Arkansas Travelers Manager Collin Cowgill flashed a quick smile near the end of a postgame interview after his team's 12-10 come-from-behind victory over Northwest Arkansas on Sunday afternoon.
"Toughness," Cowgill said, talking about his team rallying from deficits of five and six runs on a 93-degree day at Dickey Stephens Park in North Little Rock. "That's how you win games like that. You got to out-tough them, and they were up to the task."
The victory gave the Travelers three wins in the seven-game series and pulled them into a third-place tie with the Naturals, five games behind Class AA Central North leader Wichita.
It was a victory that seemed unlikely early, when the Naturals put up six runs in the top of the second against spot starter Holden Laws, called up from the Arizona Complex League to fill in for a depleted Travelers pitching staff.
It was 7-3 after two innings and 9-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
Travs right fielder Zach DeLoach said there was no hint of quit in the Travs dugout.
"We just battled," DeLoach said. "We took it pitch by pitch. We didn't try to get too big in some big spots. We came through in some clutch situations."
DeLoach is one of the recent call-ups from High-A Everett, along with center fielder Jack Larsen (12-game hitting streak), shortstop Patrick Frick and Kaden Polcovich.
"We've got a lot of new faces, like myself on this team," said DeLoach, who was 2 for 4 with 1 run, 1 RBI and a walk Sunday. "Just trying to bring energy every day that we can."
"We just keep supporting each [other]."
Cowgill said he thought DeLoach's two-run triple in the bottom of the ninth inning of Saturday's 7-3 loss gave the Travelers something to build on today.
"We didn't quit last night, and we didn't quit today," Cowgill said. "That's all I can ask from our guys, is to continue to put competitive at bats together.
"We got base runners on, and we got hits when we needed to."
Two-out hitting was on display in Arkansas' five-run sixth inning.
Arkansas had runners on first and second with two outs when Joe Rizzo (2 for 4, 1 run, 3 RBI) floated a single to center field to score Larsen (2 for 5, 2 runs, 2 RBI) and make it a 9-8 game.
Jordan Cowan's single to center drove in Jake Scheiner to tie the game, and the Travs took their first lead at 10-9 on a single to left by catcher David Schaeffer.
Cowan advanced to third on Schaeffer's single, and Schaeffer moved to second and into scoring position when left fielder Brewer Hicklin bobbled the ball and was charged with an error.
Bobby Honeyman singled sharply to right for two more Travs runs, and a 12-9 Arkansas lead.
"From top to bottom, it was a good team win," Cowgill said. "We battled hard the last few days."
Cowgill said there is no excuse for the Travs to pack it in, even during a game that lasted more than 3 ½ hours.
"These guys are pros, and this weather isn't new," Cowgill said. "It requires some toughness, and both teams showed a lot of that.
"You play a 4-hour game on Sunday, 2 o'clock start, you're going to be a little tired. Like I said, a lot of toughness from both sides to put up as many runs as hits as we did today.
"We just outlasted them a little more like they did yesterday."
The Naturals made it 12-10 in the top of the eighth on Vinnie Pasquantino's sacrifice fly, his fifth RBI of the game.
A mostly seared crowd of 2,521, many situated on the shadier first-base side on a day when the heat index hit 102 in North Little Rock, voiced their approval.
"We just continued to be aggressive at our pitch in the zone," said DeLoach, the Mariners' No. 10 prospect according to MLB Pipeline. "And we don't think about it. We continue to play, play our game."