FORT SMITH -- A minor adjustment in the lineup paid major dividends for Nick Myers and the Texarkana Razorbacks on Monday afternoon.
Myers drove in four runs and Logan Vadrine pitched a complete game as the Razorbacks eliminated Cabot 7-3 in the American Legion senior state tournament at Crawford Field on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
After three consecutive games batting in the No. 6 spot, Myers was moved up one spot in the lineup. Myers responded with two-run singles in his first two at-bats.
"Sometimes a minor adjustment is all you need," Texarkana Manager Dane Peavy said. "You move a guy up one spot when he's seeing the ball well and you get two guys on and there you have it."
Texarkana will play Bryant or Fort Smith at 4 p.m. today for the right to play in tonight's late championship game.
Myers, who recently graduated from Nashville High School and is headed to the University of Arkansas to major in mechanical engineering, put Texarkana on top for good with the first of his two-run singles in the first inning.
Another two-run single in the third increased Texarkana's lead to 4-1. Both hits came with two outs.
"Honestly, I didn't think it was that much of a difference," Myers said of his new spot in the lineup. "Either way, you're going to get your cuts in."
While Myers provided the offense, Vadrine cruised on the mound during a 97-degree day. He allowed only five singles and worked around four errors. He gave up only one earned run, struck out three and walked none.
"Logan did an amazing job," Myers said. "He threw a lot of strikes, which is what you need. It's late in the tournament and everybody's arms are tired.
"Plus it's the hottest part of the day in the hottest part of Arkansas."
Cabot grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top half of the first. Lee Sullivan lined a one-out single and eventually scored on a two-out throwing error. Cabot did not get another hit until Logan Gilbertson's one-out single in the fifth.
"We felt Logan would go out there and have a good outing," Peavy said. "We didn't know if he'd go all nine or not, but I tell you what, he gritted it out. He did a good job for us. He threw strikes and that's what we needed."
Back-to-back one-out singles by Dylan Bowers and Sullivan in the eighth inning provided Cabot's biggest offensive threat. Both runners came home on wild pitches. Vadrine, however, responded by retiring the final five Cabot batters on groundouts, four of them to shortstop Blake Hall.
Texarkana added a run in the sixth when Bradon White tripled and scored on Vadrine's single. Two more Texarkana runs came home in the seventh, both on wild pitches.
Cabot starting pitcher Brett Brockington took the loss. Sullivan led the Cabot batters by going 2 for 4.
FORT SMITH 10, BRYANT 4
Christian Brasher cleared the bases with a triple to highlight a seven-run seventh inning and send the Fort Smith Sportsmen (31-5) to a victory over the Bryant BlackSox (35-6-2) in the late game.
Bryant pitcher Trey Breeding had held the Sportsmen to three hits through the first six innings, but Fort Smith sent 10 batters to the plate in the seventh to erase a 4-0 deficit.
Tanner Wiley, Drew Person and Dylan Thurber started the seventh inning with consecutive singles. Fort Smith managed only more hit in the inning, but it was a big one. Brasher lined his triple to the wall in center field to give Fort Smith a 6-4 lead.
Wiley came on in relief to pick up the victory. Bryant reliever Austin Kelley suffered the loss.
Josh Woolly and Colby Demato each had two RBI for Fort Smith. Jason Hickman was 3 for 4 with a triple for Fort Smith.
Bryant managed only four hits and none after the sixth inning.
Connor Tatum had two of Bryant's hits. Jason Hastings and Tatum each had run-scoring doubles.
Sports on 07/28/2015