By KELLY FENTON
Leader sports editor
After a tumultuous four months, during which they mourned the death of a former teammate and lost their home field to a tornado, the Sylvan Hills Bears adopted a motto: No excuses.
So far, the Bears, who will take on Watson Chapel for the 6A state title today at 5:30 at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville, haven’t had to make any excuses. After all, excuses are reserved for failure, and the Bears have experienced precious little of that this season.
They’ve just set a school record for wins with 28, and dominated the 6A-East Conference, slipping up only one time in an uncharacteristic error-filled loss to Forrest City.
That, in fact, might have been their one opportunity to offer up an alibi, coming as it did just two weeks after Kevin McReynolds Field was literally torn apart, leaving the Bears to scramble for practice sites.
They settled for a parking lot near the Sherwood Sports Complex, where they fielded grounders darting along the asphalt in rapid, unpredictable fashion.
“It’s been one of the strangest seasons I can remember,” said Sylvan Hills head coach Denny Tipton, now in his 11th year at the Bear helm. “If anything, all of it has brought this group closer. Everything we’ve been through has helped them develop a team concept. Everyone on this team cares about everybody else. Now, they’re just worried about getting it finished.”
If they do put the bow of a state title atop this season, it will be the Bears’ seventh in baseball, tying them for third overall with Junction City. Pine Bluff is the leader with 10 baseball championships.
IN THE BOOKS
In fact, glance through the Arkansas Activities Association record book and you’ll see the name Sylvan Hills in just about every category — title game appearances: 11 (third overall); state tournament wins: 60 (a win today would move them into a tie for first overall with Pine Bluff); semifinal appearances: 18 (fourth overall). They already own the record for most state tournament appearances with 38.
But those numbers appear to matter little to Tipton, whose Bears missed the past two state title games after making three consecutive trips to Fayetteville. They last won the title in 2005 in Class 5A, then the state’s highest classification.
“Yeah, I wasn’t even aware of some of those numbers,” Tipton said of Sylvan Hills’ dominance in the record books. “I know we won a couple of state titles in the 80s. In the 90s, there was kind of a lull. But since 2000, we’ve won some type of
championship every year, either conference or state.”
Conference titles are well and good, but for a program like Sylvan Hills, success is measured at least by state title game appearances, if not outright championships. Tipton said the two-year hiatus from Fayetteville was tough.
“One of the reasons you do this is to win that title,” he said. “So it was important we get back this year. Once you’ve been there, you like to go back every year. But it takes a little luck along the way.”
WILDCAT TRADITION
Given the Bears’ dominance this season, luck would seem to have had little to do with their appearance at Baum today. They shut out Searcy and Arkansas High to get here.
Watson Chapel, on the other hand, did get fortunate, surviving Jacksonville in the quarterfinals when a two-out error in the 12th inning gave them life. They rallied with three runs in the inning to tie it, then won it in the 13th.
The Wildcats, who have their own sterling tradition with four state titles under 27-year head coach Wayne Richardson, survived a potential Jonesboro rally in the seventh inning of the semifinal game when, with the bases loaded and one out, Watson
Chapel turned a liner to third into a game-ending double play.
Watson Chapel’s strength would appear to be its pitching. Chance Cleveland and Michael Newby, who both sport 11-1 records, are considered co-No. 1’s in the Wildcat rotation. WC assistant coach Chad Cope said both throw in the mid-80s, but that Cleveland had a little sharper breaking ball. He said he wasn’t sure as of Friday who would start tonight’s game.
“Pitching and defense are definitely our strengths,” Cope said. “We’ve won most of our games 4-1, 4-2. We hit the ball at times, but we haven’t hit the ball good consistently. We try to play small ball, move people over.”
Cleveland and catcher Nick Cox, a Garden City (Kan.) Community College signee, are among the Wildcats’ biggest threats at the plate. Cox also boasts a strong arm.
“Not a lot of people have stolen on him, but we know Sylvan Hills has a lot of team speed,” Cope said.
FIGHTING THROUGH ADVERSITY
On the Bears’ 2005 championship team was a sophomore by the name of Taylor Roark. Roark delivered the game-tying run in the semifinals of the state tournament, and Sylvan Hills went on to beat Jonesboro in the finals.
Roark, who was to have played baseball for Henderson State this spring, died in January when the car he was driving hit a patch of ice on I-30.
Between that tragedy, the loss of their field, the loss of the home of one their players in the storm and the influx of three talented Abundant Life players — which could have upset team chemistry and led to hard feelings among their teammates — this season has been a lot more difficult than their 28-6 record would seem to suggest.
Through it all, the Bears just kept on pounding the baseball, kept on making all the routine plays in the field, kept on getting outstanding pitching performances, kept on winning.
Sylvan Hills seems to be as complete a team as you could want. It starts with ace D.J. Baxendale, one of those three Abundant Life transfers. Baxendale turned in another in a series of gems on the mound in shutting down Arkansas High, 3-0, on Monday in the semifinals. He allowed only four base runners and two hits.
With the new playoff format, pitching depth isn’t nearly as important as it once was, but Sylvan Hills has plenty of it. The No. 2 is Hunter Miller, who has been solid all season. The Bears can also call on Jake Chambers or Chris Dalton or Chris Perez, among others.
COMPLETE TEAM
Tipton would probably feel good with any of them, but with Baxendale he can feel a lot better than good.
“If he’s not the best pitcher in the state, he’s one of the best,” Tipton said.
The Wildcats have never faced Baxendale, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of what they’re up against.
“We watched him on Monday, and we’ve read about him,” Cope said. “He’s all he’s built up to be.”
Assuming opponents do put the bat on the ball against Baxendale, he has a vacuum cleaner behind him with a defense that makes almost all the routine plays and some spectacular ones.
Offensively, the Bears can hit one through nine, with three-hitter Miller and cleanup man Baxendale providing the power. Miller has belted 11 home runs this season; Baxendale has hit five. They can run, too, and will every chance they get. The Bears swiped seven of eight on Monday.
Which leads inevitably to the question: Where does this Sylvan Hills team rank in school history? Tipton said all his teams have had special qualities.
“But this one has to rank right up there with one of our better teams,” he said. “The defense and pitching has been great all year. We’ve swung the bat well most of the time this year.”
What makes this year a little special, though, are the circumstances surrounding it — the tragedy, tumult and, thus far, the triumph. Tipton won’t deny that all of that factors into today’s game.
“It’s always a goal to get to the state championship,” he said. “But we’ve dealt with so much this year. I can’t lie. I think it means something more with everything we’ve been through.”
