WARREN, Ark. – The Warren High School baseball team entered the seventh inning three outs away from an outright 4A-8 Conference Championship, but allowed seven runs as Monticello came back to defeat Warren 10-5 to create a three-way tie for the conference title.
By Dennen Cuthbertson
Saline River News Baseball Contributor
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Monticello, Warren, and Hamburg all finished with 7-3 records in the league to tie for the conference championship. The Billies (15-8) will be the top seed the 4A-8 sends to the 4A-4 Regional Tournament in Crossett beginning on Thursday, May 7. The Lumberjacks (11-8) will be the second seed, while Hamburg will be the third seed. The host Eagles will come into the tournament as the fourth seed.
The game was scoreless through two frames though the Jacks left a few runners in scoring position. Monticello broke through with an unearned run in the third inning before Warren scored on an error in the bottom half when Ren Reep doubled and Tucker McDiarmid, who led off with a single, scored from third after an errant throw to second base.
The Billies scored single runs in each of the next two innings to take a 3-1 edge into the bottom of the fifth. Two walks sandwiched around a double by McDiarmid loaded the bases for the Jacks to force a pitching change. The Orange and Black made the score 3-2 on an RBI fielder’s choice by Jackson Denton and tied the game at 3-3 on an RBI single by Jude Cathey. Parker O’Neal hit an infield single to load the bases again, but a clutch double play kept the game tied.
Monticello ran into an out trying to stretch a double into a triple to lead off the sixth inning and O’Neal was able to keep them off the scoreboard. Chris Barnes walked with one out in the bottom half of the frame and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Aceen Jurado swatted a double down the left-field line to score Barnes for a 4-3 lead.
The game headed into the top of the seventh with Warren needing three outs for the outright conference title, but O’Neal could only throw around 15 pitches before reaching his pitch count where he’d have to exit the game. However, the Billies used a leadoff single and RBI double to begin the inning and tie the game at 4-4. The go-ahead run would come around to score on an error and the visitors added another on a wild pitch to put the score at 6-4.
O’Neal was able to record the next two outs, but had to exit the game. Five walks and two hits later the scoreboard read 10-4 in favor of Monticello. Jurado, playing in right field, threw a runner out at the plate on the second hit to get the home team out of the inning. Denton led off the bottom of the seventh with a double and scored on an error to make the score 10-5, but the Jacks couldn’t get a rally going as a groundout to the pitcher ended the game.
The Billies out hit Warren 14-9 and had several infield hits, but also showed extra-base ability with four doubles in the contest. McDiarmid and Reep led the Lumberjack offense with two hits apiece, along with one double each. Cathey, Denton, and Jurado all registered one RBI, while McDiarmid scored twice.
O’Neal pitched well throughout most of the game as he allowed six runs (five earned) on 12 hits with five strikeouts against one free pass. He had only allowed two earned runs on nine hits through six innings, but the first three batters of the seventh reached base and scored to skew his outing.
Despite the disappointing finish to this game, the Lumberjacks have a lot to play for next Thursday (May 7) at the Regional Tournament in Crossett. As of this writing, it looks like the Jacks will take on Camden Fairview with a 4A State Tournament berth on the line. The time of the game is not known yet.
Warren is scheduled to play Malvern on Monday, May 4 in a tune-up game prior to the 4A-4 Regional Tournament. First pitch from Malvern is set for 4:30 p.m.
