MONTICELLO, Ark. (4/24/25) – The Warren Lumberjacks broke a 1-1 tie with five combined runs in the fourth and fifth innings and held on to defeat Monticello by a score of 6-5 Thursday evening at Billie Field.
By Dennen Cuthbertson, SRN Baseball Contributor
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The Lumberjacks improve to 15-5 overall and 7-2 in conference play with one conference contest remaining. Warren appears to have clinched the second seed in the regional tournament set for May 8-10 in De Queen. Monticello falls to 11-13 overall and 6-3 in league play.
The Orange and Black struck first in the opening frame when Ryan Spears drove in a run with a bases-loaded walk before a popup ended the threat. The Billies got the run back with an RBI single in the bottom of the second to knot things at 1-1.
The score remained tied until Parker O’Neal walked and Aceen Jurado singled with two outs in the top of the fourth to set up a two-run triple by AJ Jordan to push the score to 3-1 in favor of Warren. The Jacks opened the top of the fifth with back-to-back doubles by Bryson Harris and Nathan Spears to make the score 4-1. Hayden Cathey singled before a RBI base knock by Ryan Spears scored his older brother to push the advantage to 5-1. O’Neal singled later in the frame to drive in another run for a 6-1 lead.
The Lumberjacks appeared to have the game in hand with two outs and two runners on in the bottom of the sixth inning, but a couple of errors in the infield got Monticello to within 6-3. The Billies then put the first two runners of the final frame on base with singles to bring the tying run to the plate. A popup gave the home team their first out, but the next ball put in play saw a wild sequence with three bad throws to score two Monticello runs and put the tying run 90 feet away with one out. However, O’Neal struck a batter out and induced a soft grounder back to the mound to seal the 6-5 win for the Lumberjacks.
Freshman hurler Ryan Spears was fantastic on the mound to earn the win. He allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits with five punchouts against two walks in 5 2/3 innings. O’Neal registered the final four outs despite some shaky defense and three hits allowed.
Offensively, Warren recorded 10 hits in the contest with Jordan and Harris putting in multi-hit efforts. Jordan and Ryan Spears each drove in two runs.
The Jacks will close out the 4A-8 conference season next Tuesday, April 29 with a matchup at Hamburg. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.
