Special to the Banner-News
PINE BLUFF - Magnolia picked up a big conference road victory Thursday in Pine Bluff as the Panthers defeated White Hall 4-1.
The game was originally scheduled to be played in Magnolia, but was moved to White Hall because of the rain.
The win keeps the Panthers in first place in the 5A South Conference with a 9-1 record, one game ahead of Watson Chapel.
White Hall, the defending Class 5A state champions, drops to fourth in the conference at 6-4, one game behind Hot Springs Lakeside who is 7-3.
Magnolia struck first in the game. Blake Hall led off with a single and moved to second when Matt Goodheart was safe on an error as the Bulldogs misplayed his sacrifice bunt.
Hall scored when the next batter, Devaughn Gales, laced a single to left to give the Panthers an early 1-0 lead.
White Hall tied the game in the third as the Bulldogs managed their only run of the game in that inning against Magnolia pitcher Zac Harrington.
A two-out double by Kirk Baugh drove home Antoine Luster to tie the game at 1-1.
After both teams were scoreless in the fourth, Magnolia took advantage of a break to score two runs in the fifth.
Hall led off the inning and hit what appeared to be a routine pop up between home plate and the pitcher's mound.
However, the catcher and pitcher for White Hall each thought the other player was going to catch the ball and when neither caught it, Hall had a 20-foot double as he hustled all of the way out of the box and ended up on second.
The next batter, Goodheart, squared to bunt and took a pitch, and Hall appeared to be picked off second. But when the catcher threw to second, Hall took off for third and was safe with a stolen base.
Gales then picked up his second RBI of the game when he drove a sacrifice fly to right field.
The Panthers weren't done yet in the inning. Kory Callaway and Thomas Prince had back-to-back singles, and Brandon White walked to load the bases.
Parker Ribble then drove pinch-runner Jay French home with a single to make the score 3-1.
The Panthers added an insurance run in the sixth as Hall doubled and came home on a throwing error after a Goodheart single. Harrington then struck two out of three out in the seventh inning to preserve the win for the Panthers.
Hall led the Panthers hitting attack with three hits and a walk. Gales had two hits, with Goodheart, Callaway, Prince and Ribble getting one each.
Panther Coach Bobby Beeson stated this was a big win for the Panthers. "We knew this was going to be a tough game with this team being the defending state champions, and their tradition. Their pitcher (Luster) did a good job mixing his pitches and keeping us off balance," said Beeson.
" But we came through with some timely hits. Blake Hall got things going for us. We had some guys get some crucial bunts down for us and those are things that we have to do to beat teams," added the coach.
Harrington went the distance on the mound for the Panthers. He struck out nine, walked none and allowed seven hits as he improved his record to 5-1.
Beeson stated Harrington's performance was a typical performance by the senior right hander.
"He's been a bulldog all year for us. He just went after them all day to today. He probably should have thrown a shutout. We probably should have walked the Baugh kid in that situation. I know the mentality of Zac and Zac wanted to go at him, so you just tip your hat to Baugh in that situation," commented Beeson.
The Panthers are now 15-2 overall for the season.
Magnolia hits the road again next week for two more conference games, starting Tuesday in De Queen and Friday against Lakeside in Hot Springs.