Baseball advances in playoffs with 11-2 victory over Live Oak
Written by The Shreveport Times
Saturday, 26 April 2008
Two big innings were all the Benton Tigers needed to rout the Live Oak Eagles 11-2 in the first round of the Class 4A state baseball playoffs Friday.
Benton (20-12) scored four runs in the third inning and seven in the sixth. Tigers head coach Greg Bryant said the sixth was the biggest inning the Tigers had had all year.
Benton starter Jamie Gilley got off to a rocky start, allowing the first three Live Oak batters to reach base and giving up two runs on four hits and a walk. Gilley made up for it by driving in the go-ahead run on a third-inning double to put the Tigers on top for the first time. He also added an insurance run by stealing home in the same inning.
That offensive spark was all the Tigers needed.
"I couldn't find my release point," Gilley said of his first inning difficulties. "I was jumpy at the start of the game."
But once settled, Gilley proved unhittable, allowing only one baserunner after the first inning and retiring the final 12 Eagles' batters.
Gilley's outing stood in diametric opposition to his counterpart, the Eagles' Josh Craft, who started out making quick work of the top of the Tigers order but quickly cooled off.
