PATRIOTS (cont.)
96 percent of balls in play were turned into outs by the stingy Patriot defense.
1.27- Marion’s team ERA.
Good pitching and good defense go together like a hand in a glove. It can be a chicken-or-the-egg argument, but the Patriot pitching staff often handcuffed batters at a rate not seen since Cy Young or Christy Mathewson.
3- Pitchers committed to SEC schools that Marion defeated this spring. The run started on Monday, April 18 when Armstrong clubbed a two-run home run and teamed up with Ben Gerrard and Gage Watson for a 3-2 victory over Ole Miss signee Grayson Saunier. Eight days later, 5A East rival Batesville threw University of Arkansas signee Austin Gage Wood in the first game of a varsity doubleheader at First National Bank of Eastern Arkansas Stadium, home of John Robbins Field. Armstrong smoked a two-run home run off of Wood and struck out 12 Pioneers in a complete- game 2-1 victory that pushed the Pats closer to a conference title. On Saturday, April 30, Sophomore Davis York opposed Briarcrest Christian lefty Matthew Dallas, a Tennessee commit, and the Pats took
out of a game in 2022, losing five times by an average of two runs. Of the five losses, three were two runs or fewer.
