Things did not start well for Benton Sport Shop in the first round of the Junior American Legion State Tournament against the Russellville Pirates Friday at Warriors Field in Conway. In fact, Sport Shop still looked asleep when they gave up four first-inning runs and trailed 6-1 after four innings.
But, Benton would wake up scoring two runs in the fifth and five in the sixth to take a lead before eventually winning 9-8 in 10 innings of extra-inning play.
Tied 8-8 after the regulation seven innings, no one scored in the eighth and ninth innings, and Sport Shop received a gift in the 10th when Karsyn Buchanan drew a one-out walk, was erased at second base on Peyton Hudgins’ fielder’s choice, but Adam Sims came through with his fifth hit of the day, a single to left field. Hudgins was stopping at second base on the hit, but the Russellville left fielder allowed it to go under his glove, and with Hudgins’ speed, that was all she wrote as he scored from second for the game-winner.
Though it ended well for Sport Shop, it most definitely did not start well as a leadoff single turned into a double when the Benton right fielder allowed it to get past him. An error by the shortstop followed, as did two singles to score two runs. Another error, this time by the third baseman, came before Benton starter Jaden Ashalintubbi struck the next man out for what should have been the third out. But, an RBI single and bases-loaded hit by pitch led to two more runs in the 4-run inning with just one of those earned.
Sport Shop would get an RBI double from Sims to make it a 4-1 game after one, but the Pirates scored one in the second and one in the fourth to go up 6-1. Benton would fight back, though. Keaton Collatt led the bottom of the fifth with a single and Buchanan’s sacrifice bunt turned into a Pirate error. Hudgins took his third straight walk to load the bases before Sims knocked in Collatt and Tristan Hawkins’s sacrifice fly made it a 6-3 game.
Lefty reliever Caleb Sollars gave up a run in the top of the sixth to make it a 7-3 Benton deficit, but Sport Shop would come back with a vengeance in the bottom of the inning. Eli Williams led off with a single and Sollars reached on his sacrifice bunt attempt. Collatt reached on a fielder’s choice and the bases were loaded on Buchanan’s walk before Hudgins unloaded them with a 3-run double to make it a 7-6 game. Sims followed with his third RBI of the game, a single to center to score Hudgins for the tie, and Sims scored on an error by the center fielder to give Benton the 8-7 lead.
Sollars would issue a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh, which eventually scored to tie things up at the end of regulation, but it was Sollars who kept Sport Shop in it. Sollars would shut Russellville out over the next three innings of the game, giving up just a single in that span, and picked up the win giving up two runs on four hits and five walks, striking out six in 6.2 innings of relief.
At the plate, Sims went 5 for 6 with three RBIs, Hudgins was 1 for 3 with three runs and three RBIs, and Collatt, Blake Farrell and Williams all added a hit apiece.