It’s a big week for Greenwood High School baseball as the Diamond ‘Dogs are the host team for the 6A state tournament beginning on Thursday. More importantly, the Bulldogs are the team to beat after winning the 6A West conference tournament last week, defeating Sheridan in the finals.
Greenwood (29-3) and Sheridan (26-5) are by far the two best teams in Class 6A, based on their won-loss records. They are also on opposite sides of the bracket and are likely on a collision course for a rematch in the state championship game next weekend at Fayetteville’s Baum Stadium.
Both teams must win two games in the state tournament to reach the finals. But while both squads have a first-round bye and won’t play until Friday, the Bulldogs appear to be on the tougher side of the bracket, which also includes Jonesboro (21-8) with the state’s third best record in Class 6A.
Greenwood also now has a 21-game winning streak and must extend that to 24 games to capture its first state title since 2006. The Bulldogs have won three state titles in school history, but are yet to win one since moving up to Class 6A in 2012.
The Diamond ‘Dogs just completed a three-game sweep of Lake Hamilton, El Dorado, and Sheridan in the conference tournament starting on April 28th. During that stretch, GHS pitching allowed no earned runs over 20 innings, including two shutouts, while the offense banged out 24 hits, scoring 24 runs.
Sheridan
After hosting and winning their first two league tournament games, the second-seeded Bulldogs traveled last Saturday to meet the top-seeded Yellowjackets. Neither team used its top pitcher, presumably to keep the opposition from facing their best arm until a possible meeting in the state finals.
GHS Head Coach Trey Holloway called on Landry Jurecka to start the game, and the coach got a stellar performance from the freshman transfer from Alma. Jurecka tossed a seven-inning complete game, yielding no runs on five hits, while pitching around three GHS fielding errors.
Not only did Jurecka give no runs, but also issued no walks and had zero strikeouts, in a very odd pitching line. Sheridan hitters made plenty of contact, but none of it damaging. He gave up two hits in the second inning and two more in the fourth, but got double plays in both frames.
Sheridan’s final hit came in the sixth inning, but the Yellowjackets never mounted a serious scoring threat. They had only one runner to reach third base, in the second inning.
Most of the GHS offense came in one frame – the third – after the Bulldogs scored the game’s first tally in the second inning with the help of a pair of Sheridan miscues. Connor Noland reached on an infield error, advanced on a hit by Brandon Woolsey and a fielder’s choice, before scoring on yet another error.
Leading 1-0 in the top of the third, the Bulldogs took advantage of a leadoff walk to Chance Eoff and another infield error on a hard-hit ball by Jackson Webb. Both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Cooper Passmore. Peyton Holt then hit an infield single to short, scoring Eoff.
Webb remained at second with one out, with Holt then at first. Both runners moved up a spot when Connor Noland flied to right field for the second out of the inning. Brandon Woolsey then singled home both teammates with a groundball hit to left, making the score 4-0.
But the Bulldogs weren’t done yet. Colton Sagely singled and Landry Jurecka reached on another Sheridan error, allowing one more run to score, making it 5-0.
The Bulldogs had only five hits in the game, but took full advantage of Sheridan’s four fielding errors. None of Greenwood’s five runs were earned.
Woolsey and Sagely had two hits each with Holt picking up the other knock. All five hits were singles. Woolsey had two runs batted in and Holt had one. No Bulldogs’ player scored more than one run.
El Dorado
A five-run first inning was all pitcher Connor Noland needed last Thursday in beating the Wildcats 10-0 in six innings. The game was played on the GHS campus under a mostly cloudy sky.
Greenwood’s best pitcher, and one of the top hurlers in the state across all classifications, Noland completed six innings before the game was called due to the 10-run mercy rule. He fanned 12 Wildcats’ hitters while giving up two hits and walking none in the shutout win.
The Bulldogs added a single run in the third and sixth innings, and three runs in the fifth. The GHS defense was perfect behind Noland while the offense had 10 hits in backing up their ace.
Outfielder Colton Sagely, recently returned from an injury, was the batting star for Greenwood, going four-for-four with a pair of doubles, an RBI, and three runs scored.
Sagely was part of Greenwood’s first three scoring rallies, with a double in the first inning, a single in the third, and the walk-off double in the sixth scoring Greenwood’s 10th and final run.
Landry Jurecka had two hits, both doubles, and three RBIs. Brandon Woolsey also had a hit and two RBIs. Peyton Holt, Jackson Webb, and Cooper Passmore all had singles.
Lake Hamilton
Early scoring was the order of the day for Greenwood against the Wolves on April 28th in the conference tournament opener. The Bulldogs easily rolled to a 9-2 victory behind the pitching of Landry Jurecka, who got the complete game victory.
The Bulldogs plated three runs in the first and five more in the second for an 8-0 lead. Greenwood’s final tally came in the sixth, while Lake Hamilton scored solo runs in the sixth and seventh, neither of which were earned. Both teams made three errors in the field. Three GHS runs were also unearned.
Jurecka fanned seven Wolves’ hitters and issued no walks. After an error, a double, and a hit batsman loaded the bases in the top of the Lake Hamilton first inning, Jurecka wriggled off the hook with a strikeout, an infield popup, and a ground ball out, leaving all three runners stranded.
He then fanned the next five hitters he faced and retired the side in order in the second, third, fourth, and fifth innings. GHS errors in the sixth and seventh aided the Wolves in scoring their two runs.
Offensively, shortstop Peyton Holt led the team with three hits, including a double, an RBI, and two runs scored. Colton Sagely shared the offensive spotlight with Holt, rapping a pair of hits and driving home four runs. Connor Noland also had a hit and RBI, as did Jackson Webb.
Sagely’s two-out, two-run double was the key hit in the first inning for Greenwood. Sagely and Holt both had run-scoring singles in Greenwood’s five-run second inning.
6A State
The state tournament starts on Thursday this week with four games at Bulldogs field. Four more quarterfinals’ games follow on Friday, including Greenwood’s 3:00 p.m. contest against the winner of Thursday’s Searcy-Texarkana matchup.
If the Bulldogs survive the quarterfinals on Friday, they will play either El Dorado, Jacksonville, or Jonesboro in the state semi-finals at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The surviving two teams, probably Greenwood and Sheridan, will then meet in the state finals at Baum Stadium on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville the following weekend.
To keep his players sharp, Coach Holloway scheduled a home game this past Tuesday with Class 7A Bentonville, but results were not available at press time. The Tigers are a four-seed in the 7A state tournament and will play North Little Rock on Thursday.