Tigers Place Second In District Tournament

Sophomore Ty Tice Tosses Complete Game Shutout

OZARK — The Prairie Grove Tigers ( 19-5) placed second at the 4A-1 district tournament championship with a 5-0 loss to Shiloh Christian on Monday.

The Tigers’ only loss in conference play also came against Shiloh Christian in the regular season. Prairie Grove advanced by defeating the Gentry Pioneers in a 1-0 semifinal pitching duel played Saturday at Ozark. Having already secured a bid to the regional tournament with their second-place finish in the 4A-1 conference race, the Tigers gave themselves a chance to battle for the top seed.

Despite tallying just six hits, Tiger coach Mitch Cameron was still pleased with the way his ball club swung the sticks against Gentry.

“It was frustrating for us on offense, but it wasn’t because we didn’t swing the bat well,” Cameron said, adding, “We squared the bat up and hit the ball hard, they (Gentry) just made the right adjustments and played really good defense.”

What the Tigers lacked in offensive production, they made up for in spades on the pitching mound. Sophomore Ty Tice tossed a complete game shutout, allowing just four hits, while recording 10 strikeouts and two base-on-balls.

“Ty did a heckuva job for us, he threw a lot of strikes, stayed down in the zone and only walked two batters, which is what we’ve been preaching all season,” Cameron said.

With two outs in the fourth inning, Prairie Grove got their only (and winning) run after Dakota Daniels doubled home Nick Sugg. Daniels and Keelon Henderson led Prairie Grove at the plate, with both hitters finishing 2-for-3, with a double each. Jon Halbert and Landon West added a hit apiece to the Tigers’ six hits.

Gentry moved the tying run into scoring position in both the sixth and seventh innings, but each time Tice was able to work out of the jam, improving his record to 2-0 on the season.