By CHAD MATCHETT
Special to The Leader
There were 19 teams from all over the southern half of the state in the Cal Ripken T-Ball Arkansas South State Tournament in Sherwood last weekend, but in the end it was two teams that didn’t have to travel far at all that battled for the championship.
The Sylvan Hills Bears needed to beat the Cabot Mayhem twice to win the title and did just that, 16-4 and 24-20 Tuesday night in Sherwood.
“Cabot hit’s the ball so well, but we made a couple changes and really played good defense that last inning,” said Sylvan Hills coach Ben Leisenring. “I’m proud of how well the kids came out and played today.”
Sylvan Hills shortstop Chase Collins played deep in the hole in the last inning and caught two Cabot line drives that might have fallen otherwise as the Bears held off the comeback attempt for the 24-20 win.
The Bears were the visitors and jumped out to a 6-0 lead, scoring the run limit without any outs in the first inning. Mason Umfleet hit a drive off the fence in the air for a two-run triple to highlight the inning.
Cabot answered strong in its first at bat, tying the game 6-6, also with no outs. Abe Owens and Zachary Wofford hit back-to-back doubles in the inning.
The offense from the Mayhem was a bit surprising considering how the first game ended, but the youngsters came out ready to hit.
“We seemed dazed in the first game for some reason,” said Cabot coach Nick Tucker. “But we got back into it and had fun in the second game.”
The offense kept rolling for both teams with Sylvan Hills scoring five, followed by Cabot answering with six to take a 12-11 lead.
The Bears reached their limit again with six runs to take a 17-12 lead into the bottom of the third, when the game’s momentum changed.
Sylvan Hills third baseman Marquez Gooden played a part in every out, throwing one to second after a single, then catching a fly ball and a line drive as Cabot was held scoreless in the inning.
One bad offensive inning can be disastrous in T-ball, but Cabot was able to just stay alive.
Sylvan Hills scored four in the fourth inning to take a 21-12 lead, but the Mayhem put up a six-spot in their half of the inning to pull within three at 21-18.
Playing just five innings and with therun limit at six, Cabot couldn’t allow more than three runs or it wouldn’t get its chance in the bottom of the fifth.
Three turned out to be all the Bears could get across thanks to a fielder’s choice and two line drives, including a great snag by Cabot shortstop Carson Stephens.
Down 24-18, Cabot still had a chance to tie the game and force extra innings.
Wofford and Carter Prather both singled and scored on Kaden Smith’s double around a fly out to Collins and a grounder to Kody Bridges.
Collins made the final out on a hard line drive by Jaggar O’Dell. The first game was a bit of an anomaly with Cabot’s bats falling silent while Sylvan Hills found every gap in the last two innings. It was a defensive affair the first two innings with the score tied 4-4.
Sylvan Hills’ bats came alive in the third and fourth innings, scoring the maximum six runs each inning while shutting down Cabot on defense, winning by the mercy rule after four innings.
