HORATIO – Parkers Chapel and Woodlawn are no strangers to playing games with plenty of drama.
That trend continued on Saturday, as the Bears rallied from a six-run deficit in the seventh to stun the Trojans 11-10 in the championship game of the 2A South Regional Tournament.
The Trojans built a 10-4 lead by scoring in every inning, but the Bears fought back.
Austin Looney, who took over for starter Trace Shoup in the sixth, walked Garrett Cowart and John Grace to start the seventh, prompting a pitching change.
Spencer Frisby came on in relief, and with Owen Stover at the plate, a double steal advanced both runners into scoring position.
Stover later reached on an infield single to bring home Cowart to make it 10-5.
With runners at the corners, Braiden Stephens came off the bench and hit a sacrifice fly to score Grace to make it 10-6.
Frisby then fanned Parker Rotton for the inning’s second out, but the final out would prove to be an elusive one.
After Cale Edmonds walked, Frisby fanned Ethan Gardner for what appeared to be the game-ending out, but a passed ball on the third strike loaded the bases instead.
That set the stage for Jaydon Manes, who hit a grand slam to tie the game at 10-all.
Manes went 3-for-3 with five RBIs for the Bears.
Mason Dougan took over Frisby, but the Bears capped their comeback moments later.
Jaxson Case walked on four pitches and stole second and third base before scoring on a base hit to right by Cowart to give the Bears a stunning come-from-behind win.
The Trojans (23-8), who will be the South’s No. 2 seed at the state tournament next week, will face Flippin, the West’s No. 3 seed, in the opening round Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at Carlisle.
The Bears (29-3) will be the South’s top seed and face Yellville-Summit, the West’s No. 4 seed.
The Trojans got home runs from Reid Cates and Shoup to help build their cushion.
Cates drilled a leadoff homer in the third and Shoup hit a two-run blast an inning later.
Shoup went 3-for-3, drove in three runs and scored four runs for the Trojans.
Cates also had three RBIs, and Paytin Greene had a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-4 for Parkers Chapel.
Chris Greer and Looney had singles for the Trojans with Wyatt New and Blake Caldwell collecting RBIs.
Shoup pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowed five hits and four runs with all of them being earned. He walked six and struck out 11.
Looney allowed two runs with both being earned in 1/3 of an inning. He walked three, allowed one hit and had one strikeout.
Frisby allowed four runs with none of them being earned. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out two in 2/3 of an inning.
Dougan, the Trojans’ third pitcher in the seventh, suffered the loss.
In addition to Manes, Cowart went 2-for-3 with three RBIs for the Bears, who also collected 11 walks in the win.
John Grace was the winning pitcher for the Bears, working 1 1/3 innings.
Edmonds, the Bears’ starter, allowed six hits and five runs with all of them being earned in four innings of work. He walked two and struck out seven.