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Patriots exit playoffs in quarterfinal heartbreaker

Marion’s baseball season ends with loss to Maumelle

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Marion’s baseball season ends with loss to Maumelle

By CHUCK LIVINGSTON

Marion School District

Marion spent the majority of the spring scrambling just to make it to the state tournament.

But once the Patriots were there, they didn’t want to leave.

The defending Class 5A state baseball champions qualified for the 16-team dance as the last squad from the 5A East a week ago, and Marion drew outright 5A West champion Greenwood in the opening round at First National Bank of Eastern Arkansas Stadium, home of John Robbins Field.

Greenwood struck first in the opening game, scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Marion proved to be the better closer. The Patriots tied the game at 1 in the sixth inning before scoring four times in the top of the eighth to chase the Bulldogs from the tournament in front of a partisan home crowd in Marion.

Playing a late quarterfinal game on Saturday night in front of a raucous home crowd, Marion seized the opportunity, scoring the first two runs of the game against Maumelle before the Hornets rallied for three in the bottom of the seventh to stun the Patriots, and ensured that there will be a new Class 5A state baseball champion this spring.

Marion ends its season 18-11 overall, tied for third place in the 5A East.

Game one

Marion 5, Greenwood 1

In a contest that started on Thursday afternoon and finished early Friday evening due to rain in Marion, the Patriots got a stellar start from sophomore Carson Catt. Catt fired three shutout innings, striking out three Bulldogs and surrendering just a pair of hits before the rain began on Thursday afternoon. Catt’s pitch count did not allow him to come back into the game on the mound when play resumed on Friday afternoon.

Enter senior Jett Sutton, who was electric against Greenwood. The Arkansas State commit worked 4.1 innings against the Bulldogs in the unique hybrid relief/starting role, striking out six, and allowing one hit and one unearned run.

Greenwood scratched one run off of Sutton in the bottom of the fourth, and the 1-0 Bulldog lead held until the top of the sixth.

That’s when Catt singled into the six-hole leading off that frame, moved to second on a Solomon Flores sacrifice bunt, and took third on an errant Greenwood throw. Junior shortstop Matthew Kearney tied the game with a rocket of a single to score Catt.

Greenwood got the leadoff man on in the bottom of the sixth, but Kearney snared a hard ground ball up the middle, stepped on second base, and threw to first baseman Connor Taylor for a significant double play that virtually snuffed out the potential Greenwood uprising.

Catt sparked another Marion rally in extra innings when he produced a oneout single and advanced to second on a Greenwood error. Flores and Kearney then walked to load the bags with just one away.

That’s when Taylor hit a rocket that the Greenwood first baseman snared but threw wild to the plate, allowing Catt and Flores to score the go-ahead runs.

With two away, Kearney scored on a balk before Davis York stepped into the box and pounded a double down the left-field line and into the corner that delivered courtesy runner Tyler Carey for a 5-1 Marion advantage.

Sutton retired the first Greenwood batter in the bottom of the eighth before senior Dax Davis entered and sat down the only two batters he faced to give Marion its fifth consecutive state tournament victory.

Game two

Maumelle 3, Marion 2

Marion handed the ball to Cohen Bumbaugh for the Saturday quarterfinal tilt against Maumelle, and all the sophomore did against the 5A Central runners-up was fire 4.1 innings of nohit ball while striking out eight hitters.

Bumbaugh held the line on the bump for the Pats until the offense roared to life in the top of the fourth, when Taylor logged a oneout single, but was erased on a Flores fielder’s choice. When the Maumelle throw went into the first-base dugout, Flores was awarded second.

That play came looked crucial two batters later when a Maumelle pitch soared over the head of the Hornet catcher and Flores sped to third and never stopped, beating the late throw to the pitcher covering home plate as Flores tallied the game’s first run.

That score held until the top of the sixth when senior Slade Inman reached on a fielder’s choice with two outs. Then York dropped a blooper into shallow right field that allowed the speedy Inman to score from first for a 2-0 Marion lead.

Catt relieved Bumbaugh in the fifth inning and faced the first two batters in the seventh before the Hornets rallied for the victory.

Five seniors exit

Sutton, Taylor, Davis, Inman, and Jay Sharp will walk the stage in May. Sutton (Arkansas State) and Taylor (Lyon College) will continue their baseball careers, while Davis and Inman could also play in college.

Peeking ahead

While Marion graduates those five seniors, the Pats could return a very competitive team in 2024.

York, a junior, has not fired a pitch since early April with arm trouble, but he opened this season as the team’s top starter and No. 1 conference pitcher. Bumbaugh and Catt became the conference starters following the Nettleton series, and they helped the Pats finish 9-5 in the competitive 5A East.

Rising senior Jack Carter emerged with defensive chops at catcher this spring, while Kearney likely returns for a fourth season as a varsity player after turning in his best season yet. Look for Bumbaugh, Catt, or York at third base when they aren’t pitching. Rising seniors Parker Nash, D.J. Williams, Tyler Carey, and Landon Miller own much varsity experience.

Marion senior outfielder Slade Inman (5) reacts after scoring a run against Maumelle in Saturday night’s quarterfinal

Photo by Ella McConnell

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