RISON - The Woodlawn Bears and Woodlawn Lady Bears are both headed to their respective Class 2A State Championship games after each knocked off their Riverside High School counterparts in the state tournament semifinals Saturday at Palestine-Wheatley High School. Hollis Holderfield had a two-out double in the top of the seventh to drive in Cash Hargis as the Bears edged the defending state champion Riverside Rebels, 3-2, in the first baseball semifinal on Saturday.Meanwhile, the Lady Bears made the most of their scoring opportunities before holding off the Riverside Lady Rebels, 8-4, in the second softball semifinal game Saturday afternoon.Weather permitting, the Bears will play the Palestine-Wheatley Patriots, the no. 4 seed from Region 3, at 10 a.m. Thursday at Majestic Park in Hot Springs. This will be the 14th time that the Woodlawn baseball program has made the state finals.The Lady Bears are set to take on the Tuckerman Lady Bulldogs, the no. 1 seed from Region 2, at 1 p.m. Thursday at Majestic Park in Hot Springs. This will be the second time the Lady Bears have made the state softball championship game after advancing to the Class 1A/2A state fastpitch finals in 2002. Woodlawn was one of the state’s first small school softball programs to transition from slowpitch to fastpitch softball.Here is a preview for each state title game:BaseballWoodlawn (28-6) is making its 14th trip to the state finals since 2007, and its first since 2024. The Bears have won nine state titles in their previous 13 trips to the championship game.After winning both the 8-2A regular season and district tournament championships, Woodlawn beat Sloane-Hendrix 11-1 in the opening round of the Class 2A State Tournament last Thursday before getting past Bigelow, 9-5, in the quarterfinals on Friday. Holderfield’s RBI double with two out in the top of the seventh lifted the Bears past Riverside 3-2 on Saturday...
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