Washed out

Washed out

Toppers take opener, see second game rained out

Sports Editor

A flash rainstorm couldn’t cool off the hot Marion Toppers last night at John Robbins Field.

The Toppers won their eight-straight decision, beating the Marion Patriots 6-0 in a five-inning game before the second contest was canceled by the storm. The Pats led 4-2 in the bottom of the second when the contest was called.

Parker Benson notched his third win of the summer, tossing a complete-game five-hitter in his second win against Marion High School. The previous win was last Friday night.

That win was 1-0 decision that Benson threw a no-hitter in and the Toppers found runs extraordinarily hard to come by.

Last night, the Toppers (12-2-1 overall) scored in three of their four at-bats, including a four-run rally in the second for a 5-0 lead.

In the bottom of the first, Gavin Stone led off with a walk and scored on a Cam Smith sac fly for a 1-0 advantage.

The four runs in the second featured the first three Toppers reaching base and was highlighted by a Kollin Stone three-run triple before scoring on a wild pitch.

The Toppers added the game’s final run when Matt Fraser walked, stole second and scored on a Trent Johns single.

For the Pats, Collin Carpenter took the loss as the righty-hander worked four innings, allowed five hits and those six runs. He struck one batter out and walked three.

Marion High School’s best chance at scoring came in the top of the first when the Pats got a single from Tony Rudd and a hit from Peyton Lawhon.

Rudd nearly scored from first on a ground ball as he broke to second on contact and never slowed down rounding third but he was narrowly thrown out to keep the game scoreless.

The first two Pats reached in the second inning, but Braden Grove was forced out at second and Tyler Steele was also cut down at the plate before Benson got Drew Hutcheson to popout to end the threat.

The second game saw Price Watson get a spot start for the Toppers. The left-hander, a freshman at the Academies of West Memphis, plays for the Memphis Tigers.

The Pats scored twice in the first inning and two more times in the second for that 4-2 lead, but the rainstorm washed out the proceedings from there.

The Toppers will take part in the Arkansas State Classic this weekend, with their run kicking off on Friday morning at 11 a.m., with another game scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. with two games on Sunday at 1:30 and 5 p.m.

By Chuck Livingston