Toppers take gold, win RSS in LR

Toppers take gold, win RSS in LR

Marion finishes 6- 0, outscoring opposition 61- 6 at tournament

Sports Editor By almost any account, the 2015 Marion Toppers were a juggernaut.

The team finished 37-9 for the summer, and aside from one down stretch in late June, could have won 40 games.

Despite that, the 2016 edition of the Toppers could make a claim as the more accomplished team after winning the Paragould GMC Invitational in June.

They bolstered their resume yesterday by winning the 2016 Little Rock Catholic Rocket Summer Showcase by topping Arkansas Express 18-andunder 8-1 in the semifinals before taking the chip with a 10-2 win against Sylvan Hills in the final at Gary Hogan Field on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Marion finished its run in Little Rock 6-0 and outscored opponents 61-6, just a year after finishing 1-2 in Little Rock and missing the knockout round entirely.

The Toppers advanced to the final despite coming up with just three hits, but the home team made the most of their opportunities.

Marion led 4-1 after two-and-a-half innings, thanks to four unearned runs, the Toppers had yet to register a base knock.

The Toppers came up with four more runs in the fifth inning to go up 8-1.

Cam Smith scored when Trent Johns was hit with a pitch, and that lead was pushed to 6-1 when Kollin Stone reached on a fielder’s choice to score Blake Daniels.

A Nolan Smith groundout plated Nick Alsbrook and Kollin Stone scored on a wild pitch for an 8-1 advantage.

That made life easier on Marion’s right-handed starter Kris Peet. Peet threw seven innings, allowing two hits and struck out eight to pick up the win. The only earned run he allowed came in the first inning to hand Marion its first deficit of the tournament.

Daniels, Alsbrook and Johns were the only Toppers to have hits, but the team drew seven walks to prop up its offense.

The win sent Marion to the final against Sylvan Hills, once again at Gary Hogan Field.

Freed-Hardeman commit Larkey Dotson drew the start and threw five innings, allowed five hits and a pair of earned runs to pick up the win. He struck four batters out and walked none.

Like Peet before him, Dotson allowed a single earned run in the first inning, but settled in after that.

Marion took the lead for good as part of a seven-run second inning.

A Nolan Smith two-run single got the ball rolling before a Blake Daniels triple to right field scored three and suddenly the Toppers led 7-1 after a pair.

Nolan Smith would score on a Bryce Logan single for an 8-1 lead in the third and a Trent Johns triple chased in Nick Alsbrook in the fourth for a 9-1 advantage.

Gavin Stone struck a sacrifice fly to score Nolan Smith in the fifth and with the bases loaded, Daniels was hit by a pitch to score Matt Fraser for the game’s final run.

By Chuck Livingston