The Siloam Springs baseball team had a mostly forgettable first two games Monday in the Best of the West Tournament held in the Memphis area, but the Panthers rebounded nicely on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Siloam Springs picked up a pair of wins in its last two games to finish the tournament 2-2 and return home with a 7-6 overall record through spring break.
"I was definitely happy with the way we came back and played the last two games," said head coach Alan Hardcastle. "I'm happy with them. They're not peaking yet, but they're coming along just a little bit at a time. These guys are learning and getting better. I really think we've got a shot to make things happen (in conference play)."
Siloam Springs 11, Fayette Academy 5
On Tuesday, the Panthers defeated Fayette Academy out of Somerville, Tenn., at USA Stadium in Millington, Tenn., the training ground for the USA Olympic Baseball team from 1986 to 1996.
The Panthers fell behind 1-0 in the third inning, but Siloam Springs scored twice in the bottom of the inning and added a run to go up 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth.
Taylor Pool got the rally started with a walk in the third inning and Chandler Cook singled. Nolan Wallis, who was courtesy running for Pool, scored on Eli Hawbaker's groundout, and Dawson Armstrong drove in Cook with a double for a 2-1 lead.
Baron Meek singled in the fourth and stole second. He advanced to third on a bunt hit by Pool and later scored on an error.
Fayette Academy tied the game 3-3 in the fifth, but the Panthers answered with five runs to go up 8-3 in the bottom of the fifth.
Cook started the rally with a double and scored on an RBI single by Armstrong. Chance Junkermann walked and Jacob Rowe entered as a courtesy runner.
Armstrong scored on an error, and Meek singled to score Rowe for a 6-3 lead. After Meek stole second, Landon Nickell followed with a single to score Meek, and Pool doubled in Nickell for an 8-3 lead.
Fayette pulled within 8-4 in the top of the sixth, but the Panthers scored three more to go up 11-4.
Armstrong got the scoring started with a two-out double, and Junkermann followed with a walk. Josh Hunt's RBI single scored Armstrong and courtesy runner Rowe advanced to second. Rowe scored on an error and Hunt advanced to third on the same play. Hunt later scored on a single by Meek.
The Panthers finished with 12 hits on the afternoon with Armstrong and Meek each going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Cook had two hits and two runs scored, whole Pool had two hits and an RBI.
Junkermann (3-1) picked up the win on the mound with 5.1 innings of work and five strikeouts. Eli Hawbaker worked the final 1.2 innings.
Siloam Springs 5, Haywood (Tenn.) 3
Siloam Springs rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the final three innings to come back and beat Haywood in its final game on Wednesday.
Haywood dinged Siloam Springs starter Dawson Armstrong for two runs in the first and one more in the third to take a 3-0 lead.
The Panthers got their offense going in the top of the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2.
A.J. Serrano and Taylor Pool each walked to open the fifth, and Chandler Cook singled to load the bases. Eli Hawbaker reached on an error to score one run, and Dawson Armstrong grounded out to score another to make it 3-2.
The score remained 3-2 until the top of the seventh.
Armstrong tripled with two outs and scored on a Haywood error off the bat of Chance Junkermann. Josh Hunt then walked, and Junkermann scored on Baron Meek's double to right field. Serrano drew a bases loaded walk to give Siloam Springs a 5-3 lead.
Eli Hawbaker (1-1) came on in relief of Armstrong in the sixth inning and pitched a scoreless seventh inning to earn the victory. Armstrong finished with eight strikeouts and three hits and six walks allowed in 5 2/3 innings.
Up next
The Panthers are scheduled to play a road game against Providence Academy at 5 p.m. Monday in Phillips Park in Bentonville before heading to Russellville on Tuesday for a 5A/6A District 1 game.
Sports on 03/26/2017