Championship Weekend: 3A Preview

May 17, 2017

By: Zac Bottoms
Arkansas Scouting Director

The 3A State Championship Game will be Friday, May 19^th, game time is 12:30 PM . The game will be between Greenland HS and Harding Academy, as they earned that right winning last week at the 3A State Tournament hosted by Harrison Parks and Recreation.

The first preview we worked through is the 7A State Championship:

Greenland

Road to Baum: The Pirates earned a No.1 Seed from Region 1 by defeating Lavaca in the Regional Finals. They played the No.4 Smackover Buckaroos in the first round of the state tournament. They came out hot offensively scoring 14 runs in the first two innings, the coaching staff made a move to conserve pitching, and won what looked like a slugfest 20-10 in 5 innings. They continued their offensive onslaught as they put up 10 runs against Manila, and cruised to a 10-3 win. A confident offense and a rested pitching pitch staff was enough of an advantage to defeat Riverside 9-5 in the semi-final to punch their ticket

On the Mound: Greenland is a deep team all the way around receiving solid production from four pitchers. 2017 Michael McAdoo, 2018 Austin Anderson, 2018 Hunter Cartwright and 2018 Michael McAdoo. Are one of the season the Pirates have won 11 straight contest, their last loss was April 14^th. To navigate the Harding Academy offense, it may take a combination of the four pitchers to produce a win.

Offensively: Similar to as they are on the mound, Greenland has received solid production from multiple players. Look for 2017 Blake Hatch, 2018 Chandler Alanis, 2018 Hunter Cartwright, 2017 Michael McAdoo, 2018 Austin Anderson, and 2018 Will Overton, have been a force in postseason play averaging over 10 runs a game during the district, regional, and state tournament.

X Factor: Greenland’s High School Baseball field is 5 miles from Baum Stadium. This program has a constant presence in the stadium, and as a Greenland Alum, I understand how much a State Championship would mean to the players and coaching staff. The game is scheduled for a 12:30 start with Harding Academy traveling across the state, I imagine the crowd will be pro-Greenland and if the game remains close, the crowd could play a factor in the overall outcome.

Harding Academy

Road to Baum: The Wildcats defeated Mayflower in their Regional Championship to earn a No.1 seed. They defeated Clinton 10-1 in the first round of the State Tournament with a complete team win. Moving on to Saturday, they defeated a scrappy Charleston team 17-7 in 5 innings of play. 2018 CIF Seth Morgan went 3 for 4 with 4 RBIS and 2 runs scored, to pace them offensively. The semi-final game matched up with regional opponent Bald Knob. They defeated Bald Knob 10-3, 2018 RHP Peydon Harlow picked up his second win on the day, with a steady performance which allowed the offensive time to pound away and score 10 runs.

On the mound: 2018 RHP Peydon Harlow, is their guy. He picked up two wins in the regional tournament and two wins in the state tournament. Harlow is a 6-foot-3 180-pound right-hander with a large frame and projectable build. He commands the strike zone with a fastball of 84-87 mph and compliments it with a solid breaking ball with 11/5 action. He has attacked the strike zone consistently this spring with a 4:1 strike out to walk ratio.

Offensively; Harding Academy is dynamic offensively receiving production from all 9 spots in the lineup. The table is set by 2018 MIF Pate Fullerton and 2018 MIF Dalton Koch at the 1, and 2 spot in the lineup. The two have combined for 53 hits and 46 runs on the season. As they go the offense as followed. That has resulted in a team hitting .340 on the season, leading to an impressive record of 31-6.

X Factor: The majority of the press for this group is for Fullerton, Harlow, and Koch. Don’t sleep on fellow underclassmen CIF/OF Timmy Stewart and INF/RHP Seth Morgan, as they have provided depth and consistency throughout the lineup all season. Look for either of these players to come up with a big hit if Harding is going to win a State Championship.

Championship Weekend: 3A Preview

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