NORTH LITTLE ROCK — If the pattern holds, the Bryant Hornets should win the Class 7A State baseball championship this year.
Of course, there’s no guarantee of that but the Hornets did win the title in 2010 and 2012 and this is, after all, 2014.
And, interestingly enough, in both ’10 and ’12, the State tourney, prior to the finals, was held at Burns Park in North Little Rock. That just happens to be where Bryant will begin their quest today at noon against the Fort Smith Southside Rebels.
(In 2011, the tourney was in Fort Smith and Bryant wound up State runner-up; last year, it was held in Rogers and the host Mounties upset the Hornets in the semifinals.)
Southside, the third seeded team from the Central Conference, edged Rogers on Friday in the first round of this year’s State. Bryant is the second-seeded team from the West after winning the 7A/6A-South Conference with a 13-1 record, 26-2 overall (or 30-2 if you count all nine wins in Florida as varsity contests).
“We’ve been practicing like it’s just another game,” said head coach Kirk Bock on Friday before he knew which opponent his team would face on Saturday. “We’ve got three more games.
“We’ve just been working on the fundamentals of baseball, running and catching and hitting,” he noted. “If we do those things then we should be okay.
“With these kids and every group I’ve had since I’ve been here, I don’t think they add extra pressure to themselves because it’s a State tournament or anything else,” noted the coach, who’s led the Bryant program since 2009. “Probably every kid in the program has won a State championship or a Regional championship — some of them have even won World Series. I think they’re mature in that aspect of the game. I don’t think they’re going to be in awe of the State tournament.”
Bryant enters Saturday’s contest on a 21-game winning streak.
Here is the bracket for the tournament updated with scores from Friday:
CLASS 7A STATE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
At Burns Park, North Little Rock
Friday, May 16
Game 1 — North Little Rock (Central 5) 3, Bentonville (West 4) 0
Game 2 — Little Rock Central (Central 4) 3, Springdale Har-Ber (West 5) 0
Game 3 — Fort Smith Southside (Central 3) 4, Rogers (West 6) 3
Game 4 — Cabot (Central 6) 4, Rogers Heritage (West 3) 1
Saturday, May 17
Game 5 — Conway (Central 1) vs. North Little Rock, 5 p.m.
Game 6 — Fayetteville (West 1) vs. Little Rock Central, 7:30 p.m.
Game 7 — Bryant (West 2) vs. Fort Smith Southside, 12 p.m.
Game 8 — Little Rock Catholic (Central 2) vs. Cabot, 2:30 p.m.
Monday, May 19
Game 9 — Game 5 winner vs. game 7 winner, 12 p.m.
Game 10 — Game 6 winner vs. game 8 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Championship
At Baum Stadium, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Friday, May 23
Game 11 — Game 9 winner vs. game 10 winner, 4:30 p.m.
