Baseball in full swing across the nation
Diamond ’Hawks take 8/10
High school and college baseball are in full swing with the pros just getting to the end of spring training.
The local Blackhawks girls and boys programs are doing quite well with a number of young athletes making their presence felt. While on a high level, the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team is making national waves with a three-game pounding of nationally ranked No. 4 Kentucky.
The Wildcats were favored to take the series with the ’Hawks and boasted the National Pitcher of the Year in 6’11” flamethrower Sean Hjelle. The Hogs knocked him out of the game early and went on to post a 9-3 win on Friday. The threat of rain on Sunday forced a pre-ponement with the Hogs and Wildcats playing a doubleheader on Saturday.
The Razorbacks blasted 10 home runs in the twin bill, pounding the ’Cats 14-2 then 16-9 to rack up 39 runs over the three-game set. Kentucky was averaging allowing less than two runs a game before the blowouts at Baum Stadium (maybe we ought to call it Bomb Stadium).
Arkansas best hitter at present is Kasey Martin, a freshman hitting .393 to lead the team. After 20 games, the seventh best batter in the lineup is batting .333, with the overall team batting average an illustrious .327. Meanwhile the pitching staff has three pitchers with earned run averages under two runs per game. The team’s overall ERA is a little over two runs per game.
The Hogs had two games just before the Kentucky series with the less than popular Texas Longhorns coming to town for the first time since the ’90s. The ’Horns got hooked by scores of 13-4 and 7-5 with a loud and boisterous crowd on hand to cheer the Hogs.
A lot of baseball forecasters thought the Razorbacks could be a team on the verge of making a run at the top spot nationally this season. After the abysmal football season and aggravating basketball finish, the diamond Hogs are a welcome thought.
Arkansas returned a lot of pitching talent along with some good offense, and with the number of really good freshmen in the fold, things could get really interesting in 2018.
We will find out early. They took down the No. 4 Kentucky team last week and this week they head to play No. 2 Florida in the Sunshine State. If they could win the series or maybe even sweep the Gators, they will be well set to play another Top 10 team in Mississippi the week after this.
The last time I checked, the SEC had eight of the Top 20 teams in the U.S. which is why the SEC usually produces the NCAA champion at the end of the season. Maybe this year it will be Arkansas turn for the limelight in June.
New tiebreaker in the works?
The United States baseball minor leagues are often used for experimentation in rule changes or alterations in the way the game of baseball is played, at least professionally.
The games have been getting longer and longer over the years, and three hour games are not unusual with four hour games even occurring. Ways have been proposed to cut the time a little, such as timing the pitching the way basketball does with shot clocks to keep athletes from slowing down the games.
Beginning this year in the minors, if the game is still tied after nine innings, the 10th inning will begin with the last batter of the ninth inning to be placed on second base. This will make it much easier getting a run in to hopefully break a tie and prevent an 11th inning.
The rule change sounds reasonable and might one day make its way into the high school and college ranks.
Diamond ’Hawks take eight of 10 last week
Successful weeks by both the girls and boys diamond athletes have placed their respective records among the best in the state in 4A competition.
The girls won five games in a row last week before losing a tight 7-5 battle with 5A Batesville in the finals of the Ozark Invitational Tournament last Saturday. They won in a blowout of Gentry 13-12 then squeezed by Gravette in extra innings before clobbering Huntsville 18-0. They went to the Ozark Tournament last Friday/Saturday beating Salem 5-1 in the first round then bombing Tuckerman 12-4 in the semi-finals. They fell to 5A Batesville in the championship final 7-5 with a six-run second inning paving the way to a Pioneers’ victory.
The boys opened last week with a 10-0 thumping of West Fork followed by a 21-6 shellacking of Gentry. Huntsville got past the Blackhawks with a 7-5 decision but the ’Hawks finished the week successfully by whipping the Crossett Eagles 9-3 on Saturday.
While the girls appear to have the week off during the school break, the boys team will be playing three Missouri teams this week before resuming league play in the week to follow. After a non-conference game with Green Forest Monday, March 26, the ’Hawks will engage in conference battles with Elkins and Gravette on the Tuesday and Thursday to follow.
The girls, who are leading the 4A-3A-1 with a 5-0 mark, will be battling league foes Greenland, Elkins and Prairie Grove next week.
The current league standings are as follows:
4A-3A-1 Softball Conference standings
Pea Ridge Lincoln Gravette West Fork Prairie Grove Gentry Greenland Elkins
4A-1 Softball District overall
Pea Ridge Berryville Huntsville Lincoln Gravette Prairie Grove Gentry
4A Top 10 State records
Pottsville Warren Stuttgart Harrisburg Bauxite Pea Ridge Nashville 5-0 3-1 1-1 1-1 2-2 0-3 0-3 0-0
9-3 8-3 4-2 6-4 3-3 2-6 2-6
8-0 6-0 10-1 7-1 10-2 9-3 9-3 Arkadelphia Berryville Brookland
4A-3A-1 Baseball Conference standings
Elkins
Pea Ridge Shiloh Greenland Prairie Grove Lincoln Gravette Gentry West Fork
4A-1 Baseball District overall
Huntsville Pea Ridge Berryville Shiloh Prairie Grove Lincoln Gravette Gentry
4A Top 10 State records
9-3 8-3 5-2
2-0 1-0 1-0 3-1 1-1 1-1 0-1 0-2 0-3
5-1 7-2 6-4 4-3 5-4 4-5 2-5 1-7
Riverview Dardanelle Highlands
DeWitt Huntsville Nashville
Ozark
Pea Ridge Fountain Lake Southside
•••
Editor’s note: John McGee, an award-winning columnist, sports writer and art teacher at Pea Ridge elementary schools, writes a regular sports column for The Times. The opinions expressed are those of the author. He can be contacted through The Times at prtnews@nwadg. com.
5-0 7-1 7-1 6-1 5-1 9-2 8-2 7-2 7-2 3-1