WARREN, Ark. – The Warren Lumberjacks baseball team fell behind 5-0 but battled back to tie the game and trailed by one run on three separate occasions but couldn’t complete the comeback in a 9-8 loss to conference foe Star City Tuesday evening at the Warren Sports Complex.
The Lumberjacks fall to 3-5 in 4A-8 play and 6-7 overall while the Bulldogs are now 6-3 in conference action and 12-5 overall.
By Dennen Cuthbertson
Saline River Chronicle Contributor
This Lumberjack Baseball game report is brought to you by:
Star City used five consecutive singles in the top of the first to score three runs and scored two more in the second frame, one aided by a Lumberjack error, to go ahead 5-0. Nathan Spears led off for Warren with a double off the wall that was just inches from being a home run, but nothing else for the home team materialized in the first two frames.
However, the Bulldogs were retired in order in the top of the third and an error with one out in the bottom half on a ball hit by Antonio (AJ) Jordan opened the door for Warren. Spears followed with a single and a bad throw trying to cut him down at second base allowed Jordan to score for the Jacks’ first run. Kolby Pope singled to put runners at first and third and Maddox Lassiter hit a ground ball to first base. The first baseman made a diving stop and threw home to the plate but Spears slid under the tag to make the score 5-2.
Bryson Harris and Delfino Rivera kept the line moving with back-to-back RBI singles to pull the Orange and Black within one run at 5-4. A sacrifice fly by Landon Wolfe capped the scoring for Warren and the game went to the fourth inning tied 5-5. The tie was short-lived as Star City swatted a two-out solo home run to go back in front 6-5 in the fourth. The Bulldogs scored another in the fifth to move ahead 7-5.
Lassiter hit an opposite-field home run with one out in the fifth inning to bring Warren within one run again at 7-6. The Lumberjacks couldn’t keep the Bulldogs off the scoreboard though as a leadoff single and walk came around to score to make the score 9-6 in favor of the visitors.
Wolfe led off the bottom of the sixth with a walk and Ervin Rivera lined a single to center field to give Warren two runners on base. Ren Reep then hit a grounder to third, but an errant throw to second base allowed a run to score to give Warren runners on first and second with the score at 9-7. A balk moved both runners up and a wild pitch scored Ervin Rivera to put Reep at third with one out. However, after a walk by Spears the Bulldogs turned a double play to escape the jam clinging to a 9-8 lead.
The Lumberjacks kept Star City off the scoreboard in the final frame. Lassiter led off with a deep fly ball to right field that the Bulldogs caught right in front of the fence. The next two Jacks flew out as well to end the game and give Star City a 9-8 win.
Lassiter was named the Lumberjack Player of the Game. The senior was 1-for-4 at the plate but the one hit was a solo round-tripper. He drove in the one run on his homer and also scored two runs offensively. Additionally, he came in to pitch and allowed one run in the final two innings.
Ervin Rivera took the loss for the Orange and Black on the mound. The junior hurler threw five innings and allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 11 hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out two.
Spears was the only hitter with two hits for Warren and he scored a run out of the leadoff position. Pope, Lassiter, Harris, Delfino Rivera, and Ervin Rivera each had one hit apiece. Lassiter scored a team-best two runs and also had an RBI along with Harris, Delfino Rivera, Wolfe, and Reep.
Warren has a quick turnaround with a conference matchup at Stuttgart tomorrow evening. The game was moved up to Wednesday due to anticipated severe weather Thursday. First pitch against the Ricebirds is scheduled for 5 p.m.