NASHVILLE – A busy week
of the national past time
for the Nashville Scrappers
started out Monday after-
noon with a doubleheader
against the Kirby Trojans at
Wilson Park in Nashville.
The two teams ran rela-
tively high scoring games
each time, with the greater
depth of bench in Nashville’s
dugout making a telling dif-
ference.
Scoring began with the
Scrappers in the bottom of
the first with one run from
Jackson Beavert, brought
home on a sacrifice fly by
Nick Myers. The big drive
in runs came the following
inning, when Hunter White
came in on an error off a
grounder to short by Zach
Jamison and then Trace
Beene brought in Chris Wil-
lard, Chas Scott and Jamison
from loaded bases with a line
drive to left field. Before the
second ended, Beene was
himself brought in by My-
ers on another error from a
grounder to the shortstop.
The Trojans made their
big move in the top of the
third with a steady drum-
beat of runs beginning with
a man walked home, then
two in on a fly to left, one on
a grounder to right field that
left the bases again loaded,
and another walked in to
bring the score Nashville 6-5.
The Scrappers retaliated
in the bottom of the same
inning with Willard scoring
on a wild pitch, Scott coming
in on Beavert’s fly to center
field, and Jamison being
brought home by a sacrifice
fly by Myers.
The score held steady at
Nashville 9-5 until the bot-
tom of the fifth, when the
Scrappers extended their
lead with Beene being run
in on a grounder to center
by Myers, and them Myers
being brought home on a line
drive to left by Lucas Liggin.
The game was ended
early when in the sixth in-
ning Scott was walked in,
Beavert and Beene came in
on a fly to right from Myers
and Myers ran home on a
sacrifice fly by Liggin, trig-
gering the 10-run rule. Final
score Nashville 15-5.
Beene was the stand-
out offensive player for the
Scrappers in the game, swat-
ting six RBIs in three at bats,
while Preston Pope on the
mound and Dalton Smead
catching made a strong
defensive circuit with 63
percent of pitches making
strikes and nine men put out.
The teams went back at it
almost immediately, with the
result being broadly similar
to the first game.
Scoring was led off again
with Beavert being brought
home by Myers, this time on
a sacrifice grounder to third.
Before the end of the first,
Beene also came in on a wild
pitch, setting it Nashville 2-0
leading into the second.
The Scrappers added an-
other run during that inning
with Jamison coming in on
a line drive to center field
from Beavert, and one in the
third from Liggin scoring on
an error.
Kirby scored a single run
in the top of the fourth on a
fly to right, and the Scrap-
pers took that as permission
to let the hammer down. Jor-
dan Williams was brought in
on a sacrifice fly by Beavert,
Tyler Hanson and Beene
ran in on a line drive to left
field by Myers, Pope scored
on another line drive to left
from Austin Chambers, Ty
Brown and Austin Bowman
were both walked in, Cham-
bers ran in on a grounder to
center from Hanson and Jake
Ernest was walked home – all
for a massive eight run gain
to make the score Nashville
12-1. This did not yet trigger
the 10-run rule because four
and a half innings had not yet
been played.
On the top of the fifth,
Kirby struggled to make up
the deficit, pushing through
with a pair of runs on an
error at second base and an-
other on a sacrifice grounder
to first to bring the score to
Nashville 12-4.
The second game of the
double header was sched-
uled only for five innings,
and concluded when it was
obvious that Kirby would
make no more gains. Final
score Nashville 12-4.
Myers was the Scrapper
weapon of choice in the
second game against the
Trojans, with three RBIs in
three at bats, while Willard
made his mark at the mound
with a better than 65 percent
strike rate on 85 throws.
The following day, the
Nashville team faced a much
stiffer contest in Searcy
against the Harding Acad-
emy Wildcats in a game that
was decided in extra innings.
It was a defensive battle
from the first with batters
up and down in quick suc-
cession through the top
of the second, when the
Wildcats got one run in on
an error. The Scrappers tied
it up briefly in the third as
Jamison scored on a fly ball
to left field by Beavert.
The score seesawed to
a new tie as the Harding
Academy boys ran in two in
the bottom of the third and
the Scrappers returned the
favor as Myers came home
on a fielder’s choice and Wil-
lard ran in on an error to tie
it up 3-3 going into the bot-
tom of the fourth. The same
happened again with two
runs for the Wildcats in the
bottom of the fifth and the
Nashville boys battling back
in the top of the sixth, this
time with Scott coming in
on a fly to left field by Smead
and White running home as
Hanson was grounded out
by the pitcher, setting the
score 5-5.
The defensive struggle
was real as the game ran
down through the bottom
of the sixth and the seventh.
As the extra eighth inning
began, the Scrappers were
unable to gain any further
purchase. The Wildcats were
able to put in one further
run, sealing the game at
Harding Academy 6-5.
The notable batter for
the game was Smead, whose
single hit in four at bats
brought in two runs. Liggin
on the mound was a big part
of the defensive success the
Scrappers enjoyed against
the Wildcats, giving up only
seven hits in seven innings.
The Scrappers will next
take the diamond against the
Arkadelphia Badgers in Arka-
delphia Friday afternoon.
