Searcy(LP) Every year each sport has matches or games that lead up to a big conference and/or state tournament. This year our baseball team has had many Varsity and Junior Varsity games. Some were successes, and other tough losses, but each game has shaped our team into the players they are now. Our teams are now preparing for the 6A State Tournament. The road has been rough, but they made it here. Coach Ferrell tells that so far, “the season has gone pretty well, they’ve had to deal with a lot of injuries and putting people in different places. But we’ve tried to overcome adversity.”
Each player plays a vital part in a winning game. This year our lead players have consisted of mainly seniors, but a few underclassman contribute as well. Our Varsity players include: Sam Lane, Flave Carpenter, Luke Wolfe, Garrett Price, Will Wilkins, Kory O’Neal, Adrian Hannah, Hayden Bowman, Mikey Huddey, Andrew Stanley, and Tanner Leonard. The seniors have played a major role in leading the team. Senior Hayden Bowman tells that he prepares by, “just putting in extra work and practicing. Coming up on the weekends and hitting.”
The State tournament has just taken place and before the tournament Bowman told that to make this senior tournament a success he is going to, “leave it all on the field; give it everything I’ve got and hope that everyone else does too.” The Searcy Lion Baseball team went into the game with their heads, but didn’t come out with the outcome they wanted. In the first game, the Lions faced off against a very tough opponent: Sheridan. Sheridan won the state tournament in 2015, with many players that are still on the team today as seniors. Sheridan was also the favorite to win this year due to their almost perfect record up until their conference tournament when they lost to Benton in a close game.
Right off the bat, literally, Sheridan jumped to a 2-0 lead with a base clearing triple to deep right center field. The Lions stopped them in the second inning, but after that they broke the game open with 6 runs in the the third. They hit the ball all over the field, and it seemed to be out of the Lions’ reach every single time with the ending score at 11-1 after only 5 innings of play. Sheridan had 12 hits, 6 of those for extra bases, and they run ruled the Lions after 5. They fought hard, but they just couldn’t overcome the 31-5 Yellowjackets who are now in the semifinals after beating Mountain Home 9-3.
