Tuesday night’s showdown between No. 6 Carolina Forest and No. 7 Conway proved the rankings were accurate, except perhaps in the wrong order.
In a big-time battle between region and neighborhood rivals, the host Tigers took advantage of some costly errors, timely hitting and an outstanding pitching performance to remain undefeated in Region VI-AAAA play.
Conway’s Jordan Gore pitched six shutout innings before getting in trouble in the seventh. Teammate Jordy Lee came on to get the last out and earn the save as the Tigers (6-2 overall, 3-0 region) won the Highway 501 rivalry.
The Tigers struck for two runs in both the third inning, when Gore helped his own cause with a successful RBI bunt, and the fourth, when the Panthers (5-4, 1-2) committed two errors in the inning and Trey cooper drove in the Tigers’ fourth and final run.
The Panthers managed to cut the deficit in half with a pair of runs in the seventh. Carolina Forest’s Matthew Jolly’s RBI single made it 4-2 and brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate, but Lee shut it down to preserve the win.
- Photo by Chuck Silvey
