It was a bright and sunny spring day in Harrison for the opening round games of the 3A Region 1 tournament. Other than windy conditions throughout the day, the weather proved to be perfect for the start of the state regional tournaments. And perfect is what the Lady Eagles were in their 10-0 run-rule victory over the third seed from the 3A-4, the Lincoln Lady Wolves.
Paris had defeated the Lady Wolves a few weeks ago in a non-conference game in Paris. The Lady Eagles had to fight hard for that win, but on Thursday, the day belonged to the Lady Eagles. Paris secured that all important first round regional win that guarantees them a berth in next week’s state tournament. The Lady Eagles advance to the regional semi-finals on Friday and will play at 12 p.m. A victory on Friday sends the Lady Eagles to the regional championship game on Saturday and guarantees Paris of going to the state no lower than a two seed from Region 1. A loss on Friday will send Paris to the third place game that will also be played on Saturday, earlier in the day.
The Lady Eagles’ opponent on Friday will be the Valley Springs Lady Tigers. Valley Springs is the top seed from the 3A-4. First pitch for this game will be 12 p.m. at Equity Bank Sports Complex in Harrison. It will be a battle of two great teams who both have the potential to go a long way in next week’s state tournament. Valley Springs advanced to Friday’s regional semi-final by defeating Charleston, 14-3.
The day wasn’t so kind to the Paris baseball Eagles. The Eagles were also playing a rematch against a 3A-4 opponent that they played in Paris a few weeks ago in a non-conference game. Paris defeated West Fork in their last regular season game in Paris with the game ending with fireworks on a play at home plate. The rematch in the regional tournament was much-anticipated by the fans of both schools, but the rematch proved not to be as exciting as their first game.
The Paris offense scored 11 runs; enough to win most high school baseball games. But the bad news was the pitching and defense gave up 20 runs to West Fork as the Tigers’ bats exploded early and often, forcing Paris to play the entire game from behind. Paris had two home runs on the day, one from Nate Henderson and another from Duke Walker. But it was an off day for a Paris pitching staff that had finished the season strong and had a signature win in the district tournament over Booneville.
West Fork, with the win, advances to the regional semi-final to play one seed Elkins, who defeated Charleston by the score of 11-1. The Tigers and the Elks will start on Friday at 12 p.m. With the win over Paris, West Fork secures a berth in next week’s state tournament. Paris is eliminated, but can be very proud of the season they have had over the past three months.
For more results on other games in the Region 1 baseball and softball tournaments, fans can go to scorebooklive.com for up-to-date scores throughout the tournament. The brackets update themselves with each game result.
Photos from today’s game with West Fork are now available on Facebook at Paris Eagles Sports. Resident Press will be back in Harrison on Friday to bring you complete coverage of the Lady Eagles’ regional semi-final game with Valley Springs.
And after today’s game in Harrison, I would recommend to the fans that they bring sunblock to the ballpark!
See you there!
