Van Buren Pointers outlast Cabot, 5-3, in marathon

Swimming and baseball usually don’t go together but after gutting out a marathon win on Friday, the Van Buren Pointers certainly earned a refreshing dip in the pool afterward. Van Buren scored twice in the top of the ninth inning and outlasted Cabot, 5-3, in the second round of the Class 7A state tournament at Burns Park’s DeJanis Field at DeSalvo Stadium. The Pointers (22-6) earned their first trip the state semifinals since 2010, which they won to advance to the championship game, and fifth overall. They’ll play Springdale Har-Ber at noon today. Har-Ber and Van Buren split the 7A-West series during the season with each winning on the other’s home field three weeks ago. Friday, Van Buren and Cabot (22-7) battled for two hours, 26 minutes. “That’s about as good a high school game that you’ll find,” Van Buren head coach David Loyd said. “It was very competitive. Both teams battled hard. Pitchers really competed. It was fun, but nerve-wrecking at the same time. Fortunately, we’re going to tomorrow.” Friday, Van Buren scored twice in the top of the ninth to take the lead. Landrey Wilkerson led off with an infield single and took second on a wild pitch before Evan Jones was hit by a pitch after one out. Jackson Hurst walked on a full count to load the bases. Trevor Johnson followed with a single to shallow right center to score Wilkerson for a 4-3 lead. Dakota Peters lofted a fly ball to left, which was initially too shallow to score Jones from third. Jones scored anyway, though, when the cutoff throw wasn’t handled cleanly and squirted away, for a big second run for a two-run lead. “That was a big run,” Loyd said. “It kind of let us breathe a little bit. We knew we were running short pitch-wise with Trevor so it gave us some breathing room. I’m really proud of my guys.” Johnson, who threw 29 pitches in Thursday’s win against Northside, got the well-earned victory on the mound after coming in with two outs in the second inning and pitching into the ninth. He departed after 109 pitches and with an out but with runners on first and second after walks. Peters, a sophomore with four previous appearances this season, needed just eight pitches to retire the final two batters, Cabot’s No. 2 and 3 hitters in the order, on a long line drive that Wilkerson hauled down in center and a grounder to shortstop Chase Moore, who threw to Jones at second for the game-ending force. “It was a well-played game,” Loyd said. “Kids executed well on both sides. It was a long game. I’m glad to see them battle and fight as hard as they did and come through with the win. It was a big win for us.” The long game was played in 92-degree heat. “It’s definitely the hottest game we’ve played all year,” Ethan Rauser said. “I’m not real dry right now. I can’t wait to get home. Our coach’s deal was if we win today, when we get back to the hotel we get to jump in the pool. That’s what I think drove the whole team to victory right there. That’s what we’re looking forward to.” Rauser, the senior ironman catcher, caught all nine innings and all 147 pitches from Jones, Johnson and Peters. “I’ve been doing it a long time,” Rauser said. “I love my pitchers. They’re my best friends. I’ve been catching them a long time. The experience, I’ve been catching Trevor since we were eighth grade and Evan before then probably. I think we have a special bond and work well together.” The game was also back and forth between fans on pitches in key spots at crucial times, which also provided interesting conversations between Rauser and the home plate umpire. “He told me when I got out there that he wasn’t afraid to own up when he messed up, and I think he messed up a few of those,” Rauser said. “I saw Jackson strike out looking, and Chase strike out looking on balls that were six inches off the plate. Then I’m sitting there catching balls that are on the black on the edge. Those are the ones that you catch and sit there for 15 seconds waiting for him to call a strike and he doesn’t. He was definitely the tightest umpire but overall he was a good guy.” Cabot took a 2-0 lead on back-to-back triples by Houston King and Brodey Schluter in the third inning. Hurst hit a two-run bomb into a tree above the left-field fence in the fourth inning after Jones had walked. The tree job tied the game at 2-2. Van Buren took a 3-2 lead when Seth Humphrey scored when Hurst was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the seventh. Dillon Thomas tied the game with a lead-off homer in the bottom of the seventh. Both teams had ample other opportunities. Cabot stranded nine runners, including second and third in the bottom of the seventh and also two more in the eighth on two infield singles. After Van Buren went down in order in the first and third innings, the Pointers stranded 10 runners in the final six innings. Wilkerson and Johnson had a three-hit day for Van Buren. Jones, Hurst and Peters all reached three times in the game.

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VAN BUREN POINTERS OUTLAST CABOT, 5-3, IN MARATHON

LELAND BARCLAY

Times Record | 5/12/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Aaron Shaffer