PRAIRIE GROVE -- Facing a formidable opponent, Prairie Grove baseball coach Chris Mileham tapped into a psychological strategy, using Shiloh Christian's fears of giving up a stolen base against them.
The Tigers captured a 1-0 lead in the second inning, capitalizing on back-to-back errors by the Saints, which allowed the first two runners on base, Austin Jentzsch was at second with Silas Myane at first. Chase Wade then hit into a double play, but Jentzsch reached third safely. After reaching a full-count, Cole Speed fouled off three straight pitches, then drew a walk. Couper Allen came to bat with two outs and runners at the corners.
With the count even at 2-2 and repeated throws to first base, Prairie Grove employed a a bit of trickery to get a run across the plate. Shiloh starter Connor Clark (2 hits, 3 strike-outs over 4 and 1/3 innings) threw to first. When the ball went back to the mound, Tiger skipper Chris Mileham used Shiloh's fears against them.
Speed came far enough off the bag to induce a throw to second. Jentzsch scored from third while the Saints were preoccupied with tracking down Speed in a rundown.
"It was a planned play, we ran a delayed steal where the runner stays in a run-down," Mileham said. "Cole Speed did an awesome job. He stayed in it long enough to give Austin Jentzsch a chance to steal home."
The Tiger lead stood until the fourth inning when the Saints tied the game, then edged ahead, 2-1. They added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth. Shiloh reliever Landon Brown (2 2/3 innings, no hits, 7 strike-outs) retired the Tigers in order in the sixth and seventh to make the Saints' 4-1 lead hold up.
"It was a good game, a 1-0 game going into the fourth inning," Mileham said. "We loaded up the bases in the fifth with one out. Drew Cates had a 12-pitch at-bat with two outs, then the Landon Brown kid got one by him. He was throwing about 86-88 miles-an-hour, that's a tough challenge. Shiloh is blessed with some good talent. Coach Mo Henry does a great job, he surrounds himself with good coaches. Both clubs knew going in it was going to be backyard brawl situation. We fully expected that."
Clark helped his cause at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a triple. Conor Germann and Luke Johnson were each 2-for-3 and Logan Raben had 2 RBIs for the Saints.
Clay Fidler took the loss for the Tigers, allowing 7 hits and striking out 4 batters. Fidler and Reed Orr had both of Prairie Grove's hits. Mileham had high praise for Fidler's performance on the mound.
"Clay had a good outing, he had his good stuff to give us a chance," Mileham said. "Last summer we saw that from him. Early in this season we hadn't seen it. He's starting to come around."
Mileham said the tough level of competition was good for his ball-club and fully expects the Tigers will see the Saints again down the road. The final score was 4-1 in favor of Shiloh Christian.
Sports on 04/05/2017