Siloam Springs struggled holding leads in its first two games in the 15-year-old Babe Ruth Southwest Region Tournament. That trend came back to hurt the Panthers again Monday.
Southern Brazoria County scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to eliminate Siloam Springs with a 6-5 win at James Butts Baseball Complex.
15-Year-Old Babe Ruth Southwest Region Tournament
James Butts Baseball Complex, Siloam Springs
Friday’s results
G1: Pampas (West Texas) 4, New Iberia (La.) 3
G2: Tri-County (South Texas) 10, Harrison 0
G3: Southern Brazoria County (East Texas) 6, Pine Bluff 2, 5 p.m.
G4: Siloam Springs 5, Long Beach (Miss.) 4
Saturday’s results
G5: Tri-County 11, Pampa 1
G6: Siloam Springs 12, Southern Brazoria County 11
G7: New Iberia 6, Harrison 2
G8: Pine Bluff 9, Long Beach 0
Sunday’s games
G9: Southern Brazoria County 11, New Iberia 2
G10: Pine Bluff 11, Pampa 0
G11: Tri-County 5, Siloam Springs 2
G12: Southern Brazoria County 3, Pine Bluff 1
Monday’s games
G13: Southern Brazoria County 6, Siloam Springs 5
G14: Tri-County vs. Southern Brazoria County (n)
Tuesday’s game (if necessary)
G15: Winner G14 vs. Loser G14, TBA
How They Scored
Southern Brazoria County 6, Siloam Springs 5
Siloam^000^302^0^—^5^3^2
Brazoria^020^000^4^—^6^5^0
Junkermann, Kent (7) and Pruitt; Warren and Hartman. W-Warren. L-Kent. SV-None.
The Panthers squandered late four-run leads in their first two games of the tournament against Long Beach (Miss.) and the same Southern Brazoria County team. But on both of those occasions, Siloam Springs was able to win.
"We've done that a couple of times where we've had a lead and given it up a little bit and been able to battle back and hold on for the victory," said Siloam Springs coach Marc Hawbaker. "Today just wasn't one of those days. But again I think these are first class players and first class young men. I just love being around them."
Nate Trevino's bases loaded single with two outs scored Markus Garza from third for the winning run for Southern Brazoria County, which advanced to the championship round against Tri-County, Texas. Results were not available at press time.
The Panthers led 5-2 going into the bottom of the seventh with starting pitcher Chance Junkermann having pitched four consecutive scoreless innings.
But Junkermann walked the first three batters he faced in the seventh and was relieved by center fielder Daniel Kent.
"Junkermann threw great," Hawbaker said. "That was the plan for him to go out and battle for us. We needed those innings if we were going to win the championship. He did an awesome job. That last inning he walked a few, but we had a chance to make plays. It just didn't happen today."
Kent gave up a single to Michael Barrera to make it 5-3, and Efrien Faudoa brought SBC within one with a sacrifice fly.
With the score tied 5-4, the Panthers were able to get the second out of the inning in a rundown to keep a 5-4 lead. Kent walked Alex Matchett to load the bases, and SBC tied the game on a fielder's choice off the bat of Aaron McDaniel to set up Trevino's game-winning hit.
After falling behind 2-0 in the second, the Panthers took a 3-2 lead with three runs in the the fourth. Kaleb Francis had an RBI single with two outs, and Dawson Armstrong drew a bases-loaded walk. Francis would later come around to score on a wild pitch.
The Panthers added two more runs in the sixth when Matthew McSpadden doubled and scored on a triple by Kent. Kent then scored on a wild pitch to give the Panthers a 5-2 lead.
Kent took the loss for Siloam Springs, while Tyler Warren was the winning pitcher for SBC with a complete game effort.
Sports on 07/29/2014