STATE BASEBALL/SOFTBALL TOURNAMENTS CLASS 7A BASEBALL : Fayetteville’s McFall answers call
Posted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/225613/
Right move, right time.
Fayetteville Coach Vance Arnold’s quick hook might very well have saved his team’s bid for a third consecutive state title. The Bulldogs beat North Little Rock 6-4 in the Class 7 A semifinals Monday at Burns Park in North Little Rock, and did so by putting a cap on a potentially disastrous first inning.
North Little Rock scored two runs in the top of the first but was silenced for the next five innings after Arnold pulled senior starter Spencer Hansen before a run even crossed the plate.
Arnold’s replacement, junior right-hander Scott McFall, came into the game after left-hander Hansen had faced just three batters and proceeded to limit the Charging Wildcats to FIVE hits while striking out eight.
Fayetteville (29-3 ), meanwhile, scored four runs in the first to erase the early deficit.
Arnold said three hitters were enough to tell that Hansen’s command wasn’t going to improve, leading to his early call to McFall.
“I’ve usually been coming in in the fifth or sixth inning,” McFall said. “I wasn’t expecting to pitch pretty much the whole game.”
North Little Rock Coach Randy Sandefur admitted that Arnold pulling the trigger early might have saved the Bulldogs.
“I think we were getting ready to score a bunch of runs on [Hansen ],” Sandefur said.
Hansen hit leadoff batter Kell Crain, walked two-hole hitter Clark Sims and gave up a single to Brian Bryles. Things didn’t immediately improve upon McFall’s arrival, as an error by shortstop Adam Baker helped score Sims and Bryles.
But Fayetteville was immediately bailed out by the top of its order, getting a leadoff double from Baker and a single by Christian Allen. Then came a two-run double by Franco Broyles, who would later score on an error.
Taylor Shaddy added a fourth run by scoring from third on a wild pitch from North Little Rock starter Kyle Thompson, who was starting his second game in three days.
Thompson started in North Little Rock’s second-round game with Fort Smith Southside on Saturday but was quickly pulled after the Charging Wildcats (20-11 ) built an 11-0 lead after the second inning.
Outside of the difficult first inning, Thompson was effective, allowing two hits over the next three innings before yielding to Bryles in the fifth.
Fayetteville scored a run in the fourth off an error and another in the fifth when Shaddy scored off a passed ball.
But until the top of the seventh, when he walked Crain and Sims back-to-back before giving up a two-run double to Bryles, McFall was nearly untouchable.
“That’s probably the longest we’ve thrown him,” Arnold said. “He just kept it down and away and made them reach. Seventh inning, it was probably one of those deals where he just tensed up a bit.”
Fayetteville goes into Friday’s state finals at Baum Stadium sitting pretty in terms of its pitching. No. 1 starter Shaddy will be fully rested after pitching against Van Buren on Saturday, and Hansen’s light workload Monday makes him a viable second option.
“Spencer, I feel bad for him,” Arnold said. “He’s pitched better than that all year long.” N. Little Rock (20-11 ) 200 000 2 — 4 5 4 Fayetteville (29-3 ) 400 101 x — 6 5 1 Thompson, Bryles (5 ) and Cormier and Thompson (5 ); Hansen, McFall (1 ) and Hollenbeck. W — McFall. L — Thompson.