Greenwood rolls to 6A championship game

GREENWOOD — The Greenwood Bulldogs will take their 23-game winning streak into the Class 6A state tournament baseball championship game after a dominating performance Saturday at Bulldog Field.

Greenwood got the bats going early behind a strong pitching performance from Arkansas signee Connor Noland to pull away with a 15-0 victory against Jonesboro in a semifinals game that lasted just five innings.

“We had a good feeling going into the day with Connor on the mound,” Greenwood coach Trey Holloway said. “We knew we needed to score just a couple runs. I didn’t think we would actually score 15. But we had a huge inning.”

The Bulldogs were able to jump out to a 2-0 lead after one inning of play after Peyton Holt, Noland and Colton Sagely all earned walks to load the bases and two scored on an error.

Greenwood (31-3) put the game well out of reach in the third inning, using nine hits to score 13 runs against Jonesboro (22-9).

Noland gave the Bulldogs a 5-0 lead when he hit a threerun home run. He later in the inning hit a two-run double to extend the lead out to 120. Jake Smith capped off the scoring with a two-run single to push the advantage out to 15-0.

“They got great kids that are hard workers,” Jonesboro coach Mark Dobson said. “They are a really solid team. They are really impressive all the way around. They did a great job. The bottom line is they are pretty good.”

Noland, who led Greenwood’s football team to a state championship in the fall, picked up the win pitching five innings while allowing one hit, one walk and striking out 12.

“He is an great player as a quarterback, as a pitcher or hitting,” Holloway said. “It doesn’t matter. When the game is on the line, we want him at the plate and on the mound. He is a warrior at heart out there.”

Jonesboro was able to get a runner on third base after opening the game with a leadoff hit from Zane Ryne Neves. He advanced after two wild pitches, but Noland struck out the side to end the inning to strand the runner.

Noland after that didn’t allow another base runner until the fifth inning when Jacob Wheatherley was able to draw a walk.

“Early on he threw those 25 pitches in the first and really battled,” Holloway said. “He settled in after that. It’s hard to come out with the nerves. But I thought he did a really good job.”

Playing his final home game at Greenwood was something that was on Noland’s mind early.

“I was very emotional today,” Noland said. “Usually I’m pretty calm. But after the first inning, I was showing my emotions trying to put on a show for these guys and the awesome crowd.”

Greenwood will look to win its first state championship since 2006 next week when it faces Benton at Baum Stadium.

“We came out here to prove a point,” Noland said. “I think we showed that today. We came out here, competed and put up some numbers.”

Jonesboro has its season end after beating Jacksonville 10-0 to advance to the semifinals in the tournament.

“We have gone through a lot of stuff this year,” Dobson said. “I’m really proud to be one of the last four teams to walk off the field. I’ll remember this season for a long time.”

BENTON 7, SHERIDAN 4

Sheridan, the defending state champions, got the bats going early, jumping out to a 2-0 lead after the first inning of play.

Benton (22-11) rallied after that to pull away and advance to the championship game by scoring four runs in the final two innings.

Sheridan (28-6) held a 4-2 lead after three innings in Saturday’s game at Bulldog Field. Benton plated a run in the fourth then used a twohit, two-run frame in the sixth to take a 5-4 advantage.

The Panthers then added two additional runs in the seventh inning to help put the game away.

Wes Guerra, Logan Black and Drew Chilton helped lead the Benton offense by each scoring a team-high two runs.