Lions shut out Bulldogs n Means throws no-hitter in contest

File Photo by Randy Moll Gravette’s Aaron Means prepares to take a cut at a pitch in a recent home game against Springdale.
File Photo by Randy Moll Gravette’s Aaron Means prepares to take a cut at a pitch in a recent home game against Springdale.

GRAVETTE -- A no-hitter by Aaron Means, coupled with 13 hits for the Lions, gave Gravette a 12-0 shut-out game against the Greenwood Bulldogs on Thursday.

Means struck out nine Greenwood batters and ended the game with a strikeout.

On the offensive side, Gravette's Lions grabbed the lead in their opening at-bat, with Ethan Vanderpool making it home and then Jackson Soule' reaching third and home on a wild pitch.

The Lions scored five runs in the fourth on an RBI double by Wyatt Banta, a wild pitch, a ground-out by Cody Fields, an RBI single by Soule', and an RBI single by Brandon Shaw. They added another two runs in the fifth when Banta, who reached first on a dropped third strike, was driven in by Cody Fields and Wyatt Gibbons was driven home by a line-drive Means single to center.

In the sixth, Shaw drove in Soule' with a line drive to left field, and Shaw and Jace Russ scored on ground balls by Max Greenway and Fields.

"Well that was fun! We have great execution in all phases of the game tonight," said Randall Hunt, head baseball coach for Gravette. "Aaron Means was in the zone on the mound and really kept the Greenwood hitters off balance tonight."

"And what a difference a day makes!" Hunt added. "We were able to barrel up a lot of balls tonight in every inning, putting pressure on their defense. Our tempo and enthusiasm was where it needed to be, and I hope we can ride the momentum through the rest of the season. We have had a tough schedule coming out of the gate thus far and to see how relentless my guys are in competing every inning of every game, it's fun to coach and fun for our fans to watch."

Fields led the Lions with three RBIs. Shaw had two. Means had three hits in the game. Soule', Banta, Vanderpool and Shaw each had two.

Means threw 91 pitches in the game, with 54 of them being strikes.

Siloam Springs 7

Gravette 3

The Lions fell to the Siloam Springs Panthers, 7-3, in non-league play on March 12.

Ethan Vanderpool was charged with the loss. He pitched five innings, struck out six and walked one.

Siloam Springs grabbed the lead in the second inning when two runs scored on doubles by John Earles, Keldon Bartlett and Cole Reed.

Gravette tied things up in the top of the fourth with Jackson Soule' getting on with a single to left field, stealing second and later scoring on a wild pitch. Jace Russ, substitute runner for Luke Summerford, made it home on a pair of Siloam Springs errors.

Siloam took back the lead in the bottom of the inning when Coby Roach got on base with a double and scored on errors. The Panthers added another run in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

Gravette picked up one more run in the top of the seventh when Cody Fields singled on a ground ball to center field and then scored on a Vanderpool double to center.

"It was a tough day for us mentally," said Gravette coach Randall Hunt. "We had to battle the issue of weather and more cancelled games as a result earlier in the week and our guys came out flat."

"Got to give credit to Siloam," Hunt said. They were "hungry to play tonight and they executed a lot better than us in all phases of the game. With that said, our guys fought back in the fourth inning to tie the game up at 2-2, but in the end we weren't able to finish."

"The beautiful thing about baseball is that there's always tomorrow," Hunt added.

Har-Ber 11

Gravette 0

Coming off a no-hitter against Greenwood on Thursday, the Lions took a 4 1/2 inning pounding in Springdale on Friday when they faced Har-Ber High School and lost, 11-0.

Har-Ber (2-0) jumped on Gravette (3-2) for four runs in the bottom of the first and never looked back. Phillip Cebuhar cranked a three-run double in the right-center field gap to give the Wildcats the early cushion. Har-Ber added six more runs in the second inning to seal the game.

Sports on 03/19/2014