WARREN, Ark. – The Warren High School baseball team was in a 2-2 battle with Watson Chapel heading to the fifth inning, but a 10-run explosion propelled the Jacks to a 12-2 run-rule victory and eighth straight win Tuesday on Senior Night at the Warren Sports Complex.
Top photo: Warren senior Ervin Rivera on the mound for the Jacks.
Dennen Cuthbertson
Saline River Chronicle Sports Contributor
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The day began with the Lumberjacks honoring the lone senior on the team, Ervin Rivera. A four-year letterwinner for the Orange and Black, Rivera took the field with his family and received a couple of gifts from the team. The right-hander started on the mound and spun 4 2/3 innings of two-run baseball with seven strikeouts and no walks. Additionally, he delivered an RBI single and scored two runs.
The first three innings breezed by with both pitchers not allowing any runs, but the Wildcats broke through on the scoreboard with an error followed by two hits in the top of the fourth. The visitors added another run on an RBI groundout for a 2-0 edge. The bottom half was similar as Nathan Spears reached on an error and was driven in by the aforementioned Rivera RBI single. Warren then tied the game on a RBI groundout by Ren Reep.
Watson Chapel was held scoreless in the top half of the fifth and secured the first out in the bottom half before the wheels came off. The next hitter reached on an error and two walks later the starting pitcher for the Wildcats was pulled from the game after a strong effort. The reliever that entered would struggle for the visitors. Two runs were balked in around another scoring on a wild pitch to make the score 5-2 in favor of Warren.
Bryson Harris drove in a run on what should have been an RBI groundout, but an errant throw allowed another run to score on the play to push the lead to 7-2. AJ Jordan drove in pinch-runner Mason Wardlaw with an RBI double to right field for an 8-2 advantage before another balk and passed ball scored two runs more for Warren. Kolby Pope drove a run home with a run-scoring base knock before Spears was hit by a pitch to drive in the final run for a walk-off 12-2 run-rule win.
Pope was 1-for-3 on the evening with an RBI and run scored and also picked up the win on the mound by securing the final out of the top of the fifth inning. Spears, Rivera, and Tucker McDiarmid all scored two runs in the game and Jordan led the team with two hits, including a double. Jackson Denton had the other hit for Warren in the game with a double in the first inning.
The Lumberjacks improve to 14-4 overall and are 8-2 in 4A-8 Conference play, a half-game ahead of second-place Crossett, who is 8-3. Warren has clinched a spot in the 4A South Regional. Watson Chapel fell to 4-14 overall and finished conference action with a 1-11 mark.
The Jacks return to action Thursday with a trip to Hamburg for another conference tilt. First pitch is set for 5 p.m.