Campbell shuts out Clarkton on the road

CLARKTON – The Campbell Camels exploded offensively while two pitchers combined for a no-hitter to take down Clarkton 24-0 Friday.

The Camels wasted no time and scored nine runs in the first inning, one in the second, four in the third and capped it off with ten in the fourth and final inning.

“We did a good job of putting the ball in play today, and that's what we've been working towards,” Camels coach Joe Campbell said. “We want to get the ball in play, make the other team make plays, and get some runs on the board every now and then.”

Jared Jennings, Carson Weidenbenner and Logan Townsend each scored four runs, while Melvin Jackson and Kennan Siebert added three apiece. Sam Bunting, Ben Rowland and Hunter Tate each scored two.

Bunting led Campbell on the mound for 3.1 innings. He threw 50 pitches – 32 of which were strikes – for seven strikeouts while allowing two walked batters, zero hits and zero runs. Jennings closed the door with nine pitches and six strikes for the final two strikeouts.

Campbell's Sam Bunting throws a pitch in Friday's game against Clarkton.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

“We threw Sam in there,” Campbell said. “He's one of our better pitchers, and he did what he was supposed to. We took him out in the last inning because we have several games next week, but Jared came in and he did a great job too. We were real competitive throwing strikes and being competitive in the zone.”

Clarkton's Seth Hill and Clayton Godsey got on base, but the Reindeer didn't connect with the ball once over four innings.

The Reindeer disbanded its baseball program two games into the 2018 season and revived it in 2022. Despite having a mix of younger and older players on the roster in the program's second year, “all of them are inexperienced,” according to Clarkton coach Dustin Crane.

“Right now, we're a really inexperienced team,” Crane said. “Us playing three games in one week with limited pitching, we just hoped to compete and we weren't able to do that. But we're seeing growth. One of our pitchers today had his first time ever on the mound, and we're just looking for the small victories.”

Clarkton similarly tested two pitchers during the lopsided matchup. Freshman Eli Pavy took the loss after throwing for the first three innings. Pavy threw 86 pitches and 40 strikes for one strikeout but allowed three walked batters, ten hits and 14 runs with 14 errors.

Clarkton freshman Eli Pavy throws a pitch in a game against Campbell Friday, April 14, 2023.Christian Johnson, Delta Dunklin Democrat

Freshman Lord Frye took the mound for the final inning and threw 52 pitches and 23 strikes. He allowed five hits, three walked batters and 10 runs with eight errors.

“It was (Frye's) first time on the mound, and I feel like he was able to throw pretty good,” Crane said. “We're just going to keep competing and we're not going to quit. Obviously the end result wasn't what we wanted, but we're not going to just lay down and give up.”

Next, Campbell travels to Portageville Monday and East Prairie Tuesday, both games beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Clarkton hosts Cooter Monday at 4:30 p.m., and Twin Rivers Thursday at the same time.

“We're scrappy, and we're just going to keep playing until the end,” Crane said. “We don't have any quit in us.”