Valley view takes two from Patriots in doubleheader

Blazers baseball invades Marion, takes both games

By CHUCK LIVINGSTON

Marion School District

Few gave Marion’s baseball a shot against unbeaten and nationally ranked Valley View in Tuesday’s 5A East doubleheader at First National Bank of Eastern Arkansas Stadium.

In the first game, those pundits may have been right. The mighty Blazers scored six times in the first inning, thrice in the third frame, and five more times in the seventh for a 14-2 victory for the visitors.

But the nightcap was more of what Marion expected coming into the twinbill. The Patriots outhit the Blazers 6-1 as junior all-conference righthander Cohen Bumbaugh put Valley View in a chokehold, sitting down 11 Blazers and allowing a single unearned run in five innings of work.

Unfortunately, the unearned run was the difference in the game as Valley View ground out a 1-0 decision to complete a doubleheader sweep.

“I don’t really know what to say about the first game, we just didn’t really compete in any facet,” said Marion coach Pete Prater. “At the plate, at the field, on the bases. That wasn’t us in that first one, and that’s not what we’re about here. Second game, that was all about Jimmy (Bumbaugh) competing and dragging us with him. He threw the crap out of the ball.”

The Blazers removed much of the drama of the first game shortly after first pitch as the first eight Blazers reached base, and six scored as the visitors led 6-0 after a half inning.

Marion got one back in the home half of the first when senior catcher Landon Miller and freshman outfielder Max Molloy walked ahead of a Davis York single, loading the bags for the Pats with one out.

Fleming scored on a wild pitch and Marion was on the scoreboard after an inning.

York would cap Marion’s scoring with a long home run to left field in the bottom of the seventh.

Senior Arkansas commit Eli Crecelius earned the win for Valley View after striking out nine Patriots in nine innings, walking two, and allowing just one hit and one run.

The nightcap took on a drastically different vibe from the start as Bumbaugh struck out two Blazers in the first inning, one in the second, and may have thrown his best inning in the third.

Unfortunately, Marion sequenced both of its errors in the second game in that frame, and they conspired to give Valley View the game’s first run, when third baseman Kayson Becker reached second base on a dropped fly ball, moved to third on a throwing error, and scored on a passed ball for a 1-0 lead.

Marion loaded the bases in the fourth inning with two outs, but the inning ended on a flyout.

The Pats threatened again in the top of the seventh when Fleming and Carson Catt singled with two away. Fleming and Catt executed a double steal before Valley View’s Slade Caldwell recorded a strikeout to end the threat and the game.

What’s next?

Marion hosts Maine East, Illinois at 11 a.m. Thursday, March 28 for a varsity/junior varsity contest. The Patriots travel on Friday, March 29 to Brookland for a non-conference game, and Marion resumes 5A East play on Tuesday, April 2 when it travels to Nettleton for a 5A East doubleheader, which begins at 4:30 p.m. The Maine East game and the Nettleton doubleheader will be broadcast live on MarionPatriots.com, the Marion Patriots Activities Network app, and the MPAN YouTube channel.

5A East results from 3/26

Valley View 14, Marion 2 Valley View 1, Marion 0

Greene Co. Tech 4, Paragould 3 Greene Co. Tech 7, Paragould 1 Batesville 12, W. Memphis 0 Batesville 12, W. Memphis 0 Searcy 13, Nettleton 3 Searcy 8, Nettleton 4

5A East standings

Valley View 4-0 Batesville 4-0 Greene Co. Tech 4-0 Marion 2-2 Searcy 2-2 Nettleton 0-4 Paragould 0-4 W. Memphis 0-4

Marion junior right-hander Cohen Bumbaugh (44) fires a pitch during action earlier this season. Bumbaugh struck out 11 Valley View Blazers in five innings on Tuesday night.

Photo by Christy Catt