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SPRINGDALE — A little rain from Tropical Storm Cristobal didn’t dampen the mood at the Tyson Complex on Monday.
As PT Cardinal and PT Black - the two teams in the Perfect Timing College League with the most Arkansas players - prepared to face each other, some friendly banter was shouted between the two dugouts.
An unidentified voice was heard yelling from the third base side, Hey Pallette, are you pitching today? When Peyton Pallette responded that he wasn’t, the same voice commented, Goodheart will be disappointed.
It was a subtle jab at the freshman right-hander from Benton, who gave up a towering home run to Arkansas teammate Matt Goodheart last Tuesday, but he got the last laugh in a 7-4 win.
Despite what he told the heckler, Pallette was slated to pitch the fourth inning Monday evening. In a twist of fate, the first batter he faced was none other than Goodheart.
After hanging a 2-0 fastball that he hit high off a light pole less than a week earlier, Pallette wasn’t phased and went right after the All-SEC designated hitter. He quickly got ahead 0-2, but couldn’t quite put him away.
Goodheart - who was the league’s hottest hitter last week, opening the summer 5 for 9 with two homers - fouled off three pitches and took two out of the zone before finally swinging through strike three.
“It was just the same approach,” Pallette said. “I went right at him this time and tried to make good pitches and get him out. … This time it was a fastball and I just blew it by him.”
For good measure, the right-hander followed that up by striking out Christian Franklin, another Arkansas teammate, on four pitches. He did give up a two-out single, but he stranded the runner by notching his third strikeout of the game to cap his one inning of work.
Afterward, Pallette - who posted a 1.59 ERA with three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings as a true freshman - told HawgBeat that he was really working on his changeup this offseason.
“Back in the fall and spring, I was working on a change up and I couldn’t really get it down,” Pallette said. “But I think I’m dialed in with it now.”
Slavens Delivers
The biggest swing of the game, unsurprisingly, came from an Arkansas player - albeit one who has yet to suit up for the Razorbacks.
Brady Slavens, the JUCO slugger who’s part of the 2020 signing class, crushed a pitch from Kevin Kopps into the right-center gap for a one-out double. The hit drove in a pair of runs that gave PT Black a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning (of a seven-inning game).
“I saw a pitch up and runners in scoring position,” Slavens said. “I have to put it in play and I made good contact and put a good swing on it.”
Even though he now has a hit in four of his five games and is slashing .308/.357/.385, those numbers pale in comparison to the year Slavens was in the midst of when the coronavirus pandemic ended the season.
