Panthers reach quarterfinals of 6A state
MARTIN COUCH Sports editor

PITCHER BRENDA GARNER PHOTO Benton Panthers senior pitcher Derek Jester started the state tournament game against Jonesboro.

The 2008 Benton Panthers will be remembered for winning 25 games in a season and the trust of senior leadership.

The Panthers had their season come to an abrupt ending in the 6A State tournament quarterfinals at Texarkana. After defeating the Forrest City Mustangs 3-0 in the first round of games, Benton led 2-0 before giving up a 5-run second inning to the Jonesboro Hurricane. The 6AEast's second seeded team went on to take a 10-5 victory and eliminate the Panthers.

"They were a very coachable bunch and when you have a bunch like that, it makes it really fun," said Benton head coach Mark Balisterri. "I had a great nrelationship with all of my players. It seems like every year you start getting closer to the kids or nmaybe I'm just getting old, but it's a great group of kids and I hate to see them fail when there's nothing you can do for them, and that's what I'm feeling now."

The 19-year veteran Panthers coach's emotional speech rang with the winning tones that set the pace for this year's team.

SIMPSON BRENDA GARNER PHOTO Benton Panthers senior pitcher and catcher Drew Simpson stands at first base awaiting a runner.

"I'm proud of what they've done and I'm proud to be a Benton Panther," Balisterri said. "I thought we had a great year."

The game was not indicative of the way the Panthers ran through 7A contenders like Little Rock Catholic, Bryant and North Little Rock. On paper, the Panthers were the better team against Jonesboro, but not on that night.

Jarrod Shults walked and scored Benton's first run in the top of the first inning and Ashton Wilson doubled and scored to make it 2-0 in the top of the second.

Errors prolonged the Jonesboro half of the second and chased Jester from the mound. Wilson came in to relieve him and the Hurricane scored five unearned runs.

Benton fought back in the top of the third with Kordsmeier getting a base hit up the middle and Richardson sending him to third with a shot to right-center field. The Panthers didn't plate a run until the top of the fourth when Drew McCurry led off with a single to left field and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Shults.

HITTER BRENDA GARNER PHOTO Benton's Lee Richardson stands at second base after doubling.

Jonesboro answered with two more runs to up their lead to 7-3. Richardson doubled to left field in the top of the fifth inning and went to third on a wild pitch. He scored when Colby Roberts grounded out to the shortstop.

Shults got the Panthers as close as 7-5 in the top of the sixth inning when he walked with two outs and scored when Kordsmeier reached on an error. Jonesboro scored three times in the bottom of the sixth.

"We didn't get the job done in all facets of the game," Balisterri said. "To win championships, you have to figure out a way to put it together for four games and we just didn't do it. We never gave up. We had a lead and they came back, then we had a terrible inning and they scored five runs. We didn't just sit there, we came back and they came back again. We couldn't get over the edge.

SCORE BRENDA GARNER PHOTO Benton's Ashton Wilson scores a run against Jonesboro.

"It was a tough way to have it end," the coach said. "It would be different if we lose the last game to a team that's better than us, but in a one-game deal, one day they are better than us. My hat's off to Jonesboro, their pitcher struggled the whole game, but they stayed mentally tough and didn't boot the ball around much."

The Panthers opened the tournament with a 3-0 win against Forrest City, the sixth seeded team from the eastern conference.

Justin Mills led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk, then scored when Drew Simpson reached on an error. Cole Durham, running for Simpson, scored when Taylor Cash reached on an error.

Mills turned a 3-6 doubleplay on the Mustangs in the top of the second and Mc- Curry made a skying stop of a line drive in the top of the third inning for Benton.

The Panthers added their final run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Roberts beat out an infield hit with one out. He advanced to third when McCurry reached on an error and scored on a wild pitch.

SENIORS BRENDA GARNER PHOTOS Benton Panthers Luke Kordsmeier, left, and Jarrod Shults, right, led the Panthers this year in hitting.

"With the inexperience we started the year with, I never thought we'd be 25-6 at the end of this year," Balisterri said. "We beat some really good teams this year and seeing guys like Simpson, who had a great year and a 10-0 record with less than a 1.0 era, Cash, Shults, Kordsmeier - they all stepped it up and that's what you want to see.

"We had six or seven underclassmen on the field most of the time we played," he continued. "We've got a great group coming back and we've got an opportunity to do some different things next year with our lefties. The seniors left us with a good feeling. It was a great group of kids and we had a blast all year long. That's what makes it fun, unfortunately, it ended two days before we wanted it to."