Shocker Split

Shocker Split

Toppers split DH at FedEx Park in Memphis

Sports Editor

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Last night’s doubleheader between the Marion Toppers and the Mississippi Shockers was about as tight as two totally different ballgames could be.

The teams split a pair of games at FedEx Park, home of the Memphis Tigers, with the Shockers handing the Toppers their first loss 3-0 in the seveninning opener before Marion salvaged a split by winning 4-1 in the fiveinning nightcap.

The first game saw the Toppers (3-1 overall) get held to three hits in the shutout, while the second game saw a 1-1 contest get broken open in the bottom of the fourth inning, making a winner out of West Memphis Christian product Parker Benson, who pitched 5 innings to claim the win.

As effective as Benson was in the second game, the Shockers’ starter was nearly as effective in the opener. Marion was held to three hits, while striking out five times and walked only twice in the team’s first loss of the summer.

“Man, our timing in that first game was really off,” said Marion Toppers head coach Junior Weaver. “He did a real good job of changing speeds, and his fastball had some velocity to it. He had a changeup and kept pounding the zone and really kept our hitters off-balance.”

The Shockers struck for two runs in the first inning, but the game was perhaps decided in the top of the third with Marion at the plate.

The Toppers got their first two batters of the inning on, but a pick-off, a strikeout looking and a line-out to centerfield helped cancel out a hitbatsman, a single and walk, to keep Marion off the scoreboard.

“It’s frustrating anytime you have runners on and can’t get them home,” Weaver admitted. “No excuse to get picked off at first, no matter how close it may be. The worst part was it wasn’t the pitcher’s best move.”

Instead of tying the game, or maybe taking the lead, Marion hit the bottom of the third empty-handed, where the Shockers promptly scored the last run of the game for either side, clinching a 3-0 advantage that would double as the final score.

“A timely hit there, a flare here or there, and maybe that changes the complexion of the game,” Weaver added.

Larkey Dotson took the loss for Marion in the opener working three innings and allowing all three runs on just three hits. Chris Peet came on in relief and threw the last three innings, not allowing a hit, and spinning a shutout from there.

Marion also made three errors in the opener, paving the way for two unearned runs.

While the first game didn’t go Marion’s way, the nightcap was a little different story, thanks to Benson. Benson spun a five-inning complete game three-hitter at the Shockers, allowing a single unearned run in his time to claim the win.

Marion got enough offense thanks to some shoddy Shockers defense in the bottom of the fourth inning, picking up a pair of runs on two wild pitches before Cam Smith slammed a double off of the right-center field wall to put his team ahead 4-1, the same score that it would eventually win by.

“I was proud how we swung the bat late in the game,” Weaver explained.

“Cam got into a ball real well, and that was big to give us some confidence.

We just want to get better right now. We want to play through some stuff, we need some guys to develop and get better and I think we did that tonight.”

Marion took advantage of four Mississippi errors in the bottom of the fourth to notch those three runs, a total that included the first two batters reaching via the error.

The Toppers are back in action tonight at USA Stadium in Millington as they play the Ponotoc Red Sox at 5:30 p.m.

By Chuck Livingston