Harding Academy cashes in miscues
FAYETTEVILLE — Harding Academy took advantage of six Greenland errors, and junior Peydon Harlow tossed a five-hitter to lead the Wildcats to a 4-0 victory for the Class 3A state baseball title Friday at Baum Stadium.
Harlow complemented the complete-game victory with 1 of 4 Harding Academy hits and 2 RBI in earning MVP honors.
Harding Academy Coach Shane Fullerton said Harlow’s performance was no shock.
“He’s done it for a number of years,” said Fullerton, whose team finished the season with a 12-game winning streak and claimed its third state baseball title. “He’s a very talented athlete and a very talented pitcher. That’s exactly what we expected of him today, and he delivered.”
The 6-3 right-hander scattered 5 hits — just 1 for extra bases — struck out 4 and did not walk a batter. Greenland (27-9) put runners in scoring position twice against Harlow, but the Pirates stranded a runner at third in the first, and runners at second and third in the fifth.
Harlow’s RBI single was part of a 2-run third inning for Harding Academy (32-5) that was aided by 4 of Greenland’s 6 errors.
Harlow said he and his teammates felt nerves Thursday, but they were gone by game time.
“When we got here, we were all calm,” Harlow said. “It was a bunch of fun for us. It was a big momentum thing when we scored our first run. It just fell into place for us.”
Harlow added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. Teammate Griffin Metheny added another sacrifice fly in the sixth, which also was aided by a Greenland error.
Fullerton was pleased his team was opportunistic.
“We took advantage of a couple of mistakes,” Fullerton said. “But we took advantage of a couple mistakes by a really good Greenland team. I’m really proud of our kids for capitalizing.
“We felt good about it from the first inning. I think of our first six outs, we hit five balls pretty hard. So we were feeling good about that. But you need them to fall to win championships. Good things have got to happen, and they started happening.”
The Pirates’ six errors led to three unearned runs.
Freshman third baseman Luke Osburn went 2 for 2 with a pair of infield singles for the Pirates.
Junior Austin Anderson allowed 4 runs (1 earned) on 4 hits in 5 innings for Greenland. He walked two and did not strike out a batter.
Pirates Coach Will McGinnis said getting the opportunity to play in Baum Stadium is special.
“I wish the end result could be better,” said McGinnis, whose team had an 11-game winning streak snapped. “I feel for all these kids. They wanted it so bad. I told them oftentimes the scoreboard doesn’t define a champion. They are winners in my book.
“We made some great plays early. Bottom line, they hit the ball with runners in scoring position.”