Lady Eagles face tough road to state success
It’s an homage to the high expectations at Vilonia when the Lady Eagles feel like a state semifinal loss to the eventual state champion is disappointing. Kevin Sullivan’s first four seasons atop the program have been remarkable: 2014, 24-7, Class 5A state runner-up; 2015, 28-4, state champs; 2016, 27-2, state champs; and 2017, 21-10, state semifinalist, falling to De Queen. The road to return to the University of Arkansas’ Bogle Park for the state championship game, though, is getting tougher. Expectations for 2018? “Who knows?” Sullivan said. “Two of the toughest teams in [Class] 5A (Greenbrier and Farmington) are both in our conference.” But count on the Lady Eagles to do all they can to get there. Vilonia has five returning senior starters: shortstop Callie Eary, who batted .389 last season with a .505 on-base percentage and 38 runs; second baseman Sydney Johnson, with a .379 batting average, 33 RBIs and 12 doubles; catcher Talyn Lawrence, with a .318; outfielder Faith Johnson, with a .341 and 19 runs; and pitcher Tori Wilbanks, with 15-5 and a 2.42 ERA. Eary will play collegiately for the University of Central Arkansas. Lawrence is headed to Arkansas State University; Sydney Johnson will go to Arkansas Tech University and Faith Johnson to the University of Arkansas at Monticello. Sullivan said he expects Eary to lead the Lady Eagles at the plate and in the field. She recorded a .960 fielding percentage as a junior. She and Kylee Linton bring the best speed, the coach said, and Johnson, who hit two home runs last season, should be among the best power hitters. Johnson has the best arm; Wilbanks and junior Gracie Kimbrell should provide the 1-2 punch on the mound, he said. So how do the Lady Eagles get back to Fayetteville? “We feel like we have a system in place that creates hardworking, unselfish kids who care about each other and want to win,” Sullivan said. “As long as we do that, I’ll consider us successful.” The major team strength, he said, will be senior leadership. “We have 10 seniors who love each other and don’t want to let each other down,” he said. Incongruently, a weakness will be inexperience. “While we have 10 seniors, we lost five starters from last year’s team,” Sullivan said. Last season, the Lady Eagles finished runner-up to their Faulkner County rival Greenbrier in the 5A West. In the state tournament at Sherwood, they beat Wynne, third seed from the East, in the opening round, 6-1; and Beebe, first from the Central, in the semifinals, 6-1, before falling to De Queen in the semis, 12-7. De Queen, top seed from the South, beat Valley View, first from the East, in the championship, 4-1. Among the games to watch, Sullivan said, will be at Greenbrier on April 24. The Faulkner County rivalry has moved to epic proportions in recent years. Two years ago, Vilonia knocked off Greenbrier in eight innings in the state-championship game, 5-4. Despite coming just short of qualifying for a fourth-consecutive state-championship appearance, expectations remain high for the Lady Eagles. The 5A West — which also includes Alma, Clarksville, Farmington, Greenbrier, Harrison, Maumelle and Morrilton — will test them, but the tough schedule should pay dividends in the postseason. The top four teams from the district tournament will move on to state. “We just hope to compete in our conference and make the state tournament,” Sullivan said. “Once you make the tournament, anything can happen. Our main goal this year is to be great, unselfish teammates who will fight for each other all year.”