After falling 13-8 in the first game of Monday's doubleheader at Trojan Field, National Park shut out the Henderson State junior varsity team for a 10-0 win.
The Nighthawks loaded up the bases in the bottom of the first inning of the second game after allowing just one runner on base in the top of the inning, and Nathan Kirkpatrick, a freshman from Sheridan, hit a grand slam in his first career at-bat. NPC scored two more in the inning to take a 6-0 lead.
First game
Henderson State;142 230 1—13 7 1
National Park;004 004 0—8 9 2
Parnham and Neely (6); Herron, Roberts (2), Jackson (4), Gullat (6) and Hickman (7). W-Parnham. L-Herron. HR-HSU, Davis 1 (3), Lewis 1 (4), Day 1 (4); NPC, Minjarez 1 (3).
Second game
Henderson State;000 00—0 4 3
National Park;604 0x—10 6 0
Hendrix and Reed (2); Bearden. W-Bearden. L-Hendrix. HR-NPC, Kirkpatrick 1 (1), Stuart 1 (3). 2B-HSU, Smith 1, Pentecost 1; NPC, Hackney 1.
"He's got spot," said NPC head coach Dillon Hargrove. "That's kind of what I've been telling the guys. [If] you get a chance, you'd better execute on it. He did today. So he proved a lot to us. He came in big for us."
NPC scored four more runs in the bottom of the third, including a three-run home run by Kade Stuart, a sophomore from Lonoke. The Reddies got one runner to third in the top of the fourth, but NPC managed to keep the shutout alive before retiring the side in order in the top of the fifth for the win.
"Our energy level went way up after he hit that, and then everybody's hitting," Hargrove said. "Going into that first game, that's what I told the guys, 'When things are going wrong, we've got to have that same energy because that's the only thing that's going to carry us. We learned a lesson, and that's good for us."
The Reddies got things going early with Jonathan Smith stealing home after catching the Nighthawks (3-3) defense off-guard for a 1-0 lead in the first inning. HSU pushed out to a 7-0 lead by the middle of the third inning before NPC got things rolling offensively.
With runners on first and second, Stuart hit an RBI double to plate Weston McGhee before Lakeside grad Jesus Minjarez hit a three-run home run that bounced off the roof of Hot Springs' new indoor practice facility, pulling the Nighthawks within 7-4. HSU added five more runs over the next two innings while keeping NPC from scoring.
In the bottom of the sixth, four more Nighthawks found their way across the plate to pull within 12-8. The Reddies scored one more run in the top of the seventh to set the final.
"I thought in the first game, both starters are filling up the zone and the bats came out swinging," said Henderson State assistant coach Alan Hall. "I thought that in the second game, their pitcher came out throwing strikes and filling it up, established the zone early, and our pitcher did not do that as well. Gave up a couple free bases early in, and that one swing in the first inning busted it open. From there, their pitcher seemed to get into groove, and we just couldn't find a way to to scratch the board."
Dylan Parnham, an Arkadelphia grad, picked up the win for the Reddies, allowing seven earned runs off seven hits, four walks and a hit batter while striking out three over 5 1/3 innings. Lane Neely closed out the game for HSU, giving up 1 earned run off two hits and a walk with one balk.
Matthew Herron, a sophomore from Mountain Pine, collected the loss for the Nighthawks with 1 2/3 innings, giving up five runs off two hits, three walks, two hit batters and a balk. Andy Roberts, a freshman from Gosnell, went 1 1/3 innings, allowing two runs of two hits, a walk and a balk with three strikeouts. Mount Ida freshman Cade Jackson went two innings and gave up five runs off three this, a walk and a hit batter with one strikeout, Jackson Gullat had one strikeout over his inning on the mound, and Mariana freshman Jacob Hickman finished out the game with one run allowed off a walk while striking out one.
Bradley Bearden, a freshman from Ashdown, earned the complete-game win for the Nighthawks with four hits and a hit batter while striking out eight.
Derrick Hendrix collected the loss for HSU, giving up six runs off three hits, two walks and two hit batters while striking out one in one inning, and Jordan Reed closed out the game with four runs off three hits, a walk and a hit batter against five strikeouts.
Sports on 02/11/2020