By RAY BENTON
Leader sports editor
Cabot won a wild affair in the opening round of the Fourth of July Classic American Legion baseball tournament at Dupree Park in Jacksonville on Wednesday, beating Sheridan 17-16.
Cabot led 10-3 after two innings, but had to come from behind in the final inning to get the win. Sheridan began to swing the bat and drew plenty of walks to get back into the game, and came up with six runs in the sixth inning to take to turn a 15-10 deficit into a 16-15 lead.
The comeback was complete, but the Yellowjackets couldn’t hold the lead.
Justin Goff tied the game with a solo home run in the seventh. Matt Evans then singled and Andrew Reynolds doubled to drive him home for the winning run.
Cabot’s big inning came in the second when it scored seven runs. Brandon Surdam highlighted the frame with a grand slam that capped the scoring.
Sheridan wasn’t without its power moments. Zach Perkins and Landon Moore each sent shots over the wall.
Sheridan took the early lead with two runs in the top of the first, but Centennial Bank came back with three in the bottom of the frame. After Sheridan tied it in the top of the second, Cabot got the big bottom half to take control.
Each team scored a run in the third. Sheridan got one back in the fourth with two runs to Cabot’s one. That made it 12-6.
Sheridan scored four in the fifth to cut the margin to 12-10, but Cabot added three more in the bottom of the frame to reclaim control.
That brought the Yellow-jackets to bat in the sixth where they scored six to take their first lead of the game.
In the other first-round game, Benton got past Sylvan Hills 8-5, but not before the Bruins rallied in the final inning to make it interesting.
The Sports Shop team led 8-2 heading into the final inning, but the pitching fell apart and the Bruins got key hits to add three runs to the board. In all, the Bruins drew seven walks and three batters were hit by pitches to go along with their five hits. But the squad failed to capitalize in most situations, and left 10 runners on base throughout the seven innings.
Lance Hunter got the Bruins on board in the fifth inning with a two-run shot over the wall that drove in Korey Arnold.
