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South Pem edges Van Buren 3-2 in baseball sectional
South Pemiscot baseball coach Jason House entered Monday’s state sectional against Van Buren hoping his team could find a way to collect a victory without going to its bullpen.
“Our whole goal going into today was to get through this one with Logan Damesworth and have our No. 2 ready to go on Wednesday,” House said. “Our rotation since the conference tournament has been Damesworth starts the semifinal and Cain comes in for the next round.”
Mission accomplished
Right-handed starter Logan Damesworth went the distance on the mound to help the South Pemiscot Bulldogs edge the Van Buren Bulldogs 3-2 in a Class 2 sectional at South Pemiscot High School.
“We found ways to put the hits together,” House said. “Guys got on base. I think that’s when good things happen. When guys get on base and guys come up and hit them around.”
South Pemiscot calculated a run in the first inning and two more runs in the fourth inning to build a 3-0 lead.
South Pemiscot tallied its first run after Riley Cain collected a leadoff single, took second base, advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt by Damesworth and scored on an RBI single by Colton McCulloch.
South Pemiscot tallied its other two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning after D.J. Jones collected a leadoff double, Keith Guyton drew a walk and Kevin Burton followed with a one-out RBI double that plated both runners.
Van Buren cut the deficit to the final score when it scored both of its runs in the top of the sixth inning. Spencer Burnham and Todd Wilcoxson both collected singles in the frame to put runners at first and second with one out. The next hitter, Justin Chilton, reached base on a two-base infield error that allowed Burnham to score from second base and Wilcoxson to advance to third base.
The inning ended when the next hitter, Ethan Ponder, hit a ground ball that resulted in two outs. The first out was recorded at first base with the second out being recorded as Chilton attempted to score from second base but was tagged out at home. Wilcoxson scored on Ponder’s grounder to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Damesworth entered the final inning having already thrown 94 pitches. He needed only five pitches to retire all three hitters he faced in the seventh frame. Damesworth allowed two unearned runs, three hits, struck out 11 and walked two.
“Early in the game I felt like Damesworth struggled a little bit,” House said. “I told him after the third inning to cut his breaking ball off a little bit shorter and from that point on he had a pretty good game.”
Burnham pitched the first 5 1/3 innings for Van Buren. He allowed three runs (two earned), six hits, struck out nine and walked two. He threw 108 pitches.
Wilcoxson relieved Burnham with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning and retired both hitters he faced.
“I thought the second guy that came in was pretty tough,” House said. “The guys said his knuckleball danced pretty good. I guess we are lucky we didn’t see him . . .”
Van Buren finishes its season with a record of 16-3.
“We wanted to have the opportunity to try to win,” Van Buren baseball coach Jacob Black said. “We didn’t want to come out here and be star struck on their home field in front of their home crowd and get down 7 or 8-0 and think what if we would have done this or that. We came here and played hard for seven innings and we are going to hold our heads up high.
“These guys did what they were supposed to do,” Black continued. “A play here or call there at second base, or anything, could have changed the outcome, but that’s baseball. That’s the game, and we could second-guess ourselves on everything, but what we will never second-guess ourselves on is the work these guys put in that allowed us to get to today.”
South Pemiscot (15-7) will host St. Vincent in a Class 2 quarterfinal Wednesday. St. Vincent (11-10) beat Van-Far (7-12) 15-5 in its state sectional Monday.
“I’ve heard they are pretty tough and I would figure they have to be pretty tough to beat Valle,” House said. “It’s going to be a big game for us. The only thing I’ll say is we are going to go out and do the work to try to give ourselves a chance to win and you never know what will happen.”