SHERIDAN -- It was a case of starting too late -- at the plate and on the mound -- for Hot Springs Village-Graves Sports.
After reaching the Class AA Zone 4 final with a gritty 3-2 win over Lakeside earlier Monday, HSV-Graves fell behind top-seeded Sheridan 5-0 in the second inning and lost 10-6 at Sheridan Sports Complex.
Both finalists and Lakeside advance to the state tournament, starting Friday at Harrison and with pairings to be announced.
Hitting of Tyler Robertson, Kyle Jessie and Chase Anderson sparked the rally against Sheridan, No. 2 seed HSV scoring two runs in the fourth and three in the fifth.
"It was like a light came on," HSV coach Mark Robertson said. "They started swinging the bat and hitting the ball."
Jessie, who regularly plays third base and seldom pitches, kept HSV within range with two scoreless innings in relief of Dylan Anderson.
"If I had to do it over again I would've pitched Kyle the whole game," Robertson said. "He pitched to contact, let the defense make plays behind him."
Sheridan, which went 3-0 in the tourney, including 7-3 over Lakeside Sunday, scored four runs in the first against HSV starter Jesse Norwood.
HSV scored a seventh-inning run, Tyler Robertson, Chase Anderson and Jessie each finishing two for four. Robertson and Jessie had doubles.
"We ran out of time," Mark Robertson said. "If we had played ball the (first three innings) the way we did fourth through the seventh I actually believe it would've been a different outcome. We dug ourselves too big a hole."
Against Lakeside, Chase Anderson prevailed in an improbable pitching duel with Kyle Lightsey, who spent the regular season with the Rams' Junior team. Anderson started the season as strictly a position player after playing shortstop only as a freshman at Arkansas Baptist College this spring.
"Lakeside was about like us. Their pitching was slim," Robertson said. "I told the boys, everybody that throws might be on the mound tonight -- whatever we've got to do."
Anderson, a 2013 Jessieville High graduate, allowed two unearned runs on Chase Willingham's two-out single in the third before holding Lakeside to one hit in the last four innings.
"When they got up 2-0 it kind of worried me with Chase, but he didn't lose his cool. He stayed focused and helped get us to the final," Robertson said.
Lightsey, an incoming high-school junior, threw three scoreless innings before allowing two fourth-inning runs on a wild pitch and J.D. Simmons' two-out single. Jessie's RBI double with two outs in the fifth put HSV ahead.
Lightsey worked a perfect sixth, finishing with seven strikeouts while allowing six hits and two walks. Anderson allowed four hits, hitting two batters, walking one and striking out four.
Mark Rucker and Tyler Robertson started HSV's first three tournament games, Rucker going six innings in a 2-0 loss to Lakeside and five in Sunday's 5-0 defeat of Bryant. Robertson threw a complete game in an eight-inning 5-4 victory against Malvern National Bank.
"I didn't have Rucker or Tyler (Monday)," Mark Robertson said. "I needed somebody to step up, and (Anderson) stepped up on the mound. That gives us somebody to rely on at the state besides Rucker and Tyler. I won't be afraid if it comes to throwing Chase or Kyle Jessie. I won't hesitate to put them on the mound. They're going to throw strikes for me and let their defense work."
• Lakeside paid tribute to pitcher/third baseman Bo Ritter at the start of Monday's game. Sidelined for the postseason by mononucleosis, the 2014 high-school graduate took the field at third base but departed before the first pitch, met at the first-base line by teammates. With a full academic scholarship, Ritter will play as an invited walk-on at Arkansas State.
Sports on 07/23/2014