WARREN, Ark. – A back and forth early season contest with plenty of miscues took place Thursday night between the Warren and Fordyce baseball teams, but Nathan Spears smoked a walk-off, two-run double to left field to propel the Jacks to a 10-9 win over its former conference rivals.
Top photo: Lumberjack Nathan Spears
By Dennen Cuthbertson
Saline River Chronicle Sports Contributor
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Fordyce (2-1) broke an 8-8 tie in the top of the seventh inning with a bases-loaded walk to set up the heroics in the bottom half. The Redbugs recorded the first out, but an error allowed Ren Reep to reach before Kolby Pope registered a solid base knock to left field to give the Jacks some life. Spears then swatted the 1-1 offering deep to left field and Head Coach Jared Dutton waved both Reep and Pope around third base to give the Jacks (3-0) the one-run win.
Spears and Pope both tallied two hits each, while Bryson Harris and Spears both drove in two runs. Pope scored a team-high four runs, while Reep had two of his own. Sophomore Tristan Weaver picked up the win on the mound after he came in to record all three outs in the top of the seventh. Ervin Rivera tossed the first four innings and allowed four runs on four hits with five strikeouts against five walks. Spears and Layton Wolfe also toed the rubber during the game.
The Orange and Black struck first with one unearned run in each of the first two frames before Fordyce picked up an unearned run in the third inning to pull within 2-1. However, the visitors put together a three-run top of the fourth to go ahead 4-2. The advantage was short-lived as Warren scored three runs with the help of three errors to regain a 5-4 edge. The Jacks poured it on with another three-run frame in the fifth, highlighted by a two-run single from Harris, to extend the lead to 8-4.
The Redbugs did not go down without a fight as they plated four runs in the sixth inning to tie the score at 8-8. Fordyce didn’t register a hit in the inning, but used five walks, a hit-by-pitch, and a couple of wild pitches to get back in the game and send it to the final frame tied.
Defensively, Fordyce committed nine errors in the contest, while the Lumberjacks had three and issued 14 walks.
Warren returns to action at the Warren City Complex Monday (March 4) afternoon against White Hall. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
The above story was originally reported by Saline River Chronicle. Any re-publication on a commercial news site or in print is prohibited unless credit is given to Saline River Chronicle.