Diamond Panthers beat Bryant to win second straight title
MARTIN COUCH Sports editor

Benton's Luke Kordsmeier throws over to first base during the Panthers first-round tournament game against Hot Springs Lakeside.

Against this year's tough competition, the Benton Panthers won their own invitational baseball tournament for the second straight year.

The Panthers defeated the Bryant Hornets 9-5. It also was the second year that Benton had defeated the Hornets for the championship.

"We had a good game," said Benton head coach Mark Balisterri. "We've won it now two years in a row, and we're tickled to death, because this is the strongest tournament field there has been in a while. Bryant, Little Rock Central, Sylvan Hills and Searcy are good. Hot Springs Lakeside, Malvern and Sheridan aren't bad, either. We were fortunate to have played good baseball."

The Panthers defeated Hot Springs Lakeside 7-4 on nine hits, while committing three errors. Ashton Wilson got the win with Drew Simpson saving the game from the middle of the fifth inning on.

Lakeside struck first with three runs in the top of the second inning. Benton came back to score four in the bottom of the third. Colby Roberts was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on Justin Mills' two-out single to center field. Derek Jester walked and Luke Kordsmeier singled to the gap in left field to score Mills and Jester and tie the game.

Benton shortstop Drew McCurry tries to turn a double play against Hot Springs Lakeside.

Kordsmeier was able to score when Taylor Cash reached on an error by the Lakeside right fielder.

The Panthers added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning when Jarrod Shults walked with one out and moved to second on a passed ball. Simpson doubled him in with a rocket to right field, and then scored when Jester doubled to the left-center gap.

Lakeside got a run back in the top of the sixth inning, but Roberts doubled and scored in the bottom of the inning to make it 7-4 off another Mills' hit.

"It was a big win because we came back," Balisterri said. "It's a learning process and this team is going to be a team that learns from their mistakes and we can build on it as the year goes on. They realize that if you get down early to be patient, there is still time to come back."

Benton's Tayor Cash makes a tag on a Lakeside runner.

Wilson had six strike outs to his credit.

"Wilson settled down real nice and pitched really good after that one inning," Balisterri said. "We have to make the plays behind him. We made some changes tonight, but I haven't lost faith in anybody. You have to make some changes early in the year to see what happens. We want to give ourselves the best chance of winning and we've got a good group of guys who are sticking together. Lakeside is going to be a tough team to beat in 5A. "

Against Searcy, the Lions took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third inning, but Benton came back to tie in the bottom half of the frame. The Panthers took the lead with a two-run fifth and defeated the Lions 4-2.

Drew McCurry led off the third inning by reaching on an error. Roberts sacrificed him to third with a bunt and Shults walked. Simpson singed in Mc- Curry to the tie the game 1-1.

After Shults received another out, Simpson was safe on a fielder's choice. Mills reached on an error and Kordsmeier singled to load the bases. With two outs, Simpson scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2-2.

In the sixth, Roberts was safe on a Searcy throwing error and scored on Shults' double, who went to third on the throw to the plate. Simpson singled in Shults for a 4-2 lead.

"The way we wanted it was to have the strongest teams we could possibly have in our tournament," Balisterri said. "Us, Searcy, Bryant, Sylvan Hills it would be tough to beat those four teams. We wanted to have a tournament to get people excited about baseball."

The Panthers had two fourrun innings and added a single run in the fifth to hold off the Hornets for the championship.

In the bottom of the second inning, Mill, Jester and Cash singled to load the bases and relied on a two-out walk by McCurry to plate Mills. Roberts tripled in the rest of the Panthers on base for a 4-0 lead.

Bryant came back to get two runs in the second inning, but Benton answered with four more runs in the fourth. Wilson led off with a walk, McCurry singled, Shults walked with one out, Simpson singled in Wilson, Mills walked, then Kordsmeier doubled in Shults and Simpson to make it 8-2.

Roberts scored again for Benton in the bottom of the fifth inning on a base hit from Simpson.

"I was proud of the way we played in this tournament," Balisterri said. "The chemistry is there."