Pioneers Triumphant in Paragould; Move to 4th in DemGaz Poll

published Sunday, April 18, 2004

The Pioneers picked up 3 wins from Seneth, MO., 4A East opponent Paragould, and Jonesboro at the Paragould Tournament this weekend to claim the Champions' Trophy and move to 23 - 5 overall. The Democrat Gazette has posted them as 4th overall this week behind Bryant, Springdale and Sylvan Hills. The top 10 continues with LR Central, Watson Chapel, Bentonville, Searcy, Conway and Gosnell.

The Pioneers first round game occurred Friday afternoon against Seneth, Mo. The Missouri teams start their season much later in the season and were about 20 games behind us for the year. It showed on the field, particularly in their pitching. The Pioneers make run rule them, but not before scoring 27 runs in 5 at bats. Included were the first 4 of 7 Pioneer Home Runs for the tournament. Batting for the Pioneers: Francis - triple, single; Skinner - single; Fletcher - home run, double; Burba - double, single; Smith - double; Rhodes - 3 singles; Davis - home run, single; Platt - 2 singles; McDougal - single. Winning Pitcher Kyle Altom pitched 5 innings allowing 8 runs on 10 hits with 2 strikeouts and 4 walks.

Saturday afternoon sees the Pioneers back in Paragould facing their 4A conference opponents and one of the tournament hosts, the Paragould Rams. This would be a different ball game. With Pioneer pitcher Grant Gatlin has some control issues and is relieved after 1 1/3 innings with the Pioneers behind 4 - 2. Sophomore Evan Eary steps on the mound and the Rams quickly zero in on him and he is also relieved after 1 1/3 inning with the Pioneers now down 11 - 3. The celebration in the Rams dugout is obvious and they begin plans to wrap up our defeat in 5 innings. However, they underestimated the depth of the Pioneer bullpen and the determination of the Pioneers. Senior Andy Rogers takes the mound and the character of the game changes quickly. The Pioneers battle back with 2 runs in the 4th while Rogers adds 2 "K's" to his record. The Pioneers put 2 more on the board in the 5th, while the Rams manage to add 1 more. The Pioneer defense, also was struggling with errors throughout the field. Some of these may have been due to the low angle of the sun, but they still were not playing with their normal confidence. The Pioneer batters come back into play in the 6th inning scoring 6 runs and pulling within 1 run of the Rams. With 2 outs in the 6th Rogers is relieved after doing a great job on the mound by Senior Starting Pitcher Jeremy Burba in what I believe is his first appearance as a reliever this year. Burba faces 3 with 2 reaching on errors but ends the inning quickly. In the 7th the wheels fall off the train for the Rams when the Pioneers score 6 runs with home runs by Skinner and Burba. Burba makes quick work of the Rams batters and adds 2 strikeouts to his tally. Batting for the Pioneers: Francis - double, single; Skinner - home run, single; Burba - home run, single; Gatlin - 2 singles; Smith - triple, double, 2 singles; Rhodes - 2 singles; Davis - double, single; Rogers - double, single.

A quick break and the Pioneers retake the field as the home team for the Championship game against the Jonesboro Hurricanes. Pitcher Jeremy Burba retakes the mound and sets them down in order with 2 strikeouts. Two Pioneers reach base but are left on. The Hurricane pitcher is slow and deliberate taking an inordinate amount of time to deliver the ball, which appeared to have a maximum velocity in the 70's. While the Pioneers almost always put the ball in play they seemed to have trouble doing so effectively. In the 4th inning the Pioneers put their first run on the board when Grant Gatlin doubles and advances to third by a Patrick Smith base hit. Smith runs the delayed steal, it appeared to me that the pitcher balked at this point, however, he does turn and throw and Smith allowing Gatlin to score. After Burba allows 1 hit in the 5th he is relieved by Gatlin. The Hurricanes score 2 runs to put them ahead 2 - 1. Their lead will be brief though. In the bottom of the inning lead off batter Hunter Platt singles and is scored by Kyle Francis with a home run. The Hurricanes tie the score with a lead off home run, but Gatlin quickly retires the side with 3 strikeouts. Gatlin continues to pitch strongly in the 7th. The Hurricanes manage a lead off single, Sac bunt him to second but Gatlin closes them down with 2 strikeouts. The game comes down to the wire with the score even in the bottom of the 7th. In a near repeat of the 5th, lead off batter Platt reaches first. This time it took an HP to the back of the head but he shook it off and quickly stole 2nd base. Francis would close the book and claim the trophy for the Pioneers with a great shot into the right center gap to score Platt and end the game. Batting for the Pioneers: Francis - home run, double; Skinner - single; Gatlin - double; Smith - single; Platt - single. Pioneer Pitchers Burba and Gatlin combined for 15 strikeouts against the Hurricanes.

The Pioneers return to conference play on Tuesday and travel to Beebe for a double header with the Badgers. A sweep here would lock the Pioneers first conference championship in 4 years.