Van Buren's Weston Wilcox and Greenwood's Aaron Taylor locked up in a pitcher's duel for five innings before the Pointers broke through late for a 5-1 win.
"That was a good baseball game all the way through," Van Buren Coach Luke Weatherford said. "That's what you expect in conference play. Everybody's going to bring their best."
The win provided the Pointers with an early spark to open 5A-West play.
"The last few years we've gotten off to some rough starts in conference play," Weatherford said. "So, it's really nice to come out in the first game of conference and play well and get a win on the road."
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Van Buren but was moved to Greenwood due to wet grounds at the Field of Dreams.
Greenwood and Van Buren both played in the Class 5A state tournament last year.
"I told our guys there's probably playoff implications in this game right out of the gate," Greenwood Coach Brandon Brewer said. "We've got to bounce back."
Wilcox went the distance for the Pointers, striking out 13 and allowing just two hits.
Van Buren (3-1, 1-0) struck first with a run in the top of the third inning on Trenton Glover's single that scored Hudson Stewart, who had walked with one out and moved to second on Tristan Ray's infield single.
Greenwood (2-1, 0-1) tied the game in the fourth inning with a single swing of the bat from Ty Holt, who homered into a tree above the 365-foot sign in the left center field alley.
That was the only mistake by Wilcox, who was dominating.
Wilcox needed just 95 pitches although he was at 36 through just two innings. Over the final three frames, he threw 12, 11 and 11 pitches, respectively.
He had at least a one strikeout in each inning.
"Wilcox was unbelievable," Brewer said. "We couldn't get on time with his fastball, and he made us like it."
In his first start last week in a win against Little Rock Christian, he struck out 9 but walked 5. His aim on Monday was to improve on that outing, and he did going to three balls on just three batters.
"Definitely, the first pitch fastball, leaving it up and eventually mixing it up down low because he was calling a little bit lower," Wilcox said. "Then pairing it with either a slider or curveball down in the dirt."
Mainly, though, Wilcox pitched ahead in the count, throwing first-pitch strikes to 17 of 25 Bulldogs faced.
"The emphasis on the first pitch was to get that first strike to have a little more to work with throughout the whole at-bat," Wilcox said. "That was definitely the main focus."
The southpaw Taylor was equally good through five innings and into the sixth, striking out seven before running into trouble.
"Tip your cap to both guys," Brewer said. "Van Buren got the hits when they needed them. They put pressure on us all day long. Credit both guys. They both pitched well, and they got some timely hits and that was the difference in the game."
With two outs, Dax Long reached on an infield single to deep second and stole second before Carson Glover walked.
Reid Anderson then delivered the big hit, lining a double to deep left to plate Long and Glover for a 3-1 lead.
"We got some guys on late," Weatherford said. "Reid Anderson, a freshman, put a good swing on a ball in a tie game with two outs. That was the swing of the game, offensively, but we put pressure on them. We had some good at-bats, put some bunts down, had some walks. We were on the bases all game."
Anderson flied to right and popped to right in his two previous trips to the plate.
"He beat me on two fast balls in my two previous at-bats and had fly balls to right field," Anderson said. "I was looking for one the whole at-bat and got a barrel on it."
Anderson was Van Buren's designated hitter and quickly worked his way into the lineup.
"I'm grateful for the opportunity," Anderson said. "I didn't start at the beginning of the year but got an opportunity last week against Bentonville and came in this week and started off a little rough but got a good hit."
Van Buren added two insurance runs in the seventh inning. Wilcox knocked in a run on a single to short center that scored Stewart, who reached on an error to open the inning, along with a bases-loaded walk by Truett Cazzell that forced home Ray, who reached on a bunt single.
Van Buren is scheduled t... Click here to read full article
ARTICLE SOURCE:
