Coach Trakis Donaldson knew when he put his 2009 schedule together that he was "scheduling up" a lot of days.
That is what happens when you play in an American Legion Zone with only three teams including yourself, non-conference opponents become hard to find.
To get contests for his AA George Kell Motors, his schedule was dotted with numerous AAA teams, which were designed to challenge his squad.
Factor in the effects of Mother Nature and the team's inability to even get on the field and they've had to shake off some rust.
When you put the two together at once, the results can be disheartening.
Such is the way Donaldson feels heading into this week's annual George Kell Classic Wooden Bat Tournament.
Kell Motors returned to action Monday evening at Batesville against the Atlas Asphalt AAA squad.
Following an eventful first inning in which four Newport errors turned into eight Batesville runs, Kell Motors found themselves down 8-0.
"We just huddled together at the end of the first inning and I told them to just have fun," Donaldson said, "after that inning they settled down and played pretty well."
Kell Motors played well enough to muster seven runs over the next eight innings, but fell 13-7 to Atlas Asphalt.
Donaldson, trying to get some work for his pitchers, used three in the nine innings. Tyler Roach worked the first three innings. Lyon College Scot Jarrod Eddington working the middle four and took the loss for Newport. Dustin McGee tossed the final inning for Kell Motors.
"Offensively, we did some good things," Donaldson said, "Dustin (McGee) had two hits, and Anthony (Peel), Byron (Crump), Ed (Pruitt), Trevor Stevenson and Coty (Hendrix) all had hard hits for us."
Blytheville 10
Kell Motors 7
Newport's Kell Motors carried the momentum from their final innings of Monday night's game into the early parts of Tuesday's battle with AAA Blytheville.
Unfortunately, the Newport offense stalled in the middle innings allowing Blytheville to leave Jackson County with a 10-7 12-inning victory.
Newport built a 2-0 lead after the second inning when Edward Pruitt doubled to lead off the frame. Edward Pruitt stole third base and was there when Trevor Stevenson walked. Stevenson, sprinting to first base on the walk, rounded the bag and raced to second base. Edward Pruitt scored from third base when the Blytheville pitcher's throw to second scooted into centerfield allowing Stevenson to move to third base. Byron Crump's RBI single plated Stevenson.
Kell Motors added three more runs in the fourth inning when Dustin McGee led off the inning with a single. Edward Pruitt followed with the second of his three doubles in the game to move McGee to third base. Anthony Peel's RBI single plated McGee and move Edward Pruitt to third base. Stevenson executed a suicide squeeze bunt to score Edward Pruitt. Tyler Roach, who had reached on an infield single, executed a perfect double steal with Peel who slid in under the tag of the Blytheville catcher to extend their lead to 5-0.
Blytheville trimmed the lead to 5-1 with a single tally in the top of the fifth inning, but Newport answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame.
Dustin McGee reached on a two-out error by Blytheville and scored from first on another Pruitt double.
Blytheville again cut into the lead with three runs in the top of the sixth inning, however, Kell Motors scratched across their final run of the night in the bottom of the sixth inning when Stevenson reached on a dropped third strike. He promptly stole second and moved to third base when the throw sailed into centerfield. Crump plated him with a ground out to stretch the lead to 7-4.
A single tally by Blytheville in the seventh and back-to-back basehits, a wild pitch and a ground out in the eighth inning tied the game at 7-7 and sent it to extras.
Blytheville scored three times in the top of the 12th inning to pull away for the win.
Newport, which managed only three hits over the final seven innings, was led offensively by Edward Pruitt's three hits. Crump drove in two runs on two hits, while Peel and Stevenson had one RBI and one hit each. Sam Sutherland, McGee, Koren Pruitt and Roach had a hit each.
Kell Motors will return to action Friday night at 8 p.m. as they will take on the winner of Tuckerman/Jonesboro Seams in the second round of the annual George Kell Classic Wooden Bat Tournament.
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Coach Trakis Donaldson knew when he put his 2009 schedule together that he was "scheduling up" a lot of days.
That is what happens when you play in an American Legion Zone with only three teams including yourself, non-conference opponents become hard to find.
To get contests for his AA George Kell Motors, his schedule was dotted with numerous AAA teams, which were designed to challenge his squad.
Factor in the effects of Mother Nature and the team's inability to even get on the field and they've had to shake off some rust.
When you put the two together at once, the results can be disheartening.
Such is the way Donaldson feels heading into this week's annual George Kell Classic Wooden Bat Tournament.
Kell Motors returned to action Monday evening at Batesville against the Atlas Asphalt AAA squad.
Following an eventful first inning in which four Newport errors turned into eight Batesville runs, Kell Motors found themselves down 8-0.
"We just huddled together at the end of the first inning and I told them to just have fun," Donaldson said, "after that inning they settled down and played pretty well."
Kell Motors played well enough to muster seven runs over the next eight innings, but fell 13-7 to Atlas Asphalt.
Donaldson, trying to get some work for his pitchers, used three in the nine innings. Tyler Roach worked the first three innings. Lyon College Scot Jarrod Eddington working the middle four and took the loss for Newport. Dustin McGee tossed the final inning for Kell Motors.
"Offensively, we did some good things," Donaldson said, "Dustin (McGee) had two hits, and Anthony (Peel), Byron (Crump), Ed (Pruitt), Trevor Stevenson and Coty (Hendrix) all had hard hits for us."
Blytheville 10
Kell Motors 7
Newport's Kell Motors carried the momentum from their final innings of Monday night's game into the early parts of Tuesday's battle with AAA Blytheville.
Unfortunately, the Newport offense stalled in the middle innings allowing Blytheville to leave Jackson County with a 10-7 12-inning victory.
Newport built a 2-0 lead after the second inning when Edward Pruitt doubled to lead off the frame. Edward Pruitt stole third base and was there when Trevor Stevenson walked. Stevenson, sprinting to first base on the walk, rounded the bag and raced to second base. Edward Pruitt scored from third base when the Blytheville pitcher's throw to second scooted into centerfield allowing Stevenson to move to third base. Byron Crump's RBI single plated Stevenson.
Kell Motors added three more runs in the fourth inning when Dustin McGee led off the inning with a single. Edward Pruitt followed with the second of his three doubles in the game to move McGee to third base. Anthony Peel's RBI single plated McGee and move Edward Pruitt to third base. Stevenson executed a suicide squeeze bunt to score Edward Pruitt. Tyler Roach, who had reached on an infield single, executed a perfect double steal with Peel who slid in under the tag of the Blytheville catcher to extend their lead to 5-0.
Blytheville trimmed the lead to 5-1 with a single tally in the top of the fifth inning, but Newport answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame.
Dustin McGee reached on a two-out error by Blytheville and scored from first on another Pruitt double.
Blytheville again cut into the lead with three runs in the top of the sixth inning, however, Kell Motors scratched across their final run of the night in the bottom of the sixth inning when Stevenson reached on a dropped third strike. He promptly stole second and moved to third base when the throw sailed into centerfield. Crump plated him with a ground out to stretch the lead to 7-4.
A single tally by Blytheville in the seventh and back-to-back basehits, a wild pitch and a ground out in the eighth inning tied the game at 7-7 and sent it to extras.
Blytheville scored three times in the top of the 12th inning to pull away for the win.
Newport, which managed only three hits over the final seven innings, was led offensively by Edward Pruitt's three hits. Crump drove in two runs on two hits, while Peel and Stevenson had one RBI and one hit each. Sam Sutherland, McGee, Koren Pruitt and Roach had a hit each.
Kell Motors will return to action Friday night at 8 p.m. as they will take on the winner of Tuckerman/Jonesboro Seams in the second round of the annual George Kell Classic Wooden Bat Tournament.
