The Benton Rangers (4-0) baseball team showed no mercy to the Eldorado Eagles (2-3) Wednesday afternoon when the team in maroon took an 18-4 victory by slaughter rule in five innings.
The host team Eagles earned only four hits throughout the game compared to the Rangers' 13 hits (14 RBIs).
"They came out and put some runs on the board, played hard, continued to add, ran the bases effectively and took advantage of their mistakes," said Brett Blondi, Rangers' coach. "I was happy with everybody."
But at the other end of the field, Eagles' coach Brad Drust admitted to being slightly embarrassed by the way his team performed.
"I'm not embarrassed by the score… I'm more embarrassed by our hustle today," Drust said. "We were kind of lackadaisical in our hustle and that's not the way we as a program play."
Starting on the mound for the Eagles was junior Ray May who faced only six Benton hitters before being pulled from the game. He let up one hit, walked three hitters and hit junior Parker Williams in the back.
Coming in as May's relief was sophomore Ben Byrd who also struggled on the mound; he gave up no hits in the remainder of the first, but he also walked one batter and struck junior Brett Bonenberger in the arm.
Meanwhile, the Rangers started out quickly after leadoff batter Derek Oxford was walked--he stole second base after a wild pitch was delivered. Junior Gehrig Wynn hammered a base hit into left field which brought Oxford across the plate.
The bases were loaded as a result of May hitting Williams and walking junior Ian McMahon. This brought Bonenberger to the plate (after the pitching change was made) and a run was scored after he was hit by the pitch. The last run of the inning was scored when senior Bryden Picklesimer hit a pop fly to right field. Senior Oliver Davis (who was pinch running for Bonenberger) tagged up at third base and crossed the plate.
Eventually the Eagles got their chance at the plate and Williams took the mound for the Rangers. Leadoff hitter Joe Mayberry started things out the right way by knocking a base hit into left field. Then Byrd hit an RBI double into left field to bring home Mayberry. Senior Trey Vessel grounded out to short stop, but the play was enough to bring Byrd home.
The Eagles would not score any more runs until the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Rangers continued their charge, scoring five runs in the top of the second. Senior Tyson Houghland smacked an RBI single to bring around Oxford. Williams also hit an RBI single into center field to bring in two runs (Wynn and Houghland). Davis again came in to pinch run for Williams; an attempt to steal second base resulted in Davis coming all the way home after two Eagles' errors.
Freshman Braden Summers pinch ran for Bonenberger after he hit a base hit. Summers scampered around the diamond and stole home after Byrd threw a wild pitch.
In the top of the third, the Rangers added five more runs to their total. Wynn crossed the plate after hitting a base hit and then stealing to third base. Junior Hamilton Page popped out to right field, but Wynn tagged up at third to score.
McMahon hit an RBI single into the very sunny right field to bring home Houghland who was on third base. Then, Davis again stole home after Bonenberger smashed a double into right field.
The Eagles decided to switch their pitchers again in an attempt to stop the visitors. They looked to freshman Hunter Artman, but the attack was not over yet.
With runners at first and second, junior Zack Avery banged an RBI double to bring in both runners.
In the fourth, a double by McMahon resulted in the two runs for the Rangers. Then, it was the visitors' turn to switch pitchers and they brought Picklesimer to the mound.
He struggled at first, walking freshmen Jacob Etienne and Dalton White. But then he struck out Artman and defense helped with the second out against Kale Oglesby.
Still with two base runners, Mayberry came back to the plate and walloped an RBI triple into left field to bring around two runs.
"This game we started with good intensity and it's hard to maintain," Blondi said. "We just need to make sure… if we make mistakes, they don't cost us. So far they haven't."
Up by 12 points (16-4), the Rangers did not back down and scored two more runs in the fifth. The first came as Houghland popped an RBI double into center field. The second from Page who flew out to centerfield, but Wynn tagged up at third to score the final run.
The Rangers called Oxford to the mound for the bottom of the fifth where he struck out Nolan Milligan and defense helped get out Braden Unthank and Hunter Sizemore to end the game.
With the loss under their belts, Drust said the Eagles will use it to continue to grow and get better the farther they get into the season.
"We have a young group of freshmen and a lot of them are still learning the game," Drust said. "The seniors are stepping up to teach them."
