Manchester Academy (1-1) defeated rival Benton Academy (1-1) 9-4 on the baseball diamond on Thursday night.
The Mavericks struck first in the rivalry game with a run in the top of the first inning.
In the bottom of the second inning, Benton struck back with a couple of runs of their own to take a 2-1 lead.
A huge momentum swing occurred shortly thereafter.
A series of errors by Benton in the top of the third mixed with some well-placed hits by the Mavs allowed Manchester to score six runs, giving them a 7-2 lead.
The game’s scoring stalled severely after the top of the third. For the next three and a half innings, the pitching and defense held solid, allowing no runs to be scored.
Manchester broke the scoring drought with two runs in the top of the seventh to extend their lead to 9-2.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Raiders finally regained some momentum, scoring two runs with a last gasp effort to win the game, but it was not enough. Manchester took the game 9-4.
Peyton Saxton had a big game in the win for Manchester. He earned the win on the mound after giving up two earned runs on five hits with three walks and six strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
Saxton also went 2-for-4 at the plate with one run and one RBI.
Sophomore catcher Ranier Roberts went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, two RBIs, and a run.
Warner Adcock went 2-for-4 with one run and one RBI.
Despite the good day offensively, Manchester head coach Scooter Prince is not satisfied with his team’s consistency at the plate.
“Right now we are still behind on our batting,” Prince said. “We’re just not where we need to be. We’ve got to be more consistent.”
According to Prince, the lineup is far from solidified and the best player will play.
“I think we’re going to be decently deep this year,” Prince said. “I will play whoever is hitting decent at the time. Nothing will be set in stone for us until after Spring Break.”
On the flipside, Benton Academy baseball coach Vance Avalon thinks his team just needs repetition to overcome their flaws.
“We had seven starters playing basketball pretty late into the season,” Avalon said. “We had seven errors against Manchester. You can’t come out and play baseball with no practice and be flawless. We took our first ground ball on Wednesday. It was tough, but these are fixable problems.”
Saxton Graves earned the loss on the mound for Benton after giving up seven runs (1 ER) in five innings.
Baylee Jones had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two singles, a double, and four RBIs.
Tyler Reynolds and Blake Moore each scored two runs in the loss.
The Raiders bounced back from the season-opening loss with an 8-7 win over Simpson Academy on Saturday.
Benton piled up 15 hits and only made two errors in the win, a brilliant sight to Avalon.
“The improvement from game one to game two was pretty big,” Avalon said. “We only had two errors against Simpson. We have plenty of experienced guys. We have six to seven starting seniors, and even our younger guys have experience in big playoff games.”
Gage Pierce earned the win for Benton with a 3.1 inning relief effort in which he gave up three earned runs and struck out two.
Wyatt Street led the way offensively for Benton in the win, going 4-for-4 with an RBI and three runs.
Barrett Whitworth went 2-for-4 with a double, a single and two RBIs.
John Michael Graham had a 2-for-3 day at the plate with a run scored. He also pitched 2.2 innings, giving up one earned run with two strikeouts.
