GRAVETTE -- Rogers jumped on Gravette early and the Optimist Club added some late insurance runs to defeated Gravette 12-8 in an American Legion Baseball game Tuesday night.
Rogers (5-10) led 7-0 after three innings and finished with 15 hits, including four triples. Six Optimist players had multiple hits and Rogers got strong relief pitching performances from Jacob Bray and Billy Treacy.
American Legion Baseball
Rogers 12, Gravette 8
Rogers^025^110^012^ — ^12^15^1
Gravette^004^201^001^ — ^8^10^5
Heffley, Bray (5), Treacy (7) and Ivey; Shaw, Vanderpool (3), Gibbons (9) and Nelson. W — Heffley. L — Shaw. HRs — None
Joseph Sultemeier led the Rogers hit parade with three hits and three runs scored in a 3-for-4 performance. Jay Young, Derek Sallee, Kyle Eason and Treacy all had two hits each. The bottom three hitters in the order -- Brandon Mabry, Treacy and Harrison Heffley each recorded a triple. Eason also had a triple.
Bray and Treacy gave up one run each as the two pitchers combined for five innings of relief work.
"We have been swinging the bats real well, and we have a pretty good pitching staff," said Rogers coach Ric Lisi. "Both Bray and Treacy, those two guys throw strikes."
Gravette (3-4) finished with 10 hits but they also committed five errors, including three the first three innings as Rogers built their early 7-0 lead. Cody Fields had three hits for Gravette while Brandon Shaw and Luke Summerford hit run-scoring doubles.
"I felt like we came out a little flat," Gravette coach Randall Hunt said. "We gave them too many free bags. Rogers did a great job of executing. We picked it back up and we were always fighting. When you put up eight runs, you always have a chance to win. It just came down to those free bags."
Rogers took a 2-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a Gravette error and a RBI single by Treacy. Rogers then took a commanding 7-0 lead with five runs in the top of the third. Mabry had a two-RBI triple while single runs scored on a Gravette balk, error and wild pitch. Heffley also hit a triple and scored in the inning.
But Gravette answered with four runs in the home half of the third. Summerford delivered the big blow with a two RBI triple to the corner in right field while Jace Russ added a run-scoring single to cut the Rogers lead to 7-4.
Gravette cut the lead to 8-6 on an two-run double by Brandon Shaw in the fourth inning but Rogers added a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth for a five-run cushion.
Sports on 06/18/2014