Patriots stay hot, sweep Batesville in doubleheader
Marion jockeying for high seed in 5A State Tournament
Marion School District Many pundits believe that Batesville may boast one of the better sets of starting pitchers in the state.
On Tuesday night at First National Bank of Eastern Arkansas Stadium, Marion starters Chase Armstrong and Ben Gerrard may have taken the crown from Pioneer pitchers Gage Wood and Caleb Teague.
Armstrong surrendered just two hits and one run while striking out 12 Pioneers on Tuesday afternoon.
For good measure, the Arkansas State signee accounted for both Marion (22-5 overall, 11-1 5A East) runs in a 2-1 victory over Wood, who signed in November with Arkansas, and Batesville (15-7, 7-5).
Gerrard took the ball in the nightcap and handcuffed Batesville for five innings, scattering four hits and striking out five in a 13-0 Marion conquest.
Marion’s ninth consecutive victory keeps the Pats tied for first place in the crowded 5A East with Jonesboro (19-6-1, 11-1). The Patriots conclude league play on Tuesday, May 3 with a trip to Greene County Tech.
Should Marion sweep Tech, the Pats would earn at least a share of their first regular-season conference title in school history, and the No. 1 seed in the state tournament May 12-14 in Hot Springs.
“We finally put two together tonight,” said Marion coach Pete Prater. “In that first one, it often comes down to one thing that decides a game. The Wood kid is good, but I still thought we had some good swings off him. Games like that are gonna be low scoring, we expect that, and our challenge is to settle in for that.”
Wood, whose best fastball on Tuesday night clocked 94 miles an hour, garnered the attention entering the double-dip, but it was Armstrong’s star that shined the brightest.
The senior starter was hot from the start, retiring the first three Pioneers he faced, the last two on strikes.
In the bottom of the first, with classmate Gage Watson (two walks and a run scored in the first game) on first, Armstrong poled a mammoth home run to left-center field that almost landed on Rica Road to give Marion a 2-0 lead.
“I’m just trying to play my hardest every game,” said Armstrong. “I want to make an impact on the younger kids’ lives, and prove that I can affect games hitting and pitching.”
Armstrong retired the first nine Pioneers in order, including five on strikes.
Batesville broke through in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of a walk and a triple to trim the lead to 2-1, but Armstrong escaped the jam by inducing a groundout and a strikeout of Wood to end the threat.
Armstrong issued a leadoff walk in the seventh, but the Pats ended the game on a pick off.
“I don’t care what you say, when you have two guys out there who can pitch like that, you’re going to get this type of game,” said Prater.
The nightcap was shaping up as another pitcher’s duel as Gerrard and Teague swapped zeroes until the top of the third, when Marion struck first behind a Kaleb Catt (2-4 in the second game with four runs scored and a pair of walks) drew a base on balls and scored on Slade Inman’s (1-1 with two RBI and a run) bunt.
The 1-0 advantage held until the top of the fifth, when senior Payton Voyles doubled ahead of a Catt bunt single. Watson (2-4 with two RBI and two runs) plated Voyles with a groundout before Inman struck again with an RBI triple, scoring Catt. Inman came down when Marion executed a double steal and the Pats led 4-0 into the sixth.
That was more than enough for Gerrard, who started and spun five innings of scoreless baseball. Junior Jett Sutton and Watson came in and retired all
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Photo by Chuck Livingston PATRIOTS (cont.)
six Batesville batters that they faced to slam the door. In the top of the sixth, the first seven Patriots reached to spark a five-run rally.
Senior Luke Bullins singled before Connor Brinkley was hit by a pitch, and scored on Batesville errors and Catt later scored on a wild pitch. A Connor Taylor sacrifice fly plated Watson to give Marion a nine-run lead.
Marion plated four runs in the seventh to cap the scoring.
Marion played for the 2014 Class 6A state baseball championship (won by Russellville 2-0), and Prater’s first Patriot team earned the 2018 district tournament championship.
But the Pats have never won a regular-season conference title since starting baseball in 1978.
The Pats can assure themselves of at least a share of the 5A East title with a sweep of Greene County Tech (15-5, 7-3) on Tuesday when Jonesboro closes with Searcy. Should Marion and Jonesboro finish tied in the league standings, the Patriots would earn the No. 1 playoff seed on tiebreaker points.
Marion and Jonesboro split their league doubleheader in March, but Marion won 5-2 and Jonesboro’s victory was 2-1.
“It’s always a goal of ours to try and win this conference, but more importantly we want to get that No. 1 seed,” said Prater. “It’s been this way since I’ve been here where the last four games are really big, and this year is no different.”
Armstrong (41.2 innings pitched in 2022 with 78 strikeouts and a 1.34 ERA, and a 1.1 WHIP) wasn’t shy when asked about what a conference championship would mean to him.
“It would mean everything to me,” said Armstrong.
“Us seniors have all grown up together these last four years, and we’ve all worked so hard. It would be a dream come true.”
Marion can finish no worse than second in the league standings.
Marion plays Briarcrest on Saturday at 11 a.m. before visiting Greene County Tech on Tuesday, May 3 with a 4:30 p.m first pitch scheduled. The Greene County Tech doubleheader will be streamed live on MarionPatriots.com and on the Marion Patriots Activities Network mobile app.
