State baseball championships
Red Devils’ Harbin slays Lions
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEPHEN B. THORNTON
Jessieville’s Greg Noles (right) collides with Elkins’ Avery Harriman
during the fifth inning of the Class 3A baseball state champion-
ship game. The Lions picked up their first title with a 9-1 victory
Saturday at Bears Stadium in Conway.
Jessieville stifles
unsteady Elkins
CLASS 3A
JESSIEVILLE 9, ELKINS 1
TIM COOPER
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
CONWAY — Jessieville
rode Mark Reyes’ arm to the
program’s first state baseball
title on Saturday.
But seven Elkins errors and
five wild pitches were almost
as helpful to the Lions’ efforts.
Reyes, a left-hander and a
University of Arkansas signee,
struck out 17 and the Lions took
advantage of the Elks’ miscues
to earn a 9-1 victory in the Class
3A state championship game at
Bears Stadium.
Reyes, the tournament
MVP who also slugged a two-
run home run on Friday before
the rain forced the game to be
continued on Saturday, struck
out seven consecutive batters
from the fifth to the seventh
innings. Reyes came within
one out of a shutout before
a two-out walk and an error
netted Elkins’ lone run.
“I’m going to be honest with
you,” Jessieville Coach Jamie
Saveall said. “We just won a
state championship but that
young man is graduating. Guys
like that only come along once
in a lifetime.”
Elkins (20-8) managed
seven singles against Reyes (10-
1) but the Elks stranded eight
baserunners, including three
in the third inning when the
Jessieville ace worked out of a
bases-loaded, no-out jam with
three consecutive strikeouts.
Jessieville (22-8) was ahead
3-0 at that point.
“He threw well,” Elkins
Coach Jeff Eddleman said of
Reyes. “In the bottom of the
third we had the bases loaded
and our best two hitters up.
Our No. 3 and 4 hitters strike
out.
“That’s the game right
there.”
The 17 strikeouts are the
most in a state championship
game since Jimmy Bradford of
Pine Bluff struck out 18 in 1973
against Greenwood.
“I didn’t think (17 strikeouts)
was possible because that was
a great team we played,” Reyes
said.
Elkins starter Lee Holmes
(12-4) struck out 6 and allowed
only 2 hits, but he also walked
4 and threw 4 wild pitches. Of
the six runs Holmes allowed,
only one was earned.
Jessieville’s first five runs
were unearned. Reyes’ home
run in the first inning came
after an error and back-to-
back ground balls which led to
Paulino’s ‘storybook ending’ puts Saints on top
CLASS 4A
SHILOH CHRISTIAN 4,
PRAIRIE GROVE 3, (8)
MATTHEW HARRIS
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
CONWAY — Hobbled by
an aching hip, Shiloh Chris-
tian’s David Paulino’s options
as he stepped to the plate in
the bottom of the eighth inning
were few against Prairie Grove
starter Jalen Beeks.
“Just try to make contact,
move the runner,” said Pau-
lino, the Saints designated
hitter.
Paulino hit a bloop single
into left field to score David
Petrino from second for a 4-
3 extra-inning victory in the
Class 4A baseball state cham-
pionship game at Bear Stadium
at the University of Central Ar-
kansas.
“It wasn’t a great hit,” said
v SUNDAY, MAY 22, 2011 v 11C
CLASS 6A one-out walk to Rodriguez, hit
Sanders with a pitch and then
JACKSONVILLE 6, SEARCY 5 (8) walked Cummings to load the
TIM COOPER bases. McClure then drove a
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE pitch to deep right-center
field for a sacrifice fly.
CONWAY — Down to his
In the bottom half of the
final strike and facing one of
eighth, Reid Haggard reached
the state’s top pitchers, Jesse
on a one-out walk. But Harbin
Harbin delivered the game’s
got both Zack Langley and
biggest hit for the Jacksonville
Tarkington to fly out to end
Red Devils.
the game.
Harbin, a junior, lined a
“We’ve got 12 seniors and
three-run double down the
three juniors, and they’ve
right-field line with two outs
been resilient all year,”
in the seventh inning, sparking
Burrows said. “They never
the Red Devils to a 6-5 eight-
doubted. ... We kept battling
inning, come-from-behind
and kept battling, and I don’t
victory over the Searcy Lions
think we ever thought we
in the Class 6A baseball state weren’t going to win.”
championship game in front Jacksonville grabbed a 1-0
of an overflow crowd at Bears
lead in the first when McClure
Stadium. came home when the Searcy
Jacksonville (20-11) managed infielders misjudged Harbin’s
only three hits off Searcy ace high pop up to short right
and University of Arkansas field.
signee Dillon Howard, but the
Red Devils managed enough
base runners to rally from the
5-1 deficit they faced to start
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEPHEN B. THORNTON
Jacksonville players celebrate after battling back from a four-run
deficit in the seventh inning to beat Searcy 6-5 in the Class 6A
Searcy (24-8) tied the
game in the second on an RBI
double by Reid Haggard, who
sent a hard shot over the first-
the seventh inning.
D’Vone McClure’s sacrifice
fly in the eighth inning brought
home Nicholas Rodriquez
baseball state championship game Saturday at Bears Stadium
in Conway.
third baseman Mason Wyatt. McCammon also said
base bag.
The Lions added two
unearned runs in the third
when Jared Haggard’s double
with the eventual winning McClure drew a walk to the Lions catcher Hayden drove in Mike Brown and
load the bases, and Jacob Mercer claimed one of the
run. Harbin, the tournament’s Mercer.
MVP who was brought on in Abrahamson was hit by a pitch Jacksonville base runners Home runs by Brown in the
relief of Jacksonville starter to cut Searcy’s lead to 5-2. had failed to touch home fifth and Reid Haggard in the
Noah Sanders in the fourth H o wa r d g o t P a t r i c k plate on Harbin’s double. But
sixth seemingly gave Searcy a
inning, pitched around a one- Castleberry to pop up on the when the Lions attempted to secure 5-1 advantage.
out walk in the bottom of the infield for the second out. appeal, the umpire said it was
But the Lions, who outhit
inning to give Jacksonville its Harbin looked at two strikes an illegal appeal and the pitch
Jacksonville 9-3, could not
first baseball state title since before sending a liner to the was ruled a ball to the next
1987. make the lead hold up.
right-field corner that cleared batter. JACK. AB R H BI SEARCY AB R H BI
“ H e w a s t h e M V P,” the bases. Harbin’s double should McClure, cf 2 2 0 1 R.Hggrd, cf 3 1 3 2
Jacksonville Coach Larry “I was scared and I know have been his third hit of the Abrhmsn, ss 4 1 0 1 Langley, 1b 4 0 2 0
Cstlberry, c 3 0 0 0 Tarkington, ss3 0 0 0
Burrows said of Harbin. “He he’s good,” Harbin said of game. The MVP had a double Harbin, 3b 4 0 2 4 Howard, p 5 0 0 0
won three games in the state Howard. “He’s a [major league] taken away from him in the Perry, lf 3 0 0 0 Brown, lf 4 2 1 1
Tucker, rf 4 0 0 0 Mercer, c 4 0 2 1
tournament. I tell people all the draft pick. I was just thinking fourth inning when he failed Brown, 1b 2 0 0 0 J.Hggrd, 2b 3 0 1 2
time he’s David. He’s a little ol’ ‘Go big or go home.’ I got to do to touch first base. Sanders, p 3 1 1 0 Anderson, dh 3 0 0 0
Rodrguz, 3b 1 1 0 0 Bunker, lf 1 0 0 0
guy, but he don’t care who’s up it for these seniors.” “I thought I had tripped Cmmings, 2b 2 1 0 0 Cooper, ph 1 0 0 0
there and he’ll slay those giants Howard struck out five over first base when I was Cato, rf 2 0 0 0
Wyatt, 3b 0 0 0 0
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/ every time.” batters and walked three. He running to second,” Harbin TOTALS 28636TOTALS 32595
STEPHEN B. THORNTON
It wa s a re m a rka b l e enduced 11 ground-ball outs, said. “But Blue [the umpire] Jacksonville ..................100 000 41 — 6 3 2
Searcy ........................012 011 00 — 5 9 2
Jessieville pitcher and Arkansas comeback for the Red Devils, three of which were hit back knows what he’s doing. I E — J. Haggard, Wyatt, Brown, Sanders. DP —
signee Mark Reyes recorded 17 who had mustered only one hit to the mound. don’t have any hard feelings. Jacksonville 2. LOB — Jacksonville 8, Searcy 10. 2B
strikeouts and added a two-run through the first 61⁄3 innings. “I thought he pitched Besides, we came back and — Mercer, R. Haggard, J. Haggard, Harbin. HR
— Brown, R. Haggard. SB — McClure. SH — Langley.
home run en route to earning Jacksonville’s seventh- well enough to win,” Searcy got the W.” SF — McClure.
MVP honors for the Lions. inning rally started with Coach Clay McCammon said Jacksonville scored the JACKSONVILLE IP H R ER BB SO
Sanders 31⁄3 5 3 1 4 3
Sanders lining a single through of Howard’s performance. eventual game-winning Harbin W, 2
4 ⁄3 4 2 2 2 3
SEARCY IP H R ER BB SO
the middle for the Red Devils’ “There was a couple of routine run without the aid of a hit.
Photos first hit since the first inning. plays in the seventh inning we Preston Tarkington, who
Howard
Tarkington L,
7
1
3
0
5
1
1
1
3
2
5
0
on the Web Ken Cummings reached on didn’t get there for him, and it came on in relief of Howard WP — Howard, Tarkington.
Umpires — Home: Smith, First: Berry, Third: Clayton.
arkansasonline.com/galleries a throwing error by Searcy ended up costing us.” to start the eighth, gave up a Time — 2:44.
force outs. In the third inning,
Reyes reached on an error
when his ground ball went
under the glove of second
baseman Hayden Guffey. Reyes
Magnolia wins title with few hits
eventually scored on Chase CLASS 5A “But in those situations, you’re field wall to make it 2-0 and
Anderson’s ground out. More coverage of Arkansas just trying to make plays.” resulted in Sisson making a
In the fourth inning, MAGNOLIA 3, GREENWOOD 2 HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Caudle, who had four visit to the mound.
Jessieville added two more MATTHEW HARRIS strikeouts in 51⁄3 innings, was “Just tell him to breathe
runs on three Elkins errors. arpreps.com then pulled for Sunde. and fill his tank up,” Sisson
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
Aaron Hunter opened the With runners at second said. “He does the rest. He
inning by drawing a walk and CONWAY — Over five
and third, Sunde balked with told us in the second inning
he scored on Mitchell Clark’s innings, Greenwood hushed runs in regional play, resort- Michael Boggan at the plate. he wanted to call his own
throwing error on a ball hit by M a g n o l i a ’s t h u n d e r i n g ing to small ball to chase a Cassidy scored to give the pitches, and that’s why we
Kyle Echard. Echard scored swings. cruising Caudle from the Panthers a 3-2 lead. have confidence in him.”
on a sacrifice fly hit by Mike But the Panthers didn’t game. Through three innings, Simpson threw just 50
Mendez. need big hits Saturday in “It can be a walk or an er- Greenwood (29-6) had six pitches the rest of the way in
Jessieville put the game the Class 5A baseball state ror, anything that sparks you,” hits and seven baserunners a 10-hit, 118-pitch complete
away in the fifth when Echard championship game at Bear Sisson said. “That’s why those off Simpson, but stranded six game.
doubled off the right-center Stadium. guys are here.” of the runners. “We had enough baserun-
field wall with the bases All Magnolia needed was Center fielder Devin Davis The Bulldogs struck in the ners to score 10 runs today,”
loaded. Greenwood relief pitcher and catcher Zachary Wilbur top of the first after first base- Gardner said. “But when
“If you look at the Justin Sunde’s balk in the hit back-to-back singles with man William Caster singled you’re facing a good pitcher,
scoreboard, we outhit them,” bottom of the sixth inning to one out to start the rally, fol- to score Sunde from second it’s not like people are chok-
said Eddleman, whose team was bring across Panthers third for a 1-0 lead. After a Simpson ing.
lowed by third baseman Josh
in its third state championship baseman Josh Cassidy for the wild pitch, Caster moved to “They [Magnolia] hung
Cassidy’s curving double second and Aaron Carter was
game since 2006. “But the deciding run in a 3-2 victory, around long enough to get
errors, we just outerrored them down the right-field line to held at third.
claiming the program’s first cut the deficit to 2-1. a big inning. That’s all they
overall, if that’s such a word.” Bryce Bass then flied out to needed.”
state title. One batter later, pitcher center to strand the runners,
JESS. AB R H BI ELKINS AB R H BI
Eckard, cf 5 1 1 2 Holmes, p 4 1 2 0 “We don’t define our pro- Landon Simpson chopped a allowing Simpson to escape a
GW
Sundee, lf
AB R H BI MAGNOLA AB R H BI
3 1 1 1 McMahen 2b 3 0 1 0
Noles, 2b 5 0 0 1 Clark, ss 4 0 1 0 gram by winning state cham- Carter, 2b 4 0 3 1 Davis, cf 3 1 2 0
Mendez, rf 4 2 0 1 Curry, cf 4 0 0 0 grounder to second baseman 28-pitch first inning. Sandifer, ss 4 0 0 0 Wilbur, c 3 1 1 0
Reyes, p 4 2 1 2 Parrish, lf 3 0 0 0 pionships, because this is our Aaron Carter, who elected to “I’m not sure [what hap- Turner, 3b 4 0 1 0 Cassidy, 3b 3 1 1 1
Daily, 1b 2 1 1 0 W.Curry, c 3 0 1 0
Anderson, ss 3 1 1 1 Harriman, 1b 3 0 2 0 first,” said Magnolia Coach throw home. The throw was pened],” Simpson said. “I just Caster, c 2 1 2 2 Simspon, p 3 0 0 1
Kincaid, 1b 3 0 1 0 Boggan, dh 3 0 0 0
Reynolds, lf 3 1 1 1 Tannehll, 3b 3 0 1 0
Hunter, 3b 2 2 0 0 Gash, dh 2 0 0 0
Randy Sisson, whose team high and pinch runner An- sped up my routine and got Harvey, pr 0 0 0 0 Crudup, 1b 3 0 0 0
Bass, C 4 0 0 0 Nichols, ss 2 0 0 0
Scott, dh 3 1 0 0 Copeland, ph 1 0 0 0 totaled five hits. “But we can drew Watson slid under the out of whack.” Suter, rf 3 0 1 0 Smith, rf 1 0 0 0
Guffey, 2b 2 0 0 0
Nielson, rf 0 0 0 0 say we won one now.” tag to tie the game at 2-2. The Bulldogs loaded the Smith, cf 3 0 1 0 Clark, lf 0 0 0 0
Caudle, p 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 31 9 5 8 TOTALS 29 1 7 0
Jessieville .......................201 231 0 — 9 5 1
Trailing 2-0, the Panthers “Just poke and get some- bases with one out in the sec- TOTALS 30 2 10 2 TOTALS 24 3 5 2
Elkins ............................000 000 1 — 1 7 7 (22-6) had been baffled by thing going on,” said Simpson, ond inning only to see Cart- Greenwood .........101 000 0 — 2 10 1
Magnolia ............000 003 0 — 3 5 0
E — Hunter, Tannehill (2), Nielson (2), Clark, Harriman,
Guffey. DP — Elkins. LOB — Jessieville 8, Elkins 8. 2B Greenwood starter Chris Cau- who earned MVP honors. er and clean-up hitter Tony E — Turner. DP — GW 2, MAG 4. LOB — GW 10,
MAG 4. 2B — Cassidy. HR — Caster CS — Carter.
— Eckard, Andeson. HR — Reyes. SB — Daily. dle’s offspeed pitches, which For his part, Greenwood Sandifer end the inning with GREENWOOD IP H R ER BB SO
JESSIEVILLE IP H R ER BB SO
Reyes, W 7 7 1 0 1 17 held Magnolia to three hits Coach Randy Gardner wasn’t back-to-back pop outs. Caudle L 51⁄3
2
5 3 3 1 5
Sunde ⁄3 0 0 0 0 0
ELKINS IP H R ER BB SO and allowed just two runners inclined to critique Carter’s In the third, Simpson left MAGNOLIA IP H R ER BB SO
Holmes L 4 2 6 1 4 6
Nielson 3 3 3 2 1 1 to reach scoring position. logic. a breaking ball hanging with Simpson W 7 10 2 2 2 6
A predicament that left WP — Simpson. HBP — Simpson.
WP — Reyes; Holmes (4).
Umpires — Home: Bryan, First: Williams, Third:
“We probably should have one out to Caster, who sent Umpires — Home: Stence, First: Kilbury, Third:
Wilson/McCarty. Time — 2:15. Magnolia, which scored 42 taken an out,” Gardner said. an arching shot over the right Schneider Time — 2:00. Attendance — NA.
tholomew — which led to two with one out when he was hit with one out in the eighth in-
unearned runs. by a pitch from reliever Rob- ning. He doubled to left and
Prairie Grove led 2-1 when inson Jones. Petrino replaced a tiring Beeks intentionally
Shiloh came to bat in the bot- Jones and got Ty Tice to fly out walked Tyler Harris. Beeks
tom of the fifth. The Saints to left. Bartholomew scored struck out Oliver for the sec-
tied the game at 2-2 on third when Beeks ripped a two-out ond out, which brought Pau-
baseman Jared Chenier’s double to the left-field gap to lino to the plate.
lead-off home run to left. Jay tie the game 3-3. “It’s a storybook ending for
Canada followed with a one- But Beeks was stranded at him,” Harris said.
out drive over center fielder second when reliever Petrino PRAIRIE AB R H BI SHILOH AB R H BI
Landon West’s head. Right- struck out catcher Dakota Dan- Barthlmw, 3b 3 1 1 1 Offenbchr, 2b 4 0 1 0
Tice, 2b 4 0 1 1 Jones, cf 4 0 0 0
fielder Jon Halbert backed iels to end the inning. Beeks, p 2 0 1 1 Petrino, ss 4 2 2 0
up the play, but he bobbled Prairie Grove threatened in Smith, pr 0 0 0 0 Harris, cf 3 0 0 1
Daniels, c 3 0 0 0 Oliver, p 3 0 0 0
the ball as Canada headed the top of the eighth against Kincaid, 3b 3 0 1 0 Paulino, dh 3 0 1 1
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEPHEN B. THORNTON to third, allowing Canada to Petrino, putting runners on Hendrsn, dh 4 0 1 0 Chenier, 3b 3 1 1 1
Sugg, lf 4 0 0 0 May, rf 2 0 0 0
Shiloh Christian’s David Petrino (right) catches Prairie Grove’s Nic score, giving Shiloh Christian first and third with one out. But Cook, 1b 2 1 0 0 McDonald ph 1 0 0 0
Cook leaning off second base during the second inning of the a 3-2 lead. Petrino struck out Nic Cook Halbert, rf
West, cf
4 1 2 0 Canada, lf
0 0 0 0 Dilday, 1b
3 1 1 0
0 0 0 0
Class 4A baseball state championship game Saturday at Bears “That’s one of those things and Halbert grounded out to TOTALS 29 3 6 3 TOTALS 30 4 6 3
Prairie Grove ................ 000 020 10 — 3 7 4
Stadium in Conway. Petrino later scored the game-winning run you can’t control,” Prairie end the inning. Shiloh Christian .............000 120 01 — 4 6 1
to lead the Saints to a 4-3 victory. Grove Coach Mitch Cameron “We had some baserunners E — Jones, Halbert, Bartholomew (3). DP — PG 0,
SC 1. LOB — PG 9, SC 6. 2B — Petrino, Tice, Beeks.
said. “In the heat of the mo- we could have executed on, HR — Chenier. CS — None.
Paulino, who has been slowed distance on 112 pitches, struck ment, it’s ifs and buts. Hind- but we didn’t,” Cameron said. PRAIRIE
Beeks L,
IP
7
H
6
R ER BB
4 2 2
SO
5
by a hip flexor. “You’ve just got out 5 batters and gave up only sight is 20-20.” “That’s baseball. That’s the SHILOH IP H R ER BB SO
to get lucky.” 2 earned runs. That didn’t discourage Prai- nature of the beast. We didn’t Oliver
Jones
6
1
⁄3
4
0
2
1
2
1
6
0
3
1
In a pitcher’s duel, the Saints Yet he was done in by four rie Grove’s comeback efforts in execute in big situations and Petrino W 12⁄3 7 3 3 0 2
(30-7) outlasted the Tigers (18- errors — including three by the top of the seventh. they did.” WP — Beek. HBP — Jones.
Umpires — Home: Purcell, First: Lee, Third: Mathis.
7) and Beeks, who went the third baseman Weston Bar- Bartholomew reached first Petrino got things started Time — 2:15. Attendance — NA.