HORATIO - Austin Howard allowed just two hits, did not give up a walk and struck out nine as the Woodlawn Bears beat the cross-county rival Rison Wildcats, 10-0, for the Class 2A South Region Championship on Saturday at Horatio.
Woodlawn, 27-3, will take the South Region's no. 1 seed into this week's Class 2A State Tournament at Greenland as the Bears seek their third consecutive state baseball championship and the school's ninth overall.
Woodlawn is scheduled to play the Buffalo Island Central Mustangs, the no. 4 seed from the North Region, at 10 a.m. Thursday at Prairie Grove High School.
Buffalo Island Central enters the game with a 13-9 record overall. The Mustangs finished second in the 3-2A regular season conference race before falling to Riverside, 10-0, and Palestine-Wheatley, 11-4, last week's North Region Tournament to finish fourth.
Woodlawn and Buffalo Island Central did meet during the regular season with the Bears posting an 11-0 shutout on the road. Austin Howard and Grant Cowart combined to throw a no-hitter in that game.
Should the Bears win Thursday, they would face winner between Mansfield, the no. 2 seed from the West, and Sloane-Hendrix, the no. 3 seed from the Central, at 3 p.m. Friday at Greenland High School.
Bears Coach Tommy Richardson said he feels his team is starting to hit its stride heading into the state tournament. He said pitchers Austin Howard and Jase Bishop are both near the top of their games while Tate Hall and Brayden Jones are very reliable arms as well.
Offensively, Woodlawn had a total of 30 hits over the threegame regional tournament. Of those, four were homeruns while another four went for extra bases. Jones had homeruns against both Spring Hill and Murfreesoboro.
"I really, really like out defense," Richardson said in advance of the state tournament. "Our outfielders are really good. We've got some speed out there." Woodlawn did not have a...
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