Senior Tristan Ray provided three innings of hitless relief, and the Pointers scored two runs in the seventh inning to crack a tie for a 6-4 win against the rival Airedales in the baseball version of the Battle of Bone in 5A-West Conference play.
Van Buren (9-4, 4-1) scored twice in the seventh inning with a full-count walk to pinch-hitter Dax Long with one out.
"Dax is a senior," Van Buren Coach Luke Weatherford said. "He works really hard. He earned that opportunity. I told him to stay ready. He went up and delivered a big at-bat and got on base for us. Then the hitting got going."
Pinch-runner Jaden Brown moved to second on a ground out and after an intentional walk to Weston Wilcox, freshman catcher Trenton Glover lined a base hit to right center field to score Brown.
"I knew they were going to walk Weston," Weatherford said. "I'm glad Trenton came through for us."
Glover also knew in the on-deck circle that Alma would not pitch to Wilcox with first base open and the lead run in scoring position.
"I'm just seeking out the fast ball," Glover said. "I grounded out previously on two curveballs. The at-bat right before, I got a fastball and smoked it up the middle. They were playing in, but they bobbled it. Until I got two strikes, I was only seeking out the fastball. I got it and flipped it into right field."
Freshman designated hitter Reid Anderson followed with a single to right to plate Wilcox for a 6-4 lead.
After issuing a walk to Carson Hamilton to open the home half of the seventh inning, Ray retired the final three Airedales, including a three-pitch strikeout for the final out.
The game was tied at 1-1 after an inning before Van Buren scored twice on a two-run single by Truett Cazzell in the second inning that scored Hudson Stewart, who led off the inning with a single, and Cason Glover, who walked.
Alma (4-7, 2-3) notched a run in the third inning with Izaac Plourde's single knocking in Logan English, who doubled to deep center.
Alma took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning with courtesy runner Dylan Jackson and Bryson Lester working a double steal with Jackson scoring followed by a run-scoring single by Sammy Moore that plated Lester.
Van Buren tied it in the next at-bat with Wilcox legging out a triple with one out in the fifth inning and scoring on Trenton Glover's hard ground out.
Alma managed 5 hits, 5 walks and 4 earned runs off Wilcox, Van Buren's ace who entered the game with four wins in as many starts and an earned run average of 0.88 in 24 innings.
"We did everything we wanted to do," Alma Coach Brian Fry said. "We gave ourselves a chance. We chased him, and gave ourselves an opportunity to win."
Alma had base runners in every inning and left nine runners stranded, including seven in scoring position and each of the last three innings.
"Offensively, we had a good approach," Fry said. "We were hoping to put some pressure on them. Our guys are young, they're willing to learn and getting better every day."
Ray came in after Wilcox left after 108 pitches, including 62 after two innings, and allowed no hits over the final three innings to earn the win.
"Once his pitch count got up to 60 in the second inning, I knew he was going to run out," Ray said. "I knew I was going to come on in relief. I was preparing myself for that. He did what he could even though he was struggling. I just did what I could do."
Van Buren rapped out eight hits and scored all six of its runs with two outs in the inning.
"We had a lot of two-out hits, and that stood out to me early," Weatherford "It was back and forth all day. Give those guys credit, they battled, too. Anytime you come out on a Tuesday and your ace is on the mound and he's not very good and find a ... Click here to read full article
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