JOURNAL SPORTS
Benton’s Tigers are on the brink of a breakthrough, playing a state quarterfinal baseball playoff series, but they’re not taking anything for granted.
Coach Dane Peavy’s club, seeded third in Non-Select Division I with a 33-3 record, plays host to 20th-seeded Sulphur (20-12) tonight at 7, Friday at 7, and if necessary, Saturday at noon in the best-of-three series.
“We’ve been in this position before,” he said. “We feel good about our chances, playing at home, and we feel pretty good with our top guys on the mound. That doesn’t guarantee anything, but we feel good about where we’re at.”
The Golden Tors are making their second straight visit to rural Bossier Parish. They have the Tigers’ full attention after surprising Benton’s fourth-seeded District 1-5A rival Haughton last weekend with a pair of two-run wins in the regional round.
“It took them a little while to gel, but they are reminiscent of us last year,” said Peavy. “They have two really good arms, they haven’t made an error in three of the last four playoff games, and they’ve come out of that district of hell (with fellow quarterfinalists Barbe and Sam Houston).”
Benton has a stout pitching rotation. Peavy will rely on a rotation of right-hander Thomas Allen (9-1), lefty Kade Bryant (8-0) and righty Tanner Webb (8-1), all with earned run averages under 1.75.
“Thomas is starting the first game but we don’t put a number on any of them. They’re all as good as the other,” said Peavy.
Case Jorden has stepped in for Northwestern State freshman starter Hudson Brignac at short and has sparkled defensively and leading off the batting order. The two-hole hitter is left fielder Hayden Millen, who Peavy believes is as fast as anybody in the state and his 36 of 37 stolen base rate supports that contention.
Cole Snell, the Tigers’ No. 3 hitter, is swinging at a .500 clip. “Those three guys (none are seniors) do a nice job of setting things up for us,” said Peavy, providing plenty of baserunners for cleanup hitter Jackson Jones, a Louisiana Tech commit batting .450, and four-year starting catcher Griffin Sibley in the fifth slot. The lineup is so solid that Bryant bats ninth.
Many of the Tigers played on the Benton-based team coached by Peavy that reached last summer’s American Legion World Series.
“You can tell they became instantly better at handling things, having played at that level,” he said. “They’ve bought in and gotten better as baseball players and as young men.”