Cougars fall to Riverside rally

Monday's meeting with Riverside in Rector was a tough one for the Cougar baseball team, as they saw a sizeable lead turn into a large deficit, falling to the visiting Rebels, 19-8.

Rector fell behind 1-0 in the first inning, but battled back to take a 7-1 lead in the third.

"That's when the wheels fell off," Rector coach Nate Henderson said.

Riverside pounded out seven runs in the fourth, moving ahead 8-7. The visitors added four more in the top of the fifth, pushing their advantage to 12-7.

The Cougars managed a run in the bottom of the fifth, but could muster no more.

The visitors had another explosion in the seventh, scoring seven more runs on eight consecutive hits in the final frame.

The early part of the game looked like the start of a Cougar blowout, but things took an ugly turn for the boys in blue.

"Everything seemed to be going our way early on," Henderson said. "We were pitching well and hitting the ball, then it all went wrong. We made some mistakes and stopped hitting and everything turned around."

Cody Hager picked up the loss for Rector, despite a strong start. He was very solid in the first three innings, allowing just one hit and one walk during that time.

Consistency was an issue for Rector, who gave up nine walks in the game.

"At times we looked pretty good and at others we just looked lost," Henderson said. "You can't give up seven runs in an inning once in a game and expect to win, much less do it twice."

Daniel Blackshare, Clinton Haley and Mitchell Weber led the Cougar offense, finishing the game 2-4 with 2 RBIs each. Cody Hager and Dustin Smith both went 2-4 with a run scored for Rector.

With the loss, Rector falls to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in 2A-3 league play.

Rector is set to host Walnut Ridge at 4 p.m. Thursday before taking next week off for spring break.