PRAIRIE GROVE -- Prairie Grove coach Chris Mileham sees light at the end of the tunnel despite a 13-2 spanking at the hands of Siloam Springs in the season opener, Monday, Feb. 26.
"Two of our best hitters, Drew Cates and Silas Myane, were down with the weather," Mileham said. "They couldn't go tonight. It was a good opportunity to get our younger players some experience. I'm proud of them. After the third inning (a 7-run blitz by Siloam Springs), they threw up three zeroes in a row."
Mileham sees potential in a trio of players.
"Jadin Higgins was as advertised," Mileham said. "Couper Allen did his part. He was solid behind the plate. He caught a pop-up and threw a guy out. Freshman Jackson Sorters made so many plays at second. (Sorters was 4-for-4 catching throws to his base with no errors.) He was as smooth as anyone we had."
There were flashes.
Trailing 8-0 in the third inning, Chase Wade and Couper Allen produced back-to-back RBI doubles on the heels of a walk issued to Cole Simmons. James Birmingham was hit by Panthers' starter Baron Meek, a junior right-hander. Wade drove in one run, but a base-running error cost the Tigers an out. Allen's bat drove in another Tiger, but the base running mistake cost Prairie Grove a run.
Siloam Springs coach Alan Hardcastle attributed Meek's lapse on the mound, in part to the weather, and pulled him.
"That was a long inning for him," Hardcastle said. "I think staying in the dugout so long cooled him off and then he got a little tired there, but we were going to try to keep him under 50 (pitches) anyway with it being his first outing and he threw 52, so that was a decent start for him."
The Panthers put the game away with five more runs in the top of the seventh inning. Taylor Pool and Chance Hillburn drove in runs with the Tigers surrendering three more on malady of miscues, including an error, wild pitch and passed ball.
"We didn't know what to expect," Hardcastle said. "With the rain, we hadn't been outside a whole lot, but the guys came out swinging and they were ready to go."
The Panthers pounded out 11 hits and took advantage of eight Prairie Grove errors. Trey Hardcastle was 2-for-3 with four RBIs for the Panthers, and Jackson Knight was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Sports on 03/07/2018