Spared the ‘big guy’ , Siloam Springs works small ball plan to perfection
Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008
BENTONVILLE - Siloam Springs came into Monday's winners bracket final with a small ball gameplan and expecting to face Mountain Home ace pitcher Trey Killian, who struck out 17 batters in a tournament-opening, 2-0 win against Springdale.
A sore arm prevented Killian from pitching but Siloam Springs' gameplan didn't change and the team worked it to perfection in a 14-3 win in five innings Monday at the North Arkansas 14-year-old Babe Ruth State Tournament at Phillips Park.
Siloam Springs got on base early and often, stole bases, suicide squeezed and even stole home plate to manufacture runs. The team has now scored 48 runs in three tournament games.
"Bunt and run," said Siloam Springs manager Jim Snodgrass. "That was the name of the plan today and it worked. Offensively we did what we wanted to. We had a gameplan coming in and our boys executed it."
Siloam Springs will play in the championship game today at 5: 30 p.m. If they lose the "if necessary"game is at 8 p.m.
Mountain Home was forced to play in Monday's late elimination game to determine Siloam Springs' opponent today.
Mountain Home coach Kevin Berry wasn't surprised with Siloam Springs' offensive output having watched earlier games in the tournament.
"I knew they were capable of doing it," Berry said. "They did it in their first games. I knew they could hit the ball."
For the third consecutive game Siloam Springs scored five runs in the first inning. The first two hitters of the inning, Blake Curry and Simeon Pruitt, both reached base and stole second. Keith Laster and starting pitcher Braden Pippin had RBI singles and Dylan Shipman ripped a two-run triple.
Shipman stole home for the team's fifth run in the inning.
Siloam Springs put up nine more runs in the third inning despite only three hits. Siloam Springs took advantage of three Mountain Home errors in the inning along with four walks and a hit batter. And with runners on, they were constantly in motion.
Pippin had a two-run single in the inning.
"If we can get a team to choke a little bit, put them under pressure with a bunt, we'll do it," said Snodgrass, who admitted he was trying to get as many runs as he could in case Mountain Home inserted Killian in the game. "We didn't want to have to face the big guy without any run cushion. We wanted to get what we could get when we could get it.
"We were surprised. We came expecting the big guy. That's why we put the bunt plan in. I watched (Killian ) the other night. He's definitely the hardest thrower I've seen in 14-year-olds in quite a while. "Berry said he was thinking about pitching Killian on Monday until he learned his arm was still sore. "He throws hard and it takes a little while to recover," Berry said. Pippin, who got the save in Siloam Springs' 25-19 win against Fayetteville on Friday, pitched the whole game. He had three strikeouts and only walked two. "Pippin did a great job," Snodgrass said. "He didn't walk too many. We'll give him the game ball for shutting everybody down. "Pippin also went 2 for 2 at the plate with three RBI and three runs scored. Curry, Pruitt and Laster each scored two runs.
Snodgrass said Laster will get the start in today's championship game. He relieved in Friday's game against Fayetteville.
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