Ridger Sports | 14s Babe Ruth team takes second

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

— The Pea Ridge 14-yearold Babe Ruth baseball team capped a great season by taking second place in the district tournament held last week in Springdale.

The “Boys in Black,” coached by Josh Ramsey and Brad Sill, finished their season with a sparkling 13-5 record, good for a third place finish among the 16 northwest Arkansas ball clubs competing in the league. They battled their way into the district championship game against league champion Siloam Springs, but couldn’t pull the upset against a team loaded with dangerous hitters.

“(I’m) very proud of the players. They worked hard this year and made big improvements from last year. They came together as a team and each player played the role neededfor us to be successful,” Ramsey said.

Although they lost to Siloam, as did everyone else in the league, they came close to pulling the upset in the last regular season game, a 6-4 defeat.

The Panthers had several players taller and larger than anyone on the ’Hawks’ roster but if the league had an award for a “scrappiest team,” Pea Ridge would have easily taken that honor.

To get to the championship game, Pea Ridge rolled over Gravette 15-5 in the semi-finals. In that game, Pea Ridge took command early as Jeremy Hill was plunked by a pitch leading off the game in the first.

After stealing second and third bases, Hill scored the games’ first run on a Trent Ramsey single to center.

Ramsey stole second then scored after the Lions’ defense couldn’t field a ball off the bat of Hunter Sill, upping the lead to 2-0. Although starter Gage Kelso recorded three strikeouts in the Gravette half of the inning, the Lions still managed to dent the plate to cut the lead to 2-1.

The ’Hawks kept their rally going into the second inning as Wyatt Holtgrewe and Nathan Wilson bothreached base leading off the inning. Justin Stamps then singled, followed by a double by Hill as three ’Hawks crossed the plate to boost the lead to 5-1. Hill scored soon afterwards on the strength of a base hit by Ramsey who later scored on a single by Clay Nivens.

In the bottom half of the inning, Kelso again held the Lions to a lone run as Pea Ridge led 7-2 after a pair of innings.

Holtgrewe and Wilson both hit safely to start the third inning but were left stranded on base. Gravette had a pair of runners in scoring position in their half of the inning, but Kelso’s strikeout for the third out extinguished that rally as the score remained 7-2.

In the fourth, lead-off batter Ramsey got his third straight hit to keep the pressure on the Lions.

Ramsey stole second, then hustled down to third base on a mishandled ground ball that allowed Nivens to reach first. Nivens stole second base to get two runners in scoring position which was followed by a Kelso single to left. Ramsey was thrown out at the plate on the play with Nivens taking third. A Gravette wild pitch allowed Nivens to come home to bump the lead to 8-2 before Gravette could record the third out.

Two walks, an error and a passed ball sandwiched around a pair of hits gave new life to Gravette in the last of the inning. The Lions used their good fortune to score three times to make a game of it, trailing just 8-5.

The ’Hawks got a run back in the top of the fifth on the strength of a single by Hill. Wilson led off the inning, reaching base on a Gravette error.

Spencer Shell came on to pinch run and eventually came around to score on Hill’s single as the ’Hawks enlarged the lead to 9-5.

Logan Wichert took the mound for the ’Hawks in the bottom of the inning, allowing the Lions just one base runner before ending their at-bat.

The sixth inning served to sink whatever hopes the Lions had at a comeback.

Nivens led off the inning with a single, taking second on a steal. Hill executed a perfect bunt to get on base with Nivens scoring on a Lion throwing error.

Sill eventually made it to third then scored on a passed ball to pad the lead to 10-5. Kelso then reached first on a walk, taking second on a subsequent theft.

Shell singled, scoring Kelso. Shell took second on a steal, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Stamps worked the count for a base on balls, he stole second to put two runners in scoring position.

The next two batters, Hill and Ramsey, both reached when the Lions could not field their drives, thus allowing Stamps and Kelso to score. Hill then stole third then scored when the Gravette pitcher threw another wild pitch that rolled to the backstop.

When the dust settled, the ’Hawks were sitting on a 15-5 lead.

With two men on and two men out, Wichert ended the game with a strikeout. The ’Hawks 10-run lead “run ruled” the Lions as the deficit eliminated the need for a seventh inning. The ’Hawks offense saw nearly every player hit safely while the Pea Ridge hurlers combined to strike out nine hitters, while scattering just seven hits. The Pea Ridge defense also rose to the occasion, committing just three errors.

With both the older and younger Pea Ridge Babe Ruth teams having good summers, it looks like good fortunes ahead for the high school ’Hawks.

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John McGee is the art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, coaches elementary track and writes a regular sports column for The TIMES. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].

Sports, Pages 8 on 07/14/2010