By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
EL DORADO - Perhaps it would be wise to expect the unexpected when the 7-2A East District Tournament opens today at Parkers Chapel.
The Trojans (16-10) enter as the No. 2 seed with a berth in the regional tournament already assured.
However, there isn't much separation between the top three seeds.
Harmony Grove enters as the top seed thanks to a head-to-head sweep of the Trojans, but third-seeded Spring Hill handed the Hornets their lone loss against 7-2A East foes.
The Bears take on No. 6 seed Lafayette County today needing a win to nail down a spot in the regional tournament. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m.
Rison, the No. 4 seed, takes on fifth-seeded Bearden in Thursday's other quarterfinal contest at 4 p.m.
Should Spring Hill prevail, it would set up a third showdown with the Trojans in Friday's semifinals.
Parkers Chapel swept the head-to-head series, winning both contests by a run.
The Trojans won the first meeting 5-4 after holding off a late rally.
In their second encounter, T.J. Bale hit a grand slam to cap a comeback from a four-run deficit to give the Trojans a 9-8 win.
"We're expecting a dogfight," Parkers Chapel coach Mark Looney said of a potential third matchup with the Bears. "It's a huge ballgame for us. Our ultimate goal is to win this district tournament and get the one seed for the regionals. As long as we keep playing ball the way we are right now, I like our chances."
It's been an up and down season for the Trojans, who won 11 of 13 games following a six-game losing streak.
"You always want to play your best ball down the stretch," Looney said. "We've kind of had a yo-yo season. We came out of the gate real strong, then we hit a skid there for a week, week and a half, and we've been a little choppy in between.
"For the last week, we've been playing some good baseball. We've been getting some timely hits, our pitchers have been throwing strikes and our defense has played well behind our pitchers.
"We're playing with a little bit of emotion right now. I think that goes a long way in the game. You just can't go through the motions. We're not good enough to just show up and win. We've got to get out there and get after it no matter who our opponent is. We're starting to bring that to the game. I've got a few kids that had been in slumps, but they're starting to get hot with the bats."
The Trojans have swung the bats well down the stretch, and if Bale can build off of a terrific outing against Taylor that saw the sophomore throw a two-hit shutout, the Trojans will be a tough team to contend with.
"It was good to see what T.J. did. He threw an outstanding ballgame," Looney said.
"Carson Worthey in the three spot has been getting hits and driving in runs. He's doing exactly what I need out of him. T.J. is starting to get on base out of the leadoff spot.
"In the last couple of games, we've been hitting up and down the lineup, and it's not all coming from the top or the middle, we're spreading it around. That's important this time of year."