Benton Academy won a pair of recent games against St. Joe and Clinton Christian.
The wins brought Benton’s record up to 5-4 on the season.
Against St. Joe, the Raiders went to work offensively early and often.
Arion Warren reached base on an error in the bottom of the first inning and scored a few moments later thanks to a passed ball.
In the bottom of the second inning, Wil Saxton hit a single before being brought home by a Caden Alexander RBI-single to extend their lead to 2-0.
Warren led off the bottom of the third with a single to center field before a J.B. Middleton triple to right brought him home. Tolar Purvis followed that up with an RBI-single before Josh Dearman walked. Unfortunately, they were unable to bring any more runs home, but some damage had been done. The Raiders were up 4-0 heading into the fourth inning.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Raiders hit their offensive stride, putting up eight runs to take the game 12-0.
The pitchers for Benton combined for a no-hitter.
Benton put up 12 runs on 10 hits with no errors, while St. Joe had no runs on no hits with three errors.
Arion Warren was the winning pitcher against St. Joe, while Prescott earned the save.
On Friday, the Raiders tried to keep their momentum going against Clinton Christian.
In the top of first inning, the Raiders struck fire and scored five runs, highlighted by a Tolar Purvis 3-run homer, but CCA scored a run of their own to cut the lead to 5-1 heading into the second.
Doubles by Middleton, Dearman, and Saxton helped the Raiders score four more runs in the second inning to make it a 9-1 game.
CCA caught fire in the bottom of the third, scoring seven runs to cut the lead to 9-8.
In the top of the fourth, a walk by Purvis, a double by Dearman, and a walk by Cole Ables loaded the bases, which led to a bevy of walks that produced five runs, extending their lead to 14-8.
CCA scored a run in the bottom of the inning to make it a 14-9 game.
Benton’s Zac Nesbit hit a 2-run single in the top of the fifth inning, and Dearman hit an RBI-single in the seventh inning to give them a 17-9 lead with three outs to go.
CCA scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh, but it was not enough.
Benton took the game 17-11.
The Raiders scored 17 runs on 13 hits with three errors, while CCA scored 11 runs on four hits with three errors.
J.B. Middleton earned the win against Clinton Christian, while Cole Ables earned the save.
