Arkansas Express' Hitting Too Much For Perfect Timing

STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF • @NWABenGoff Brian Beers, Arkansas Express shortstop, attempts to tag out Perfect Timing runner Jordan Harris at second Friday at Phillips Park in Bentonville.
STAFF PHOTO BEN GOFF • @NWABenGoff Brian Beers, Arkansas Express shortstop, attempts to tag out Perfect Timing runner Jordan Harris at second Friday at Phillips Park in Bentonville.

BENTONVILLE -- Adam Scoggins rounded second base with a big smile on his face Friday morning, fully aware he was about to be teased by his Arkansas Express teammates.

The reason for the ribbing was well worth it. Scoggins, a rising junior at Springdale Har-Ber, took full advantage of the shorter dimensions in right field and belted a two-run home run during his team's 15-5 victory over Perfect Timing in the Hawg Showcase Tournament at Phillips Park.

How The Scored

Arkansas Express 15, Perfect Timing 5

Express^072^51^—^15^14^1

Timing^013^01^—^5^4^4

Self and Butler; Russell, Goff (3) and Harris. W-Self. L-Russell. HR-Arkansas Express, Scoggins, Butler, Self.

"I knew, playing on kind of a short porch, they weren't going to let me have it easy," Scoggins said. "I just had to take the torture for a little bit.

"The pitch was high and inside, and I just turned on it. I didn't get all of it, though. I didn't hit it as hard as I could."

Scoggins' blast, which cleared the right-field fence and hit the outfield fence on a nearby field on the fly, capped a seven-run outburst as the Express (1-4) batted through their order in the second inning. Payton Parker and Jack Eaton contributed with an RBI double apiece, while Perfect Timing didn't help its cause by committing four errors in the inning.

That was all the offense Remington Self needed to pick up the win, but the Express was far from finished with hitting. The offense had its best game of the tournament, belting out 14 hits against a trio of Perfect Timing pitchers.

"We finally came out and swung the bats like we are capable of doing," Express coach Kyle Williams said. "We have been slumping with our offense so far in the tournament, and we finally came out and swung the bats.

"We played to the best of our abilities, and it paid off. It was nice to see us go out there and play a complete game. We're picking it up in all facets of the game, and it will be nice if we can keep it going and do some damage in the bracket."

Perfect Timing -- a team coached by former Arkansas Razorback Tim Carver -- pulled within 9-4 after Ethan Magdich's RBI single in the second, followed by a bases-loaded hit batsman and Cameron Carver's two-run double in the third. That was as close as the score would get as the Express erupted for five runs in the fourth and added a solo tally in the sixth.

Broderick Butler, who plays at Shiloh Christian, sparked the fourth-inning outburst when he belted a two-run home run over the left-field fence. Self then made it back-to-back shots and helped his cause when he drilled a solo home run and made it a 14-4 game.

Self picked up a complete-game victory in a game that was called after five innings because of the 10-run rule. The right-hander from Har-Ber had allowed one run to score in the fifth, but he pitched out of a bases-loaded jam to preserve the 10-run cushion by recording a strikeout and a pop foul to third to end the game.

Sports on 06/21/2014

Upcoming Events