CONWAY – Steffen Fak hurled Fort Smith to the American Legion AAA state tournament championship game Sunday. Less than 24 hours later, Ben Brooks helped Sportsman win it.
The Mid-American Christian University signee gave up two hits over five innings as Fort Smith survived a stirring rally from Paragould to grab an 8-7 victory in 8 innings on a steamy Monday night at Bear Stadium on the University of Central Arkansas campus.
The win was Sportsman's second in as many days over their counterparts, who battled back from a huge deficit to send the game into extra innings. Fort Smith staved off elimination by claiming a 6-4 decision over Paragould behind Fak, who threw more than 100 pitches in a relief role to put his team back in the final.
In the rematch, it was Brooks' turn to do the heavy lifting.
The 6-0, 185-pound, dual-sport standout from Poteau, Okla., didn't give up his first hit until the fifth inning, which turned out to be his roughest of the game, but he kept Paragould's bats from doing any extensive damage in the winner-take-all decider.
"He just stepped up, as did so many other guys all week," said Fort Smith Coach Trey Prieur, who led his team to their first state championship in 2020. "Ben slid into home plate two games ago, and his shoulder was tight. And truthfully, I knew waking up [Monday], it all rested on that shoulder.
"If he woke up, and it was still tight, we weren't gonna have a chance. But he was able to get it loosened up and threw a great ballgame. If he was a little bit healthier, he probably could've gone a little bit longer, but he gave us exactly what we needed."
Brooks, who was named the tournament's most valuable player, tossed 80 pitches and went 2 of 2 from the plate with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored for Fort Smith, which pounded out 12 hits – nine of those came over the first three innings. Eli Caldarera, Logan Taylor and Reed Carroll all had two hits as well.
Still, Paragould made things interesting late.
Sportsman took a 7-3 lead into the sixth until a bout of wildness on the mound enabled Paragould to score four runs on one hit over the last two innings of regulation to tie the game. Paxton Pitts scored on a throwing error to put Fort Smith ahead in the eighth, and Carroll forced Reese Robinett into a game-ending double play to preserve the victory.
Fort Smith managed to climb out of an early two-run hole in the teams' previous meeting, but it jumped out to an early cushion in the rematch.
Brooks ripped a lead-off double to left field in the second, and Taylor sent him to third with a sharply-placed hit to right center field. Two batters later, Caldarera's single pushed Brooks home to give Sportsman a 1-0 lead.
Fort Smith extended its advantage in a big way in the top of the third.
The first four batters had hits to start in inning, with Carroll's RBI double pushing Sportsman's margin to 2-0. That hit also chased Paragould starting pitcher Tanner Duncan, who gave up 6 hits and struck out 2 on 47 pitches in 2 innings. But Brooks smacked the first pitch he saw from reliever Preston Watlington for a long two-run single. Brooks would later score on another single from Taylor before Calderera drilled a shot over the left-field wall for a two-run home that nearly hit the UCA scoreboard.
"Oh man, that was huge," Prieur said about scoring six runs in that third. "After getting those first four on, it seemed like it was rolling. And then we get down to the bottom of the lineup, and Eli hits the home run. We're like, 'Holy cow, we just scored six runs on that team.' "
Paragould, however, began chipping away at its hole in the fifth. A pair of walks put the first two runners on, with Lane England scoring on a throwing error to give his team their first run. Logan McIntyre and Robinett each had RBI hits to trim Fort Smith's lead to four.
Things got even more precarious for Sportsman in the sixth after Paragould pushed across two runs when a fly ball was dropped in the outfield with two outs. Paragould then scored runs on a walk and a hit batsman, both of which came with the bases loaded, to knot the game at 7-7.
But Fort Smith regrouped and answered just in time to win and move on to next week's Mid-South Regional in Alabama.
"Paragould is a great team," Prieur explained. "They're loaded man, they really are. They never gave up, but my guys found a way. Fort Smith is rich in tradition, and that first title was special, but we didn't get a chance to go to regionals during the covid year.
"But now, we get a chance to go and get that experience. This one is really, really special, and it means a lot to our area. We still take Legion baseball with pride."