AMERICAN LEGION AA STATE

Harrison caps undefeated weekend with title

HARRISON -- The Harrison McDonald's Big Macs finished up their championship in the American Legion AA State Baseball Tournament on Sunday by defeating Maumelle 8-2 in the title game on Jack Williams Field at the Community First Bank Sports Complex.

The championship is the second consecutive for the Big Macs and their in the last five years. Harrison went through the tourney 5-0 and outscored their opponents 50-17, being held under 10 runs just twice and both of those were Sunday.

AA Legion state tournament

At Harrison

SUNDAY’S RESULTS

Semifinals

Harrison 7, Sheridan 5

Maumelle 13, River Valley 7

Championship

Harrison 8, Maumelle 2

"Our offense really come through this weekend," said Harrison Coach Matt Rodden. "I knew our defense was going to be strong because it always is, and I had some concern about our pitching coming in, even though we did end up pitching pretty well. But our offense really showed up this weekend. It took any doubts away. If you average 10 runs a game, you should not get beat."

The Big Macs benefited from having at least one huge inning at the plate in every game, and usually those came in the first, second or third.

"That's not characteristic of our team, though," said Rodden. "We're normally pretty steady but for whatever reason this weekend, we would have a big inning or two in every game. And usually when that happened, you could see it take the wind out of the other team's sails. Then we would back that up with great pitching and defense all weekend. That's what always wins championships."

Harrison scored the first two runs of the championship when Nathan Kane walked, Hunter Humphrey reached an error and then both scored on a single by James Trammell in the top of the first inning.

But the big inning that basically deflated Maumelle's hopes was in the top of the third when Baker Wilson led off with a walk then Trammell was hit by a pitch before a two-out home run by Austin Armstrong increased Harrison's lead to 5-0.

With two out in the top of the sixth, Wilson singled and eventually scored on an error and the Big Macs' lead eventually reached 8-0 in the top of the fifth when Logan Schuh and Kane each had singles and both scored on single by Wilson and Trammell.

All eight of Harrison's runs were scored with two outs.

"That's one thing we talk about all the time, being great with two outs or with two strikes," said Rodden. "If you look at our scorecards from all five games, I bet most of our 50 runs came with two outs. These guys are just tough. They get up and just refused to get out."

Maumelle scored its only two runs of the contest in the bottom of the fifth. Jordan Burns and Ryan Hunter led off with back to back singles then both scored on a two-out single by Tanner Kirby, who led Maumelle's offense with two hits.

Maumelle loaded the bases loaded again in the bottom of the sixth, but Harrison managed to pitch its way out of that jam.

The Big Macs finished with 10 hits, two each by Kane, Wilson, Trammell and Schuh. Trammell and Armstrong each had three RBIs.

Hunter Marshall went 5 2/3 innings to pick up the victory, striking out out 3 and walking 1. Dylan Eddings finished off Maumelle in relief.

Harrison;203 120 0 -- 8 10 2

Maumelle;000 020 0 -- 2 7 2

Marshall, Eddings (6) and Schuh; Stricklin, Hunter (3), Post (5) and Culp. W -- Marshall. L -- Stricklin. HR -- Armstrong.

Sports on 07/28/2014

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