Hogs handcuffed by Cabot, Griffin

BRYANT, Ark. - Mason Griffin had the recipe to keep the Texarkana Razorbacks' offense limited.

Cabot handcuffed the Razorbacks and claimed a 13-2 win in the second round of the American Legion Arkansas Senior state baseball tournament Thursday at Bryant High School Field.

Griffin allowed one hit over six innings against the Hogs. The right-hander struck out 13, walked three and hit one, throwing 101 pitches.

Razorback starter Mack Carver pitched 4 1-3 innings, throwing 71 pitches. He allowed two runs on seven hits, struck out three and walked one, while absorbing the loss.

Texarkana will play Brinkley at 3 p.m. Saturday in an elimination game, back at Bryant. Cabot plays Fort Smith, which beat Little Rock, 10-8, earlier in the day, at 8 p.m. in a winner's bracket semifinal.

Bryant, which eliminated Mountain Home, 14-0, faces Crossett at 5:30 p.m.

The Hogs' best chance to score against Griffin came in the fourth inning after Kade Garmany was hit by a 1-out pitch. A wild pitch eluded the Cabot catcher, allowing Garmany to advance from first to third, sliding in wide to avoid the tag at third base.

Griffin fanned the next two batters to preserve the 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

The Razorbacks got to RailCat reliever Brayden Morris in the seventh inning. Silas Cowgirl singled to start the frame, and a 1-out walk put two one. Dane Stearns singled with two outs to plate a Texarkana run.

Catcher's interference with bases loaded brought in another run, but a strikeout ended the game.

Houston King smashed a triple into the alley in left-center field to lead off the game for Cabot, and an out later, King scored on Kyler Carmack's line-drive single to right-center field.

The RailCats threatened again in the second with a 2-out walk and infield single, but Carver fanned the No. 9 batter to strand the pair.

Texarkana got a leadoff walk in the bottom of the second, and a wild pitch advanced the runner to scoring position. Griffin struck out three in a row to thwart the chance.

The Razorbacks got their second base runner of the game on a 1-out walk in the third, but the runner was caught stealing, attempting to advance on a pitch in the dirt.

Cabot had 1-out singles in the third and fourth innings, but neither runner managed to get off first base.

King lined a hit to right-center in the fifth, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on Jackson Olivi's ground ball single to center to make it 2-0 RailCats.

Andrew Robertson lined a single to center for Texarkana's first hit of the game, and a balk moved a courtesy runner up. Ethan Brooks was stranded at second as the inning ended on a pop out.

Cabot doubled its lead in the sixth inning after the leadoff batter was hit by a pitch. After a stolen base, Grant Fitch singled to center to plate the third run. The ball was misplayed in the outfield for an error, allowing Fitch to move to third, and an overthrow from the outfield scored Fitch.

The RailCats broke the game wide open in the seventh with nine runs on five hits, two errors and three hit batsmen with bases loaded. Cabot sent 14 batters to the plate in the inning and prompted two pitching changes.

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