HOT SPRINGS – As the Greene County Tech softball team happily trudged off the field to celebrate its 9-1 state semifinal victory over Sheridan, a few of the Lady Jackets watched glumly from across the field – especially starting pitcher Cooper Terry.
Terry and her teammates saw their season end after they posted two consecutive impressive wins over Paragould and Vilonia in the first two rounds of the state playoffs.
"This is not what we wanted to happen so it's a big disappointment." Terry said. "But we know what to work on for next season. It was hot but we can't make excuses. Looking forward to next year."
Greene County Tech scored six runs over the first three innings in cruising into the state championship game against top-ranked and unbeaten Benton.
After a scoreless first inning, the Lady Eagles opened things up on RBI singles from Zoie Reynolds and Averie Stokes. An error by Sheridan right fielder Emma Goodman allowed Stokes to score and extend Greene County Tech's margin to 3-0.
The Lady Eagles added three more in the third, thanks to two bases-loaded walks surrendered by Callie Kilburn, who briefly came in relief of starter Terry.
A sacrifice fly to deep center by Reynolds a few pitches later plated Stokes to thrust the Lady Jackets into a deeper 6-0 hole.
Stokes closed out the scoring with a 2-run homer to deep left-center that extended the Lady Eagles' margin to 8-0. A sacrifice fly from Marley Speer brought home Stokes for their final run.
Sheridan avoided the shutout at the bottom of the seventh as Kilburn laced an RBI single up the middle to score Kaylie Burrow from third.
The loss marked the end to the season for a school that had won four state titles in a row between 2016-19 prior to covid-19, but the future is bright for a program that will return its 25 underclassmen next season.
"They dominated and controlled the ballgame, but our kids didn't quit." Sheridan head coach Scott Hoffman said. "We may have run out of gas, but the truth is, we have mostly freshmen and sophomores on this team. For them to carry us this far in the playoffs says a lot. They all bought in and took us to the final four. What more could you ask for?'"
Sheridan finished the season 22-6.
Baseball
Marion 7, Sheridan 0
Marion first baseman Connor Taylor smashed a two-run first-inning double, and University of Missouri signee Gage Watson drove in three more runs as the Patriots eliminated Sheridan 7-0 in the state semifinals.
On the mound, Arkansas State commitment Chase Armstrong scattered five hits for the Patriots, with four strikeouts and four walks in a complete game shutout.
"We came in with high expectations and had some things not go our way along the way injury-wise and so forth, so we were constantly trying to plug holes." Sheridan head coach Mike Moore said. "Marion is a solid team with great pitching, great coaching, they run the bases exceptionally well and they put a lot of pressure on teams because of all those things. And when you do all those things well, you put yourself in position to win every game."
Fletcher Williams went 2-for-3 to deliver two of Sheridan's five hits, and Jarrett Atchley, Landon Feimster and Konner Canterbury contributed the other three hits for the Yellowjackets (21-11).
Gabe Kuttenkuler took the loss for Sheridan, going 4 2/3 innings, surrendering five earned runs and recording four strikeouts.
Marion (31-5) essentially tucked the game away in the bottom of the fifth inning with a rally as Matthew Kearney followed up a Taylor fly out by drawing a walk. Luke Bullins then popped out to the catcher and the next batter, Connor Brinkley, was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second base.
After a wild pitch by Kuttenkuler moved the runners forward a base, Kaleb Catt drew a bases-loaded walk before a double broke the game open for good for Marion, which will face Van Buren in next week's Class 5A championship game.