KENNEDY, ARMOREL
rip Taylor in six innings for 1A title.
FAYETTEVILLE — Armorel finally broke through in its third consecutive baseball state final appearance.
Senior Ashton Kennedy limited Taylor to two hits Friday in a 10-0 victory in the Class 1A state championship game at Baum Stadium.
Kennedy threw 64 pitches over six innings and held Taylor (21-9) hitless over the first four innings to earn the victory. The shutout was Armorel’s third in four state tournament games.
“Everything was working for me today,” said Kennedy, who was named the game’s Most Valuable Player. “I was hitting my spots. To be honest, I could just pitch it anywhere. My defense was there behind me all day. I could trust them with anything.”
Armorel (23-9), which won its third state championship, gave Kennedy all the support he needed with seven runs in the first three innings. The Tigers also benefited from six Taylor errors to claim the runrule victory.
“We picked the wrong day to have a bad day,” Taylor Coach Robby Frizzell said. “That’s not a good reflection of our team. For whatever reason, we weren’t there today.”
Nash Winters led Armorel’s 13-hit attack, going 4 for 4 with 2 RBI. Winters’ RBI single in the sixth inning drove in Payton Lannon with the game’s final run. Lannon went 3 for 4.
“Nash really stepped up and swung it today,” Armorel Coach Charlie Brown said. “He brought it.”
Brown said the experience of reaching the final each of the past three seasons was a factor in the team being ready to play in the moment Friday.
“I think that made a big difference,” Brown said. “Last year we got here and got beat and the seniors coming back, it hurt them. They worked tremendously hard to get back here.”
Armorel seized control of the game in the second and third innings, scoring six runs. That included three on one play where a single and three Taylor errors were huge factors.
After a walk and hit-by-pitch put two runners on, Winters singled to left. Andrew Lennon scored on the hit, but Dominieko Sorrentino and Winters also came around to score on the same play when the ball got away from the Taylor outfielder and the Tigers threw away the ball twice.
That was all the run support Kennedy needed. Taylor did not get a hit until Austin Morgan doubled off the rightfield wall in the fourth inning. Jordan Vaughn had the other hit in the fifth but was thrown out trying to steal second base.
“Kennedy was nails out there today,” Brown said. “He’s got four pitches and he used them all.
“I’m just really proud for the seniors. We saved our best for last.”