FORT SMITH -- Confidence was high for Conway first baseman Will Thompson stepping up to the plate Sunday with the bases loaded and a chance to win the Katzer American Legion baseball tournament. After two strikes, it went away for just a moment. He then found the confidence again to deliver when it mattered most.
Thompson, in the bottom of the seventh inning, skyed a ball into deep right field, far enough for Miles Miller to score on a sacrifice fly to give Conway a 4-3 win over Fort Smith in the championship game. The celebration was on after that as teammates gave him high-fives and hugs.
"I was feeling really confident all weekend finding the barrel and getting it to the outfield," Thompson said. "But after the first couple of swings, I swung a little too hard without knowing about it. The pressure got to me. But I calmed down after that and got the job done. I wanted to step up for these guys."
Thompson was hitting sixth in the order, but he was just who Conway wanted at the plate with the tournament on the line.
"He is one we would pick to be in that spot," Conway Coach Jeffery Enloe said. "He has a smooth lefty swing with a little bit of an uppercut to it. He was a great guy to have up there to get us a sacrifice fly and get us the win there."
Thompson's at bat completed a come-from-behind effort after falling behind early in the game. Conway was down 2-0 before getting the bats going in the bottom of the third inning, cutting Fort Smith's lead to 2-1 with an RBI double from Carson Zachary.
Conway tied the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth inning on RBI hits from Zachary and Luke Carner.
It was no surprise to Conway to have Zachary come up big for the team and lead them with a two-RBI performance in the title contest.
"[Zachary] is just a great, solid player," Enloe said. "He is batting third for a reason. We really trust him in that spot. He has a great future along with the other guys out here. He got it done for us tonight in some big moments."
Max Holland picked up the win with two scoreless innings on the mound coming out of the bullpen. He pitched out of a jam in the seventh inning, leaving runners on third and first base to give Conway an opportunity to win it in the bottom of the frame.
"I was just really trying to throw strikes and let the defense play behind me," Holland said. "I wanted them to make plays for me. I couldn't really find my breaking ball, so I just went with the fastball over the plate to get some outs. This tournament was just a fun experience."
Holland is early in his high school career, but was asked to pitch key innings and he didn't disappoint. He didn't allow any of the four runners who reached base on him to score.
"[Holland] was so good for us in this one," Enloe said. "He came in and was lights out when we needed him most. He was just a freshman at Conway this year and is going to be a sophomore. He stepped up in a big spot and is a good one. He was solid and didn't have nerves. He was calm, cool and collected."
Fort Smith was guided by Weston Pschier who went 2 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs with Blake Dedmon also adding an RBI walk. Luke Adcock pitched four innings, allowing just six base runners and one run with a strikeout.
It wasn't the result Fort Smith was hoping for losing in heart-breaking fashion, but it was a successful weekend as the host team advanced to the championship game for the first time since 2019.
"There is more baseball to play this summer and we will get better," Fort Smith Coach Shea Hamilton said. "It was a good weekend overall for us. I told our kids that this is where we belong in the finals of all our tournaments, especially this one for us hosting. But if we had to pick which one means the most to us, it is the one at the end of the year. We'll learn from this."
Conway, who finished the weekend 5-1, had to beat the odds to win the Katzer tournament for the first time in program history. They needed to win four games Sunday in 12 hours on two different fields. Come-from-behind efforts were required in the semifinals and finals with both ending in walk-off wins.
Not too bad for a program fielding its first American Legion team at this level in more than 15 years.