Portageville starts season with three straight wins

The Portageville baseball team is off to a hot start.

The Bulldogs (3-0) kicked off the season with 11-0 win over Woodland (2-1) at the Van Buren Wood Bat Weekend on Friday, March 20.

"It is always nice when you can start your season out with a win,” said Portageville coach Tyler Trover. "This game kicks off the eight-week marathon that is high school baseball. We must understand our momentum will only carry us as far as our next day's effort."

Carson Bradley waits for his pitch�during Portageville's 11-1 win over South Pemiscot in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 1 Championship at Meatte Park in Portageville, Mo., on Wednesday, May 18. (Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat)Dennis Marshall/Standard-Democrat

Thomas Frakes earned the win on the mound after five innings. He allowed no runs on four hits with three strikeouts.

Mason Adams and Carson Bradley each had two hits, while Adams also led the team in RBIs (4).

“[Frakes] worked quickly, threw strikes, and mixed it up,” Trover said. “He let his defense work and we feel like our defense is going to be a great strength of our club. We strung together a few hits and ran the bases well. I loved the aggressiveness that played with, especially on the base paths."

Portageville's Trey Benthal was one of three Bulldogs to receive first-team All-State honors in Class 2. Dennis Marshall ~ Standard Democrat, file

Portageville also won 13-7 versus Carthage (1-1) on Saturday, March 18.

"Every emotion in the book was displayed during this one,” Trover said. “We got down big early and faced some adversity. Too many walks, too many free bases, and then a big grand slam for them."

The Bulldogs trailed 7-4 before exploding for nine runs in the bottom of the sixth innings.

Beau Hunter-Warren earned the win after pitching the final 5.1 innings. He struck out nine batters and allowed no runs on two hits.

“[Hunter-Warren] did a tremendous job in a pinch,” Trover said. “Made one bad pitch, and to be quite frank about it, I put him in a very tough situation coming in with the bases loaded. After that, he settled in and pitched a gem. He kept us in the game with his execution and emotion on the mound. He was willing us to victory."

Conner Johnson started the game and pitched the first 1.2 innings, surrendering one earned run on one hit with two strikeouts.

“The key to facing adversity is how you respond,” Trover said. “This was [Johnson’s] first start on the mound in his varsity career. I think he has only thrown a few junior varsity innings for us in the last few years. He struggled with command, obviously, but we believe if he can get it right we will have five or six really solid options to put on the bump for us every day.

"We certainly aren't giving up on him,” Trover continued. “He had a tough day, but we believe in his ability to right the ship and fix it next time out. Not every kid has the ability to hit 85 [miles per hour]. If he can learn to slow down a little bit and not try to do too much, his stuff plays at our level."

The Bulldogs took an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning when Adams hit a grand slam home run. He finished with three hits and four RBIs to lead Portageville.

"What else is there to say about [Adams],” Trover said. “He came up in the biggest spot in the game and put together his best at-bat of the day. It was a great moment not only for him but for our dugout. It was really neat to watch the dugout explode as it did. I was laughing after the fact about the water flying, and watching the emotion the kids displayed. That is what makes this job so rewarding. You are going to face adverse situations and it is always about how you respond."

Johnson was the team's only other player with multiple hits. He had two hits, one RBI and scored a run.

"We aren't where we want to be, not even close,” Trover said. “We just have to keep improving our approach on the mound and improving in all facets of the game daily. It wasn't a perfect win, but we will take a win against a Class 6 any way we can get it."

Portageville also defeated East Carter (1-3) on Saturday, March 18.

Adams hammered his second home run of the day in the 18-6 victory. He finished with two hits, four RBIs and two runs scored.

"I was pleased with our focus level early at the plate.,” Trover said. “Everybody in the lineup took tough at-bats and the process gave us good results."

Trey Benthal earned the win after pitching two innings and allowing zero runs on three hits with three strikeouts. Bradley also pitched 2.1 innings and surrendered four runs on three hits with four strikeouts. Rylan Partin closed the game and picked up the final two outs. He didn’t allow any runs or hits and had one strikeout.

Benthal led the team with four hits, while driving in three runs. Frakes and Hunter-Warren each finished the game with two hits.

"Overall, I am proud of the effort that our kids gave,” Trover said. “Any time you come out of a weekend winning all three I think you will take it. Our kids spent the night up here and got to experience that. They acted with class when we were out in public and earned the opportunity to come back and do that again sometime."

Portageville is scheduled to host Notre Dame (0-0) on Wednesday, March 22.

__PORTAGEVILLE 11, WOODLAND 0, F/5__

P’Ville 031 25x x - 11 7 0

Woodland 000 000 0 - 0 4 2

W—Thomas Frakes. 2B—Portageville: Carson Bradley, Mason Adams, Jayquan Bogan.

__PORTAGEVILLE 13, CARTHAGE 7__

Carthage 160 000 0 - 7 3 1

P’Ville 013 009 x - 13 11 3

W—Beau Hunter-Warren. 2B—Portageville: Mason Adams, Conner Johnson, Hunter-Warren. 3B—Portageville: Xayvion Bogan. HR—Portageville: Adams.

__PORTAGEVILLE 18, EAST CARTER 6, F/5__

P’Ville 085 14x x - 18 12 2

E. Carter 001 05x x - 6 6 2

W—Trey Benthal.