RISON - If last week's state tournament performance is any indication, the Woodlawn Bears seem to be peaking at just the right time.
Combining solid pitching with some error-free defense and some firepower at the plate, Woodlanw invoked the 10-run rule against each of its opponents during last week's Class 2A State Baseball Tournament at Greenland High School.
By virtue of its 10-0 victory over the Cedar Ridge Timberwolves in Saturday's semifinal game, the Bears, the no. 1 seed from the South Region, will face the surprising Palestine-Wheatley Patriots, the no. 3 seed from the North Region, at 7 p.m. Friday, May 18, at Bear Stadium on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway for the Class 2A State Championship.
Going into last week's state tournament, Woodlawn Coach Tommy Richardson said he felt good about where his Bears were at both offensively and defensively. His hunch was spot on.
Other than the opener against the Buffalo Island Central Mustangs that lasted into the sixth inning, the Bears ended the other two games in the fifth using the 10-run rule. Woodlawn defeated Buffalo Island 12-1 in the opener on Thursday before hammering Mansfield 17-5 in the quarterfinals on Friday and shutting out Cedar Ridge 10–0 in the semifinals on Saturday.
Woodlawn outscored its opponents by a combined 39-6 during the tournament while out-hitting them by a 30-15 margin. And what Richardson said he was especially proud of was the fact that the Bears did not commit an error during the tournament.
"That's very big," he said of the error-less effort. "When you play clean and you don't make mistakes, that really makes it hard to beat you." Going into the tournament, Richardson said he was expecting to encounter the Riverside Rebels, which had the secondbest record of any team in the tournament with 23 wins.
However, Cedar Ridge, the no. 2 seed from the Central Region, pulled off a 13-10 upset ...
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