Russellville is in the driver's seat among 6A baseball teams in the 7A/6A-Central Conference, while Siloam Springs is looking a do-or-die situation right in the face.
The Cyclones blew through the Panthers on Monday 12-6 at James Butts Baseball Complex in a 7A/6A-Central game to improve to 3-0 against 6A competition in its first run through the league.
The loss was the 12th straight for Siloam Springs, which dropped to 0-3 against 6A teams and faces a must-win home game against Alma on Friday. If the Panthers are able to defeat the Airedales, they'll keep their 6A playoff hopes alive with games at Greenwood and at Russellville still to play. If Siloam Springs loses to Alma, they'll be eliminated from playoff contention.
"If we lose to Alma on Friday, we're mathematically out," said Siloam Springs head coach Alan Hardcastle. "If we beat Alma, if we beat Greenwood, we've got a pretty good chance. We've got to play all these guys one more time, and I told the guys if we win three we're in. If we win two we're in, but we've got to beat Alma on Friday."
The Panthers needed a positive result on Monday against the Cyclones -- the defending 6A state champions -- but Russellville jumped on Siloam Springs from the opening inning.
The Cyclones took advantage of a Panthers error to go up 1-0 in the first inning and scored two more in the second off two hits and another error.
Russellville scored six more in the third to go up 9-0. In that inning, the Cyclones took advantage of four hits, two walks, a hit batsman, three wild pitches and an error.
"In the third inning it just kind of falls apart," Hardcastle said. "We had a couple of passed balls, and we're not busting it to try and get back there and get the guy coming from third to home."
Russellville first baseman Andy Campbell hit a solo home run to open the fourth inning and Russellville added another run to take an 11-0 lead.
That was plenty of runs for Russellville starter and 2014 state MVP pitcher Mark Moyer -- a Central Arkansas signee -- to work with.
Moyer (3-0) escaped trouble in the first three innings as the Panthers left runners on second and third in each of the first three innings. Moyer gave up six hits and walked four batters, but he struck out nine as well.
"This was a scary, scary game for me," said Russellville coach Matt Long. "You know what you're going to get when you pitch Moyer. You're going to be in the game. But Siloam, to be honest with you, is the only team that's squared Mark up. They had six hits off him. The most hits he'd given up in a game thus far is two."
Siloam Springs got to Moyer in the bottom of the fourth when sophomore Chandler Cook hit a three-run home run over the left-center field fence as the Panthers pulled within 11-3. It was Cook's and the Panthers' first home run of the season.
"Just being a sophomore, that kid if we could just harness his energy, man he's going to be a good one," Hardcastle said of Cook. "I was glad to see him do that. ... I'm really, really excited about Chandler."
Russellville pulled ahead 12-3 with a run in the sixth. The Panthers scored three in the seventh to set the final score.
Harrison Kretzer reached on an error and Josh Hunt and Chance Junkermann were both hit by pitches to load the bases for Siloam Springs. Kyle Comiskey and Cook each drew RBI walks to score two runs and Logan Hamilton, who was pinch-running for Junkermann, scored on a wild pitch to make it 12-6. The Panthers had two more men on base but Matthew McSpadden struck out to end the ballgame.
Dawson Armstrong (0-4) took the loss for Siloam Springs, pitching the first 2 1/3 innings. Hunt pitched the final 4 2/3 innings.
Russellville (6-10, 3-6) is scheduled to host Greenwood on Friday. The Cyclones beat Greenwood 5-0 earlier this year and also defeated Alma 6-1, both wins by Moyer.
The Panthers host Alma on Friday. Alma (3-15, 2-7) defeated Siloam Springs 6-0 on March 31. The Airedales went 1-2 in the first half against 6A competition in conference play.
Russellville 12, Siloam Springs 6
Russellville 126 201 0 -- 12 13 1
Siloam Springs 000 300 3 -- 6 7 4
Moyer, Barker (6), Freeman (7) and Ellis; Armstrong, Hunt (3) and Pruitt, Reed (3). W - Moyer, 3-0. L - Armstrong, 0-4. Sv - None. HRs - Russellville, Campbell (1). Siloam Springs, Cook (1).
Sports on 04/22/2015