The Marion Lady (Rally?) Pats

The Marion Lady (Rally?) Pats

Marion gets 10th win, downs 2015 Class 5A runners- up

Sports Editor The Marion Lady Patriots have made a habit out of coming back from big deficits over the past week, but maybe practice makes perfect.

Marion’s (10-4 overall, 33 7A/6A-East) latest rally came yesterday at home against Paragould, when the Lady Rams charged out to a 5-1 second-inning lead, only to see Marion put up big innings of four and six runs of their own in an 11-8 win.

For the Lady Pats, it was their second consecutive come-from-behind win, and they trailed at some point in their previous four victories.

“Paragould has got a good team, got some great players,” explained Marion head coach David Horton.

“We got down 5-1, but for us to come back and tie it up, I was proud of that. I think that’s the third game in a row we’ve done that, and today we were able to hang on to it.”

Helping Marion’s cause was a big day from their lineup. The Lady Pats pounded out 18 hits against Paragould (8-5-1 overall), and every Marion starter logged at least one hit, with seven of those players coming up with at least two hits.

Marion’s first two hitters Mabry Watson (3-4, 2 runs scored, RBI) and Morgan Weaver (3-4, 2 runs scored, 3 RBI) – combined for six hits.

“That’s the type of lineup we thought we’d have before the season ever started,” Horton said. “We started going a little bit the other night against North Little Rock, and since then McKenzie Shirley (2-4, run scored) has been ripping the cover off the ball, Haley (Cook), Blakeleigh (Garrison), Destiny (King) have all been coming on too.”

The Lady Pats did get big contributions from their lineup, but things weren’t so sunny early on.

Paragould, last season’s Class 5A runners-up, struck for five runs in the first two innings, highlighted by a three-run home run by Braxton Burnside. That allowed the Lady Rams to lead 5-1 entering the bottom of the second.

Once there, Marion got back-to-back singles from senior Kristin Bolton (2-4, run scored) and Shirley, to lead the inning off.

Watson would reach on an error and Weaver cut the deficit in half with a tworun single to get her team within 5-3.

With two outs, junior Hope Phipps (2-4, 3 RBI) drove in the equalizer with a two-run hit of her own and after two innings, the game was all square at 5-5. In the third inning, Watson relieved Phipps inside the circle, and the senior held the fort, limiting Paragould to no runs and a single hit in two innings of work.

The game was 5-5 going to the top of the fifth when King became Marion’s third pitcher of the day, and the sophomore worked a scoreless fifth in her first appearance since a scary injury against Wynne two weeks ago.

The bottom of the fifth inning started innocently enough with a Garrison (13, RBI) walk, but it would soon become the game’s decisive frame.

A King double would score Cook and Bolton for a 7-5 lead, and she would come home on a Watson single.

Weaver would plate Watson with the game’s eventual winning run with a single to left-center field and the rightfielder was plated on a Raygan Shelton (1-4, 2 runs scored, RBI) double to right field. Phipps would cap the scoring with a double to score Shelton, and suddenly Marion led 11-5 in a game where the pitching had dominated for the three previous innings.

Paragould would strike for three runs against King in the top of the sixth inning to get within 11-8, but that figure was helped by an error and only two of the runs were earned.

King worked a perfect seventh inning to pick up the win for Marion.

“I think she had to get a little more comfortable out there, and I think she did, as time went on,” Horton added.

King pitched three innings, allowed four hits, gave up three runs and walked two batters, while striking out three.

Paragould pitcher Chloe Hicks took the loss for the Lady Rams after pitching three innings and allowing nine hits.

Marion is not scheduled to play until a 7A/6A-East doubleheader against West Memphis at Tilden Rodgers Complex, but Horton said that the team may play Greene County Tech on Monday afternoon.

The doubleheader against West Memphis is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m.

on Tuesday afternoon.

By Chuck Livingston