Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Victory sweet for Greenland’s Anderson
GREENLAND — Austin Anderson didn’t have to change up his pregame meal due to Friday’s 10 a.m. start.
“Cinnamon rolls. I have to eat cinnamon rolls every game day,” Anderson said.
The Greenland junior stuck it to Paris as a pitcher and batter during a 12-2 mercy rule win in the first round of the 3A-1 North Regional Tournament. The Pirates play Charleston at noon today in the semifinals.
A right-hander, Anderson pitched five shutout innings and was 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBIs and three runs scores. He scattered three hits and struck out six, including five swinging, while walking none. After giving up a leadoff single on a grounder through the left side of the infield, Anderson retired 12 of the next 13 batters to give Greenland (22-8) plenty of time to build a commanding 7-0 lead against the Eagles (8-17).
“I was trying to get ahead by throwing first-pitch strikes, just like coach always says,” Anderson said. “Pound the zone, good things happen. And it doesn’t hurt when you have run support like I did today.”
That support began immediately thanks to Chandler Alaniz, who was 3-for-3 with a walk and four runs scored. The junior led off the first, third and fifth with singles and scored in each of those innings.
“When he gets on base, he’s a got so much speed that he’s always has a good chance to score,” said Greenland coach Will McGinnis. “He’s been a spark-plug for us all year and he did it today in a big game for us. Big-time players step up in big-time games.”
Alaniz scored on a fielder’s choice and Anderson singled and scored to spot the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Alaniz singled and scored on an error in the third and Luke Osburn’s RBI double pushed the lead to 4-0 in the fourth. Senior Michael McAdoo, who was 2-for-4 with two runs, hit an RBI double to highlight a three-run fifth inning.
Five more runs in the sixth ended the game early. Tworun singles by Anderson and Osburn and an RBI single by McAdoo accounted for the offense in the inning.
Greenland won the 3A-1 Conference Tournament to earn the league’s No. 1 seed. McGinnis said he “feels good” that his team is peaking at the right time.
“We’re rolling. Playing the game like we’re supposed to play it right now,” McGinnis said. “Just got to continue to do that. I tell our kids after every win to stay humble. Tomorrow’s a new day. We don’t need to look back at what we did today. We need to come out and take care of business again tomorrow.”
JESSIEVILLE 3, ELKINS 2
Jessieville scored three late runs, including the game-winner in the seventh inning to knock off the No. 2 seed Elks.
Trey Vance and Colten Lewis had RBIs for Elkins.
Jessieville will take on Atkins at 2:30 p.m. in the semifinals.
SOFTBALL PARIS 4, ELKINS 1
The fourth-seeded Lady Eagles (6-13) pulled off the first upset of the 3A-1 North Regional by defeating the top-seeded Lady Elks (12-14).
Sydney Ward’s RBI single put Paris ahead in the top of the third before Elkins answered to tie the score at 1-1 on Hannah Hurst’s two-out, RBI double in the bottom of the inning. But Hannah Brewton broke the tie with a bases loaded base hit in the sixth. In the seventh, Paris added a pair of insurance runs on RBI singles by Olivia Henderson and Macy Harrison, who had three hits.
Hurst’s hit was one of only two allowed by Ward, a sophomore right-hander who struck out five and walked three to record the win for Paris.
“She filled it up and kept us off-balanced,” said Elkins coach Tieler Driscoll. “We just couldn’t get anything going off her and couldn’t quite capitalize on the opportunities that we did have.”
It was only the second Class 3A team Elkins had faced as it played in the 3A/4A-1 combined district during the regular season. The competition helped the Lady Elks win the 3A-1 Conference Tournament and earn the No. 1 seed from the league. They started only one senior, so the future looks bright with several underclassmen — such as sophomore pitcher Sophia Hollingsworth — playing key roles this season.
“Our record looked a little off, but we felt like we were good still,” Driscoll said. “And we showed it last weekend at the district tournament, we just couldn’t get our bats going today.”