Cabot’s Matt Evans made a diving stab but couldn’t make the grab, and Harmon was able to stretch the blooper into a double on a close play at second. Xavier Brown then walked and Rodriguez got another dinked single to second base that scored Harmon from third.
Tucker sacrificed the runners over and Allen grounded out, but that brought Abrahamson back to the plate, where he hit his second home run of the game, this time a three-run line drive right down the third baseline.
Cabot rallied in the seventh with the help of two Abrahamson errors sandwiching a double by Evans, but Erickson was thrown out at second after the second error, Chip Morris grounded out to third and Harbin fanned the last batter to seal the win.
Harbin gave up five hits and one earned run in the win. He struck out seven and walked five.
Hickingbotham liked what he saw offensively.
“That kid they had on the mound is a good one,” Hickingbotham said of Nicholson. “He shut us down when we played them over at their place. We didn’t light him up, but we were able to get some good swings and get some runs.”
Cole Nicholson went the distance and took the loss for Cabot. He gave up seven hits and six earned runs, striking out four and walking three.
The win left Jacksonville to 12-3 on the season while Cabot fell to 11-7.
The tournament is a short one this year, with Searcy dropping out a few days before the event and Russellville canceling its appearance at 11 p.m. the night before the event began. The championship game will be at 2 p.m. Sunday.
