Patriots split 5A season finale with Greene County Tech
Marion finishes third in conference, gearing up for postseason
By Chuck Livingston
Marion School District
Marion continued an interesting habit on Tuesday night when it hosted Greene County Tech for the teams’ final 5A East doubleheader of the 2023 season.
Greene County Tech invaded First National Bank of Eastern Arkansas Stadium and took down an 11-6 victory in the opener, but the Pats got some form of payback in the nightcap when they blanked a good-hitting Eagles club 3-0.
It marked the third time this spring that Marion (1710 overall, 9-5 5A East) lost the first game of a doubleheader, but rallied to win the second outing.
Greene County Tech (19-6 overall, 9-5 5A East) got a lift from Louisiana Tech signee Hutson Guinn in the opener, as the shortstop went 2-4 at the plate with five RBI and three runs, including a pair of home runs, to support winning pitcher Camden Farmer, who worked 6.2 innings and struck out eight Patriots in an 11-6 victory.
Marion returned the favor in the nightcap, when sophomore starter Carson Catt fired seven shutout innings, striking out five Eagles and allowing just three hits in a 3-0 conquest.
Despite its loss in the lidlifter, Marion clinched a spot in this year’s Class 5A state baseball tournament held at its home ballpark by virtue of Valley View’s 11-1 victory over Searcy in the first game of a doubledip between those teams.
Marion’s victory in the second game would have punched its ticket anyway.
Marion opens its state title defense at 3 p.m., Thursday, May 11 against outright 5AWest champion Greenwood (19-6, 13-1).
Game 1 Greene Co. 11, Marion 6
Eagles turned three walks and a hit batsman into three first-inning runs in the opening game as the visitors claimed a 3-0 lead before Marion ever touched a bat.
Marion got a couple back in the home half of the first when sophomore pitcher Cohen Bumbaugh delivered a two-run single, but Tech pushed its lead to 6-2 in the second when Cannon Driskill walked and Karter Willis reached on a dropped third strike to set the stage for a Guinn home run to right-center field that cleared the fence by several feet.
The 6-2 Tech advantage held until the bottom of the fifth, when Catt singled and scored on a Matthew Kearney double to push the Pats within 6-3 entering the sixth inning.
Willis reached on a bloop single leading off the sixth and Guinn made Marion pay when he belted a mammoth home run to deadcenter field as the Eagles flew back up 8-3 as the action headed to the bottom of the sixth.
The Pats got the bats going in the bottom of the seventh when juniors Dewayne Williams, Jr., and Parker Nash led off the frame with hits, and Kearney delivered them both when he roped a double into the left field corner. Freshman Solomon Flores plated Kearney with a solid single before the Eagles recorded the last out to clinch victory.
Kearney celebrated his first appearance in the No. 3 spot in the batting order of the season by going 3-4 with three RBI, and two runs scored. He poked a pair of doubles that were also Marion’s only extrabase hits of the opener.
Bumbaugh finished 1-3 with a pair of RBI.
Bumbaugh was one of four Marion pitchers to see action against Tech. The sophomore did not allow a hit in an inning plus, but four walks led to three unearned runs. Seniors Jett Sutton (2.2 innings pitched with six strikeouts), Dax Davis (1.1 innings pitched with a strikeout and no runs allowed), and Connor Taylor covered the balance of the game.
Game 2 Greene Co. 3, Marion 0
Marion scored three times in the seventh inning of the first game, and the Pats picked up right where they left off in the nightcap, manufacturing a pair of first-inning runs when first baseman Taylor singled, Kearney reached on an error, and Solomon Flores walked to load the bases with one out.
That’s when Bumbaugh hit a rocket to second base that looked initially like a double- play ball, but the relay to first got away from the first baseman to allow
See PATS, page A13
Photo by Christy Catt PATS
From page A6
Taylor and Kearney to come down for the first runs of the contest.
Marion’s Slade Inman roped a one-out double in the second and scored when Parker Nash struck a single for a 3-0 advantage headed to the bottom of the second.
Catt set out to make the runs hold up as he retired the first four Eagles he faced and faced the minimum through three.
Tech loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but Kearney snared a well-hit ball and flipped to Coleman Barnett, who fired to Taylor at first for a double play that silenced the Tech uprising.
The first two Eagles walked leading off the seventh inning, but Catt escaped that jam by striking out Jack Williams and Jaden Rodgers before catcher Jack Carter threw out Farmer attempting to steal third to clinch victory for Marion.
What’s Next?
Marion’s original season finale against Kirby (TN) was canceled by the school, so the Pats could add a game before opening its run next Thursday at the state tournament.
Marion State Tournament History
Marion will make its 23rd appearance at the state tournament on Thursday when it plays Greenwood. The Patriots made the cut for the first time in school history in 1982 before making back-to-back postseason trips in 1984 and 1985. The Pats returned to the state tournament in 1992, 1993, and 1998.
Following the 1998 playoff run, Marion was absent from the postseason until 2004, but the Pats have missed the state playoffs only twice (2006 and 2016) since 2004. Marion has made the state semifinals four times (2007, 2011, 2014, and 2022) in history, winning last year’s Class 5A state baseball title. Marion finished as state runners-up in 2014.
Marion will enter this years rendition of the tourney as the No. 3 seed from the 5A East with Valley View, undefested in conference play, as No. 1.
Final 5A East Standings
Valley View 14-0* Batesville 10-4* Marion 9-5* Greene County Tech 9-5* Searcy 7-7 Nettleton 3-11 Paragould 3-11 W. Memphis 1-13 * The top four schools have qualified for the 5A East State Baseball Tournament, which will be hosted by Marion.
