Woodlawn may not be hosting the Class 2A state baseball tournament, but each game the Bears will play in it will essentially be a home game.
White Hall is hosting the tournament, which will be played at White Hall’s field and Taylor Field. Woodlawn’s first game is 7:30 p.m. today at Taylor Field against Conway Christian.
“It’s a nice field, it really is, and they do a good job of keeping it up and keeping it in shape,” Woodlawn coach Tommy Richardson said of Taylor Field. “I am always glad when it’s in White Hall or Taylor Field because we feel like those are home fields.
“Our kids feel comfortable and it’s close to home. Plus we have a lot of fans there every year it’s in Pine Bluff, and I can’t say enough for the support they give us.”
The Bears (30-5) go into the tournament as a three-seed after finishing in third place in the regional tournament.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Even though Richardson would have liked to see his team get the top seed, it is not bothering him too much.
“We certainly wanted to win the regional tournament,” he said. “But I don’t think there is a lot of difference between the one and the three seed. As long as we are facing 2A teams, I feel comfortable.”
Woodlawn has made it to Class 2A state finals four of the last five years. Richardson is expecting his team to make a good run again.
“I still feel we have a really good shot,” he said. “We have some really good pitching and we will play on a big field, whereas Gurdon was a smaller field.”
Even with that amount of success, Richardson does not expect any teams like Conway Christian to roll over for the Bears.
“I expect them to go in and play good baseball,” he said. “There are 16 teams and they didn’t get here by being back, so I figure we will get their best game.”
Richardson had not made that decision yet on who will start against Conway Christian. He is deciding among the trio of Gavin Johnston, Trey Hankins and Dillon Miller, who all three have an ERA of under 2.50.
“We are going to try and throw strikes, chance speeds and get ground balls, which is what we always try to do,” he said. “I think all three of them are capable of doing that.”
If Woodlawn wins, the Bears would face either the No. 1 seed from the North, Walnut Ridge, or Union Christian, the fourth seed from the West.
Then if the Bears get to the semifinals, they could face a familiar foe — Junction City, which is a No. 2 seed. Junction City beat Woodlawn in the semifinals last year and twice this year, including one at the regional tournament.
Richardson said he would rather face Junction City in the semifinals than in Baum Stadium in the finals, though.
“We gotta win and they gotta win, that’s the first thing,” he said. “We would play a familiar foe and to be honest, I would rather see them in the semis because of our fans and it would basically be a home game.”