FAYETTEVILLE -- Tyler Godwin was on his game Saturday morning, and that was bad news for the Fordyce Redbugs.
Godwin struck out 10 and allowed four hits as the Mayflower Eagles earned a 6-1 victory over Fordyce in the Class 3A championship game at Baum Stadium.
Aggressive base running and flawless defense sparked Mayflower (19-11), but it was Godwin's performance on the mound that kept Fordyce (22-4) off balance.
"I think Tyler just dialed it up today," Mayflower Coach Joe Allbritton said. "When he's throwing it with the velocity he had today, it's hard to adjust. He kept his composure today. He can be wild at times, and he had his humps today, but for the most part he was under control."
Godwin got through the first three innings without giving up a hit, but hit one and walked four.
The Redbugs loaded the bases against Godwin in the seventh with a single and two walks, but Godwin induced a ground ball to end the game.
"I felt pretty good at the start of the game, but I was struggling at the end," said Godwin, who threw 124 pitches, 29 in the final inning. "I realized I had a defense behind me. I knew I could trust them."
"He's the best pitcher in 3A," Fordyce Coach Tim Rodgers said. "There's no argument about that."
Mayflower came up with five of its nine base hits in a three-run third, but the Eagles almost came away with nothing.
The Eagles started the inning with consecutive singles by Paxton Templeton, Adam Dycus and Drew Duncan, but Dycus became the inning's first out when he attempted to advance to third while Templeton was occupying the base.
Out No. 2 came on a shallow fly ball, but Ty Herrin's infield single to shortstop scored Templeton and Duncan. A single by Godwin capped the Eagles' three-run inning.
"Adam's a first-year player and he's made some mistakes, but he's done nothing but help us because he's a hustler," Allbritton said. "He's a winner."
Two pinch-hitters drove in three runs in the Mayflower sixth inning. Bryan Brown's infield single scored Godwin, who reached on an error to start the inning. Junior J.L. Jones blooped single to right with two outs to score Austin Grundy and Brown.
Fordyce scored in the fourth inning. Singles by Jakeymes Gates and Dane Kemp put runners at the corners with one out. Caleb Hartgen's fielder's choice groundout turned out to be the Redbugs' lone RBI.
"I guess I've got to do a better job of coaching hitting in state championship games," said Rodgers, whose team has lost in the title game the past three years. "That's the thing that's hurt us. We just can't seem to get hits when we need to."
Mayflower's defense didn't help Fordyce's productivity. Duncan made a sliding stop at shortstop on a ground ball and threw out a runner in the fifth inning, and sophomore left fielder Corey Herrin made a falling-down catch of a deep fly ball by Gates for the first out of the sixth inning.
Tommy Tidwell doubled and had two of the Redbugs' four hits.
Duncan was the only Mayflower hitter with two hits.
Sports on 05/24/2015