What a ride it’s been for the Lavaca Golden Arrows Baseball team as of late. After a disappointing loss to the Hector Wildcats in the District finals, and a multi-day rain delay, the Arrows finally were able to take the field at the 2A West Regional Tournament. The Arrows entered the tournament as the number two seed and took on Cotter to start things off. The Arrows out hit Cotter 17-5 to take a 10-4 win and send Cotter home early. The win guaranteed the Arrows a bid in the State tournament, but “a bid” is never good enough.
Next up was a semi-final game with the Flippin Bobcats. The Bobcats entered the tournament as the one seed from their conference. Colby Clunn took the mound for the Arrows and set down the Flippin Bobcats one batter at a time. Clunn stuck out 11 on his way to a two hit shut out to advance to the championship game. The Golden Arrow offense was fueled on eight hits which produced eight RBI’s. The Arrows also took advantage of six fielding errors by the Bobcats. Jimmy Hall lead the team at the plate. He went 3 of 4 and had 4 RBI’s. Jayger Wagner also had a multiple hit day with 2.
With the win, The Arrows were set up to face the Hector Wildcats yet again. As stated earlier, the Wildcats beat Lavaca in the District Championship. However, The Arrows were the only team to beat the them this year. This game however, had everything stacked in Hectors favor, or so it seamed. Hector had saved their Ace pitcher, Cody Day, for the final game. What they didn’t know, what no one knew, was that Lavaca had a pitcher in their arsenal named Wyatt Kiene that was waiting for just such an opportunity. Wyatt commanded the mound the entire game going the distance. He only gave up 4 runs on 7 hits. Kiene was extremely efficient averaging 68% strikes and 58% of batters faced, only saw 3 pitches or less. The Arrow offense rallied behind him giving him a cushion and answering each time Hector tried to make some noise. Lavaca had two big innings. The second inning was started by a Tyler Hobbs a two out double that scored Tyler Armistead and Trevon Moore. Then Jayger Wagner singles scoring Hobbs. Later in the inning Kaw-Liga Brewer reached on an error, scoring Wagner. Then in the fifth, the Arrows put the game away for good scoring 5 more. The scoring in this inning also started in with 2 outs. Jimmy Hall singled scoring Tyler Hobbs, Brewer singled, Trey Castor was hit by pitch, and Tyler Armistead drew a bases loaded walk. Dylan Ellison singled to right field scoring Brewer and Castor, and then Armistead takes home on a wild pitch to round out the scoring.
With the win the Lavaca Golden Arrows are the 2A West Regional Champions! They are the number one seed going into the Arkansas 2A State Championship Tournament. They will play on Thursday May 9th at 10am in Mountain Home Arkansas. Stay Tuned for detailed information.
