WOODLAWN - Woodlawn will be looking to win its third consecutive Class 2A state baseball championship this week when the Bears meet the surprising Palestine-Wheatley Patriots at 7 p.m. Friday, May 19, at Bear Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
Arkansas PBS, formerly AETN, will be broadcasting all state championship baseball and softball games live, including the Woodlawn/Palestine-Wheatley game at 7 p.m. Friday, May 18. The game will also be available on YouTube about a week after the game. (For details, see story on page 10) The Bears, 30-3, rolled through the Class 2A State Tournament last week at Greenland High School invoking the 10run in each of their three victories, beating Buffalo Island Central 12-1 in the first round last Thursday, Mansfield 17-5 in the quarterfinals on Friday, and Cedar Ridge 10-0 in the semifinals on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Palestine-Wheatley, 15-9 overall, turned out to be the Cinderella team of the Class 2A State Tournament.
The Patriots, the no. 3 seed from the North Region, overcame a 1-0 deficit to score five runs over the final three innings to get past the scrappy Rison Wildcats, the no. 2 seed from the South, 5-1 in the opening round last Thursday.
Palestine-Wheatley then beat two no. 1 seeds to make the tournament finals. The Patriots upset the West's no. 1 seed and state tournament host, the Greenland Pirates, 6-4, in last Friday's quarterfinals, and then upended the Little Rock Episcopal Wildcats, the no. 1 seed from the Central Region, 8-3, during Saturday's first semifinal game.
The two teams faced one another on March 23 with the Bears winning 12-1 in a five-inning, neutral site game hosted by Baptist Prep in Little Rock. That victory was the start for what is now a 20–game win streak for the Bears.
Jase Bishop pitched a threehitter for Woodlawn in that meeting as the Bears had 12 hits against Palestine-Wheatlery. Those hits inc...
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