JONESBORO --- The Marion-Nettleton baseball series dates back many decades, but it's unlikely that anyone has ever seen a doubleheader like the one that the schools played on Tuesday night at Raider Field. Marion's first visit to Nettleton since 2017 featured a 13-run fifth-inning for Marion, turning the lid-lifter into a 17-2 Patriot five-inning rout, fueled by 16 hits. The nightcap took on a different tone as Nettleton rebounded from its opening defeat to score five times in the first two innings for a 5-0 lead before Marion hit the comeback trail, scoring six times in the third, and three more times in the sixth for a 9-7 comeback victory that pushes the Pats to 11-5 overall and 4-2 in the 5A East. Marion junior right-hander Cohen Bumbaugh earned the victory in the first game, working four innings, striking out six Raiders and allowing just one earned run. Freshman Max Molloy sparked the Marion offense in the first game, going 4-4 at the plate with a double, scoring four times, and driving in two runs. Bumbaugh, Landon Miller, Brody Byrd, Davis York, and Carson Catt each registered multiple hits in the first contest. Molloy, Miller, York, and Matthew Kearney came up with multiple hits again in the second game, with Molloy cracking a dramatic three-run home run in the third inning to tie the game at 5. The freshman finished the nightcap with six RBI. Miller came up with a triple and a double in game No. 2, while York and Kearney also doubled. Catt, Miller, and senior Jack Carter combined to cover the innings on the mound, with Catt starting and working four frames and striking out four. He gave way to Carter in the fifth inning and the senior right-hander went 1.1 innings, striking out a pair. Miller worked the final 1.2 innings, striking out four and surrendering two hits and no runs. Nettleton started the scoring in the first game, scratching out a run in the home half of the first, but Marion rallied up in the top of the second, scoring twice as York led off the frame with a double and scored on Molloy's double to tie the game. Bumbaugh delivered Molloy with a groundout and the Pats' 2-1 lead lasted until the fourth. That's when Molloy singled and scored on a balk for a 3-1 Marion lead. The 13-run Patriot parade started innocently enough in the fifth, as Nettleton retired the first two Patriots in the order, and Kearney reached on an error. That kicked off a run of 16 straight Patriots reaching base, with 13 of them scoring. The big blow in the rally was sophomore Solomon Flores's inside-the-park grand slam that scored Byrd, Myles Holt, and Catt as the Pats took a 10-1 lead, and York, Byrd, Catt, Miller, Kearney, Molloy, Bumbaugh, and Tray Fleming each drove in runs during the prosperous frame. Sophomore Coleman Barnett worked the fifth to close out the run-rule victory in the first contest. But Nettleton ambushed Marion in the second contest, scoring four times in the first and once in the second for a 5-0 lead that held until the bottom of the third. The first five Patriots reached in that stanza, as Holt singled leading off and he scored on Miller's timely double to get Marion on the board. A York double plated Miller to get the Pats within 5-2, and Kearney came up with a two-bagger of his own giving Marion two on and nobody out as Molloy entered the box. The freshman uncorked a high fly ball to left center field that cleared the fence and tied the game at 5. Marion took its first lead at 6-5 when Holt drew a bases-loaded walk that delivered Carter Benton to cap the big inning. But the Raiders tied the game in the top of the fourth, and the 6-6 tally lasted until the bottom of the fifth when Miller tripled into the left-field corner and Fleming scored on a passed ball for a 7-6 Marion advantage. Molloy chased in Kearney and Flores with a double for a 9-6 bulge. Nettleton scored a single run in the sixth, but Miller closed strong in the sixth and the seventh to lock down the victory. WHAT'S NEXT? Marion travels on Tuesday, April 9 to Paragould for a 5A East doubleheader. The doubleheader will be broadcast live on the Marion Patriots Activities Network YouTube channel and the first pitch of the first game will be scheduled for 4:30 p.m. 5A EAST RESULTS FROM 4/2 Marion 16, Nettleton 2 Marion 9, Nettleton 7 Valley View 8, Batesville 1 Valley View 15, Batesville 0 Searcy 10, Paragould 9 Searcy 11, Paragould 1 Greene Co. Tech-W. Memphis postponed 5A EAST STANDINGS ON 4/3 SCHOOL CONF. RECORD Valley View 6-0 Greene Co. Tech 4-0 Marion 4-2 Batesville 4-2 Searcy 4-2 W. Memphis 0-4 Nettleton 0-6 Paragould 0-6 5A EAST SCHEDULE FOR 4/9 Marion at Paragould Searcy at W. Memphis Batesville at Greene Co. Tech Valley View at Nettleton