Historical Miners make first trip to 3A tourney
JAMIE BOSHEARS Correspondent

REGION 2 RUNNERS-UP MARTIN COUCH PHOTO The Bauxite Miners hold their Region 2 runners-up trophy at Harding Academy Field in Searcy.

Baseball in Bauxite came to a close Friday with a tough loss to Genoa Central in the first round of the 3A state tournament.

The 7-4 defeat ended the Miners' season record at 16- 7.

"I think it's a huge step up." said Bauxite head coach Joshua Harrison. "We exceeded expectations. We wanted to make it to regionals and we got to state."

Steven Brooks dominated from the mound in the first inning, striking out the first two batters he faced and throwing the third out at first.

The Miners led off their half of the inning with a walk to Brooks followed by a base hit to right-center by Blake Childress. Both Brooks and Childress steals on a mishandled ball at the plate, put them on second and third. However, Bauxite's momentum was crushed when a line drive back to the pitcher was caught and he was able to get Brooks at third for the double play.

The Miners gave up a run in the top of the second that wasn't matched until the bottom of the third. Genoa scored three more runs in the fourth.

KEVIN NAGLE PHOTO PITCHER Bauxite Miners starting pitcher Steven Brooks.

The tying runs were put on in Bauxite's half of the fourth when Trevor Pendleton was hit by a pitch then a walk was issued to Brooks. Both runners were left stranded and Genoa Central added three more runs in the fifth to make it a 7-2 game.

Bauxite tried to start another rally in the bottom of the seventh with a lead off base hit by Ryan Dunlap. A throwing error to second on a Max Boshears hit to third put runners on first and second. Austin Hicks added to the cause with his second run batted in on a base hit be- tween third and short scoring Dunlap from second and putting Boshears in his place.

With two outs, Brandon Balding drove a breaking pitch up the middle to score Boshears, but two runs is all the Miners got. Two strike outs and a ground out in the inning left Bauxite down 7- 4.

"I said not a negative word." Harrison said. "I can't be disappointed. Yes, I'm disappointed with the outcome of the game, but I'm proud of the way these boys have played."

Harrison was pleased with the outcome of the season and the efforts of his senior class as leaders on the field.

"Our seniors, Max, Ryan, Nate [Lytle], Alec, Michael [Giggar], they bought in on what we were doing and that's what drove our success," Harrison said. "Max and Ryan really stepped up as great leaders out there. I'm proud of the way they've played this season."

The Miners defeated the Conway St. Joseph in the championship of the 5AAA district tournament to gain the top seed into the Region 2 tournament at Harding Academy.

Bauxite beat Rosebud to qualify for the Class AAA state tournament and defeated Mayflower in the semifi- nals of the reigonal to play Harding Academy in the title game.

The main accomplishment to that point of the post season was qualifying for the state tournament, but the Miners continued an eightgame win streak that boosted them into the championship round of the Region 2 tournament.

The Miners beat Mayflower 5-3 in the region semifi- nal game. After trailing 1-0, Max Boshears singled to start the bottom of the third inning and stole second. He advanced to third base on an error and scored on sacrifice fly to right field by G.J. Mayle. Bauxite took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Trevor Pendleton reached on a fielder's choice and scored on an infield hit by Ryan Dunlap. Mayflower tied the game 2-2 in the top of the fifth inning, but Alec Mann reached on a fielder's choice in the bottom half of the inning and scored on an infield hit from Brooks.

The Miners got some insurance in the bottom of the sixth inning when Austin Hicks singled to left field with two outs, stole second and scored when Mann hit a two-run homer to left field. Mayflower was only able to get one more run in the game.

The worst the Miners' seed for the state tournament was first or second depending on the outcome of the region championship game against Harding Academy. The host took a 2-0 lead on a triple fro Ty Finley, but Bauxite came back in the bottom of the first inning to score. Brooks led off with an infield single, stole second and came in on a grounder from Boshears.

Rain started in the second inning and became heavy enough to halt the action with two outs in the bottom half of the frame. Although the skies cleared shortly afterwards, the game was postponed until the following day.

When it resumed, Harding Academy's bats came alive for four runs in the top of the third inning. The Wildcats added another run in the fourth and four more in the fifth to take an 11-1 win.

Regardless, Bauxite was the second seed from Region 2 at the state tournament and faced Genoa Central. However, just making the state tournament was an accomplishment that no other Miners team had done before them.

"We're there after we paid Mayflower back for a defeat they gave us earlier in the year," said Bauxite head coach Joshua Harrison. "Maybe we played a little too loose at first. We didn't sling the bat real well, but their pitcher did a good job. I told coach [Mike] Mattox, if it ends up 3-2, I don't know if I can take it. Then Lee Davidson came in and pitched a heck of a game. He hasn't pitched that many innings in a while."

The victory proved the Miners were team oriented.

"It proved we're a team, we're not just two or three guys," Harrison said. "It's great when we have Steven on the mound. He's a great pitcher and it's nice when we've got Blake, Max or Ryan, because we know they can hit the ball. Alec Mann had a huge swing and pitched some great innings, then G.J. came in and threw well. Blake struggled at the plate and in the field some, but the people around him picked it up. Brandon [Balding] and Max swung the bat good. It show's we're not about two or three guys."