PEA RIDGE — The baseball program at Pea Ridge may be the best-kept secret in northwest Arkansas.
With perennial Class 4A powers Shiloh Christian and Prairie Grove garnering most of the attention the past few years, Pea Ridge and senior pitcher Ryan Roughton are working to make a name for themselves.
“It’s frustrating because we’re always a solid team, but it’s Shiloh and Prairie Grove that gets most of the attention,” Roughton said.
“Nobody really talks about us, butwe’re fine being the blue-collar team. Someone has to do it.”
He has a point.
Pea Ridge has been more than just solid this spring, touting a 9-2 record and a 1-1 mark in 4A-1 conference games. Even more impressive is what Roughton did to help the Blackhawks win two of those.
Against Gravette in the conference-opener, he tossed a no-hitter. Earlier in the year on the road at Huntsville, Roughton managed 14 strikeouts.
With a 2-1 record on the mound, splitting the “ace” title with Ethan Higgins, there’s not much Roughton feels Pea Ridge can’t achieve this year, so long as everyone works together and buys in to what longtime coach John King has to teach. It’s that teamwork which has him loving every pitch on the mound.
“I like pitching,” Roughton said. “I like the competitiveness. You have to know you’re better than the hitter, because if you do, it’s hard for them to get a hit.
“You have eight people working around you, so it’s you nine versus that one. Knowing there’s those people behind you, you can get the outs when you need them.”
King has preached all year to his team to stay focused, especially on the defensive side, as a walk might lead to a run, or worse, a rally.
That’s what happened when Roughton took a 6-3 loss at Gentry on Monday, despite Pea Ridge winning a non-conference game against the Pioneers early in the season, 18-4.
But that’s baseball. And even though the Blackhawks were on the losing end of things this week against Gentry, King knows his team can also be one walk away from a rally, even against the upper tier teams in the conference, as long as it keeps focus.
“We want to be right there with them, and it’s not out of the realm of possibilities, but we’re going to have to have some breaks go our way,” King said. “We try to preach throwing strikes and see what happens. If they hit it where we’re not, great.
“It’s a league where one mistake can cost you the game.”
Playing in what King called the best top-to-bottom conference in the state, he said it’s up to Roughton to be the guy who makes sure the eight other players in the lineup have the mindset to lead Pea Ridge to the regional tournament in May- maybe even state.
Sports, Pages 9 on 04/11/2012