After earning the titles of Conference and District Champions, the Mansfield Tigers added yet another trophy to their case after spending the past week trouncing the competition in the 2A West Regional Tournament. The Tigers started tournament play on May 6 when they took on Cotter in the first round. By the time the seven innings were up, Mansfield pitchers, Zayne Dugan and Trey Vaughan had catapulted the Tigers past the Warriors in a 3-0 victory while also sealing their bid to State. The Tiger pitching duo combined for 10 strikeouts and 78 total pitches. Securing the runs with a single each was Fisher Willsey, Cody Fudge, and Nate Brewer who along with Drew Elmore, contributed 2 steals each of the 9 stolen bases.
For the semifinal round, Mansfield hit the dirt against Yellville where they issued another blowout win taking the Panthers for a ride to a 12-2 final score. Drew Elmore took over on the mound for the Tigers and went 5 innings only allowing 2 runs on 3 hits along with 10 strikeouts and 83 pitches. It took only two innings for the Tigers to earn their payday as they brought home 8 runs in the second inning and 4 in the fourth. Mansfield also walked away with 9 hits and 11 RBI. Since you can’t have the hop without the hip, the Tigers continued their fantastic voyage straight into the championship round of Regionals.
After an hour and a half rain delay, the Mansfield Tigers and the Mountainburg Dragons were ready to slug it out. And slug it out they did. It took seven innings and 13 hits but by the end of the night, Mansfield was victorious 11-6 and stood tall as the new 2A West Regional Baseball Tournament Champions. Vaughan and Nate Brewer (4 RBI) led the Tigers ambush with 3 runs each followed by Peyton Martin with 2, and Aaron Brewer, Willsey, and Elmore with 1 each. Mansfield made 21 putouts with Fudge making 7 and Randy Claude and Nate Brewer making 5 each along with 0 errors.
The Mansfield Tigers are sitting with a 20-7 record as they regroup and prepare for State which kicks off on Thursday, May 13. The 2A Tigers will travel 3 hours east as they head to Carlisle for Round 1. Mansfield will first face Horatio at 3 pm and if they move on, they will then face the winner of the McCrory/Salem match the following day.
Photos courtesy of Summer Martin
