The Texarkana Razorbacks were awarded a trip to the American Legion World Series on Monday without seeing or throwing a pitch.
The Razorbacks and the Bryant BlackSox were scheduled to play for the Mid-South Regional championship Sunday afternoon at Gary Hogan Field, but heavy rains forced officials to postpone the contest to Monday. However, the Little Rock field was deemed unplayable Monday, forcing Legion officials to search for another venue.
Jerald Howard, the tournament's director and the department baseball chairman for the Arkansas American Legion teams, said Henderson State University's all-turf field was considered, but the possibility of more severe weather Monday caused Legion officials to cancel the game instead of waiting out a rain delay.
As it turned out, there was no recorded precipitation in Arkadelphia after 10 a.m. The area did receive .52 of an inch between and 8 and 10 a.m., according to National Weather Service reports.
Little Rock recorded 2.44 inches of rain on Sunday night, but nothing after midnight.
Bryant Manager Darren Hurt said he was disappointed Legion officials would cancel the game "based on a forecast."
"I was told they would do everything in their power to play the game," Hurt said. "They told me that Sunday night, and [Monday] morning they were saying the same thing."
Texarkana Manager Dane Peavy said he did not want to comment on the Legion's decision until after his team had finished its season.
"I don't want to take anything away from Bryant or our guys and what they've done this season," Peavy said. "Bryant is a worthy competitor. I've got all the respect in the world for their coaches and their players."
Hurt said he had talked to Henderson State Coach Cody Hooten about playing the game in Arkadelphia and that the HSU coach was "willing to make the field available." Hurt, however, said he got another call from Howard later Monday morning stating the game would not be played.
"That call just floored me," Hurt said. "They said they were going to 'bang [cancel] the game.' ... When I talked to them then, their decision was already made. No matter what I said, they were not going to change their minds."
Texarkana was awarded the World Series berth based on a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Razorbacks defeated Bryant 6-5 on Saturday night.
The BlackSox had earned the right to play for the regional championship by winning their first three games of the tournament. Their loss to Texarkana on Saturday meant the BlackSox had to await the winner of the Texarkana-Sedalia, Mo., game Sunday for the chance to play for the World Series berth. Texarkana defeated Sedalia, 5-0, shortly before the rain halted the rest of Sunday's action.
"When you get beat on the field, I can deal with that," Hurt said. "But we went through the winners bracket undefeated, and we were the leaders in almost every category. I guess our kids got a great life's lesson out of all of this."
Bryant went 3-1 in the tournament, outscoring its opponents 20-11. Pitcher Alex Shurtleff struck out 11 in Bryant's 3-2 victory over Ottawa, Kan., and University of Arkansas signee Zach Jackson threw a shutout against Ada, Okla. The BlackSox led Texarkana 5-3 with two outs in the eighth inning before the Razorbacks rallied for the 6-5 victory.
Bryant hit .315 during the tournament while its opponents managed a .194 average. Logan Allen led the Bryant hitters with a .523 (8 of 15) average. Allen tripled twice and drove in three runs. Aaron Orender batted .471 (8 of 17) and Garrett Misenheimer hit .400 (6 of 15) with 4 RBI.
Hurt said he was not aware of the Legion tiebreaker rule before Saturday, but he also said that rule was not available to any of the coaches.
"When I talked to the national office, they acknowledged that the rule is nowhere that any coach could find it," Hurt said. "That's something they admitted that they will look into changing."
Texarkana becomes the first Arkansas team to play in the Legion World Series since Jonesboro won a regional title in 2008.
The Razorbacks will play San Mateo, Calif., at 11:30 a.m. on Friday in Shelby, N.C. The California team went 5-0 in the Western Regional. Texarkana will also play the Rhode Island and Virginia state winners during the five-day event.
Sports on 08/09/2016