Fort Smith Legion teams set for state tourney

Their season was in jeopardy earlier this spring and there’s no regional tournament or World Series, but Fort Smith Sportsman is ready to compete for an American Legion AAA state baseball title this week.

The tournament, which includes 15 teams, begins today with games at both Bryant and Sheridan.

Sportsman coach Trey Prieur said his players, who had college and high school seasons canceled because of the covid-19 pandemic in the spring, were elated just to be back on the field. It didn’t matter that the big postseason tournaments were canceled in early May.

“You could just tell what it meant to them just to be able to practice,” Prieur said. “Then when we started playing we could tell they felt fortunate to be back out there.”

Prieur said there were no cancellation of games because of the virus this season, but coaches took extra safety precautions by sanitizing dugouts and equipment. He also limited scheduling teams that would require overnight hotel stays.

The Sportsman have only played a couple of the other teams in the state tournament field because of the limited travel, but it’s been the same for all teams, Prieur said. That’s why the tournament bracket was done with a blind draw.

The Sportsman (21-7), who return a half-dozen players from last year’s third-place finisher, earned a firstround bye and will play the Little Rock-Lake Hamilton winner at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Bryant. The tournament was initially to be played at UCA and Hendrix College, but with those facilities shut down at both colleges because of the pandemic, Bryant and Sheridan stepped up to serve as co-hosts.

The championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. next Tuesday at Sheridan. An if-necessary game could follow.

Fort Smith edged Russellville 5-4 in 10 innings in its regular-season finale on Friday.

Prieur, whose team for many years was Fort Smith Kerwins, said his team relies on pitching and defense, but can also score runs at times.

Van Buren’s Dakota Peters, a Connors State signee, is a big run producer in the middle of the lineup for the Sportsman. Charleston’s Braydon Ross, Braidan Partin, who finished his freshman year at Connors State, and Jeff Carver, a lefthander from LeFlore, Okla., have all been solid on the mound, Prieur said.

“Ross won a couple of big ballgames for us,” Prieur said. “He came in at Bartlesville in the bottom of the seventh with the winning run on second and struck out the next three.

Fort Smith Forsgren (15-10-1) will serve as a co-host for the AA state tournament, which begins Wednesday,

along with Jacksonville. Games will be played at recently renovated Forsgren Field and Hunts Park.

Forsgren opens play at 3 p.m. Wednesday against Mountain Home in the eight-team tournament. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday or Monday at Jacksonville.

Forsgren dropped its regular-season finale 6-4 to their AAA counterparts on Thursday.

Forsgren coach Shea Hamilton has relied heavily on the righty-lefty combination of Parker Wiehunt (Fort Smith Southside) and Logan Taylor (Alma) on the mound.

“They are completely different pitchers,” Hamilton said. “Parker throws quite a bit harder and has a good breaking ball. Logan throws it over the plate, any pitch, any count.

“We’ve pitched Logan against some of the toughest teams and they just have a hard time timing him up. He’s the king of pop-ups and roll-overs.”

Eli Riechert and Eduardo Sanchez have been a strong 1-2 punch in the lineup. Riechert, a rising senior at Fort Smith Southside, patrols center field most of the time and has an on-base percentage of .539. Sanchez, who will be a senior at Howe, Okla., has played several different spots around the infield and has a robust .463 batting average.