Parkers Chapel advances to state championship in baseball.
PANGBURN - For the first time since 2011, Parkers Chapel will be playing for a state championship.
Carson Worthey hit a two-run homer and drove in four runs, as Parkers Chapel knocked off Palestine-Wheatley 9-5 in the semifinals of the 2A State Tournament Saturday.
The state championship game will be a battle of 7-2A East rivals with the Trojans facing Spring Hill, the defending 2A state champions, next week at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
The Bears upended Conway Christian 7-3 to advance.
The meeting will be the fourth this season between the schools with the Trojans having won two of the first three games, including a 14-4 win last weekend in the regional final.
“We’re happy to be headed back to Baum,” said Parkers Chapel coach Mark Looney. “We’ve been scoring a lot of runs. Our pitchers have been throwing strikes and been playing good defense. We took down a hot team today. I‘m proud of my team and their mental toughness. They’re playing their best baseball.”
After falling behind 1-0, the Trojans (27-7), the South’s top seed, scored the game’s next seven runs to take a 7-1 lead.
Worthey’s aforementioned two-run shot in the sixth made it 9-1 before the Trojans survived a four-run seventh by the Patriots.
Worthey went 2-for3 with a walk and three runs scored in addition to his four RBIs.
The senior was also the winning pitcher, allowing one unearned run in three innings of work. He allowed four hits, walked three and struck out three.
After a three-hit, fourRBI day in the quarterfinal win over McCrory, Jordan Arrington went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Reid Cates went 1-for3 with a walk and a run scored, while Trace Shoup finished 1-for-4 with a triple and an RBI for the
Trojans.
Reece Griffin was 1-for3 with a walk, Thomas Hardy scored a pair of runs, going 1-for-1 with a walk, and Michael Brotherton scored three runs while drawing a walk.
Brotherton, who got the final two outs in Friday’s win over McCrory, finished off the Patriots by working the final four innings in relief.
He allowed four hits and four runs while walking one and striking out two.
The games between the Bears and Trojans have been filled with plenty of drama, and Looney is expecting the same next week.
“We know them really well, and they know us really well,” Looney said. “It’s going to be a heck of a game to watch.”