Familiar foes battle for 7A title

CONWAY -- Noel Boucher has been around long enough that one might expect that the Conway baseball coach has seen it all.

And then came the first round of the Class 7A State Tournament when the Wampus Cats scored the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning on the most unlikely way possible.

"We won on an infield fly. ... I've never seen anything like that," Boucher said. "In fact, I've never even heard of anything like that. And we've watched a little bit of ball around here."

Conway (23-7) did not take an easy route to the Class 7A state championship game against Bryant (30-2). After surviving a 1-0 victory over Springdale in the first round, the Wampus Cats rallied from three-run deficits to defeat both Bentonville in the quarterfinals and Catholic in the semifinals to earn their way into today's title game.

While Conway went through some bizarre events to get to today's 5 p.m. game at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville, there is nothing strange about seeing Conway and Bryant in a postseason showdown. Conway defeated Bryant in the 2011 title game. Bryant earned a state semifinal victory over Conway on its way to the 2014 championship. The two teams have also played twice this season in 7A-Central Conference play. Conway won the first meeting 4-0. Bryant won the rematch 2-1.

"We've played enough over the the last couple of years that there isn't going to be a lot of surprises," Boucher said. "I don't think they're going to put in some super-duper trick play that's going to get us. I know we're not. ... We're going to try to play good solid baseball and have fun doing it."

Bryant Coach Kirk Bock says the two teams mirror each other.

"They do the fundamental things right," Bock said of Conway. "And any time you face a fundamentally sound team, it makes it tough on you. And on the flip side, I think we'll be tough on them. We do the same things that they do."

Bryant will send senior Zach Jackson to the mound against Conway for the third time this season. Jackson is 8-1 with a 0.44 earned run average. His one loss came against Conway.

Boucher will counter with either senior Colin Cahill (7-1, 1.66) or senior Matt Strickland (5-2, 1.59). Cahill was on the mound for both games against Bryant.

Cahill, an Arkansas State signee, has fully recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered in 2014.

"He's healthy and he's a year older," Boucher said. "I think in a weird sense it wasn't a bad thing he went through that because it gave him some resiliency, it gave him some mental toughness. It's paid off. He looks really good. But it was a struggle last year."

Both teams' lineups are dotted with solid hitters. Bryant holds a team batting average of .359; Conway is hitting. .309.

The winner of today's game is likely the one that can avoid mistakes.

"They are a lot like we are," Jackson said. "I've just got to place my pitches where their bats won't be. We have one of the best defenses in the state, so I'm not worried about that at all. When they hit it, I expect to get an out or a double play. My guess is that whoever flinches first will take the loss."

Sports on 05/20/2016