By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
When you’ve played each other as many times as Parkers Chapel and Spring Hill have, there are no secrets.
This afternoon, the Bears and Trojans meet for the fourth time this season with the 2A state championship at stake.
Game is set for 12:30 p.m. from Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
The Trojans (27-7), the 2A South regional champions, have been on fire in the second half of the season, posting wins in 16 of their last 17 games.
The Bears (26-3), the No. 2 seed from the South, stand one win away from repeating as 2A state champions, and they kept their title hopes alive with a dramatic come-from-behind win over Des Arc before topping Conway Christian to end the Eagles’ bid for a perfect season.
Parkers Chapel has won two of the three meetings this season, including a 14-4 win two weeks ago in the regional final at Poyen.
Of the Bears’ three losses this season, the Trojans have inflicted two of them, having also topped the Bears 3-1 in league play at Robert McKinnon Park.
However, the Trojans’ lone loss during their streak came at the hands of the Bears, who won 7-5 at home to share the 7-2A East title.
Both teams enter the title game with plenty of confidence.
Winners of six straight games since falling at Spring Hill last month, the Trojans have scored nine or more runs in each of those games, outscoring their opponents 63-23.
“We’re scoring a lot of runs right now. We’re hitting up and down the lineup,” said Parkers Chapel coach Mark Looney. “The middle of our lineup has been really, really solid. They’re getting hits when the guys get on in front of them. They’re stepping up. We’ve been swinging the bats really well. We’ve just got to continue that for one more game.”
The Bears stormed back to stun Des Arc in the quarterfinals with four runs in the seventh to overcome a 6-3 deficit with freshman Bryce Blackwell’s pinch-hit, two-run single serving as the game-winner.
Against Conway Christian in the semifinals, the Bears jumped out to a big lead en route to a 7-3 win.
“We played very well,” said Spring Hill coach Cameron Brown. “About the fifth or sixth inning, Des Arc rallied and got a lot of hits, but we didn’t get our heads down, and we came back in the seventh inning and executed. We got a lot of base hits and scored four to beat them.
“We played a great game Saturday against a very good Conway Christian team that was really the team to beat in the state tournament. We executed, played a mistake-free game and we hit the ball really well. Right now, I really feel like we’re hitting our highest point of the year. I feel good about our chances this Saturday in Fayetteville.”
In the win over Conway Christian, shortstop Will Phillips made a great play to snuff out a rally by making a great catch on a line drive that resulted in a double play.
“I think that was a big-time point, and it gave us a boost,” Brown said. “I feel like that was our biggest moment of the game, but we played well offensively and defensively.”
As far as the Trojans are concerned, Brown said the Bears must not have any miscues.
“They’re really coached well,” Brown said. “Coach Looney does a great job year in and year out. When we face Parkers Chapel, we know we’re going to face a team that’s going to be fundamentally sound. They’re not going to make very many mistakes. We know we’ve got to go in and play a mistake-free baseball game against them because that’s what they’re going to do most of the time. We’ve got to execute in all aspects of the game.”
Although Looney might not have a definitive option for who could make the start on the mound for the Trojans, it would seem that Spring Hill ace Kaleb Blair likely will get the call for the Bears.
A senior, Blair started both games in the regular season, going 1-1 with a 2.92 ERA. In 12 innings of work, he allowed 14 hits and seven runs with only five runs being earned. He walked five and struck out seven.
“We know what we’re going to face,” Looney said. “We’ve already faced Blair twice, and we’ll face him for the third time. Spring Hill is solid defensively, and they’ve got several guys that can swing it. We’re just hoping we score one more run than they do.”
When asked what makes Blair a difficult pitcher to face, Looney said there were several factors.
“He changes speeds. He locates,” Looney said. “His fastball is maybe 78 miles an hour. He’s not going to throw it by you, but he changes speeds. He throws his curveball at two different speeds, and he has a little bit of movement on his two-seam fastball. He tries to keep the ball down in the zone. He tries to keep you off-balance. He’ll throw his offspeed stuff as much as he will throw his two-seam fastball. He’s got experience. He’s basically been their No. 1 in the rotation for two years now. He won the championship game last year up at Baum 5-0 (against Conway St. Joseph). The kid knows how to pitch.”
Brown echoed Looney’s comments on his ace.
“Kaleb has been our go-to guy,” Brown said. “He keeps his pitch counts down. He hits his spots. He’s not going to blow it by anybody. He has a few different pitches. He just keeps batters off-balance. He’s been consistent. When we put him in there, we know what we’re going to get. He’s been that guy for us.”
In the three games against the Bears, junior Thomas Hardy has swung the hottest bat, going 6-for-9 with four runs scored and three RBIs, including a perfect 3-for-3 day with two RBIs against Blair in the Trojans’ 3-1 win at Robert McKinnon Park.
Freshman Reid Cates has gone 4-for-10 with a walk and six runs scored, while senior Carson Worthey leads the Trojans with five RBIs.
Although he did not start any of the three games, junior Michael Brotherton has fared the best against the Bears, working 5 2/3 innings in two relief appearances. He has allowed four hits and one run with one walk and five strikeouts.
And while the Trojans’ offense could have to contend with Blair for a third time, Parkers Chapel will have to be wary of sophomore Wesley Featherston.
In the three games between the schools, Featherston has gone 5-for-9 with two home runs, a double and three RBIs. Senior Will Phillips has driven in four runs while going 3-for-11.
Parkers Chapel may hold the upperhand through the first three games, but Looney said none of those games matter as this juncture.
“The kids know that the past is the past,” Looney said. “The past means nothing now. It’s always about the next game, and the next game just happens to be in Fayetteville against a team that we know quite well. It doesn’t matter what happened last year when we played Spring Hill, and the three previous games we’ve played this year don’t matter.
“Baseball is a crazy game and anything can happen. The beauty of a one-game scenario is you don’t have to win a series, you just to have to win the day. That’s what we’re going to go up there and try to do. Everything that we’ve done this year through practice and games all have led up to this one last day.
“We’re thankful that we’ve had another week of practice. We’ve continued to rep some defense, some offense and go over some of our defensive plays and situations, just refresh. We’ve continued to throw bullpens. I’ve had a couple of guys that haven’t thrown in a while now. They didn’t get a chance to throw at Pangburn, so everybody has thrown a bullpen this week. We’ve got to keep our arms fresh.
“The work is done. We’re just trying to reap the benefits from our hard work and labor. Our goal every year is to make it to Fayetteville, and we’ve made it, but our work isn’t done yet.”
One area that the Bears will hold an advantage is having played at Baum Stadium a year ago when they won the state championship.
“I think it does give us a slight advantage,” Brown said. “We’re going to be prepared as far as the surroundings and playing in a different atmosphere. The bottom line is, and I told my kids this, is that it’s a baseball game. It’s seven innings, three outs at a time, one pitch at a time. No matter where we’re at, we’ve just got to play our game.
“In that aspect, I think we’re pretty even with Parkers Chapel. I know coach Looney is going to do a great job to get his guys prepared, but as far as just being able to say we have a slight advantage just because we played there, yes, I would say so.”
With only two seniors on the roster, the Trojans are certainly a very young team, but their underclassmen delivered at the state tournament.
Sophomore catcher Jordan Arrington has had a terrific state tournament thus far, going 5-for-7 with six RBIs, and Looney said the younger players have taken everything in stride.
“They had a good mental approach to it,” Looney said. “It wasn’t more than what they could handle. I saw no nerves. They just approached it as another game. When you get this far, you can’t make it any bigger than what it is. At the end of the day, it’s still just a baseball game. The venue is a little different, and there’s a little bit more at stake, but the teams and kids that make it bigger than what it really is are the ones that try to hard, and when you try to hard, you usually end up making mistakes or you don’t play as well as you should.
“They knew going into the state tournament that we were one of two or three teams picked to win it. It’s not like they’re an underdog coming from nowhere. They just went out there and played. I don’t think the venue at Fayetteville is going to affect them. These kids have played a lot of baseball, and we’re just going to go out there and play our game.”
If the Bears are to top the Trojans and repeat as 2A state champions, Brown said his team must find a way to slow down the Trojans on the bases.
Heading into today’s game, the Trojans have stolen 211 bases, shattering their old record of 177 set back in 2011.
“We’ve got to limit stolen bases,” Brown said. “We’ve got to be able to hit our spots pitching because they’re going to hit the ball, and we’ve got to put the ball in a position to where it’s going to give our defenders a play at it. We have to play a mistake-free game. We can’t make errors.”
If the Trojans are to win their first state title since 2011, Looney said they must come up with key hits.
“We’ve got to put the ball in play a little bit against Blair,” Looney said. “We’ve got to get the big hits. We had a chance to beat them at their place. We had the bases loaded and nobody out in the seventh inning. Two hits right there could’ve won that game also, but we didn’t get the big hits that day.
“At Fayetteville, we’re going to have to get those type of hits. If we have the bases loaded, somebody is going to have to step up and drive in a couple of runs. We’ve got to play good defense. That particular day (at Spring Hill), we made three errors in the first inning, we looked up and we were behind 4-0.
“We can’t afford that. We’ve got to continue to stay hot offensively and continue to be aggressive like we have been. We’ve got to continue to execute, and our pitchers have to continue to throw strikes. If we do that, I like our chances to come home with a victory.”