Armorel claims Region 2 baseball title

ARMOREL -- The Armorel Tigers earned the No. 1 seed out of 1A Region 2 by slugging their way to an 11-2 victory over the Viola Longhorns Monday night at Billy Brown/Hugh Don Ashmore Field.

Despite early morning thunderstorms that postponed every other regional tournament in the area Monday, the crew out at Armorel got the baseball and softball fields in tip-top shape to play four more games to close out the Region 2 tournament.

Senior hurler Ashton Kennedy went the distance for the Tigers on the mound. Kennedy allowed two runs on four hits while striking out 11 over seven complete innings of work. Kennedy ran into trouble in the third inning when the Longhorns loaded the bases, but he and the Tiger defense minimized the damage with just two runs.

Armorel's Ashton Kennedy fires a pitch Monday night against Viola. Kennedy went the distance, striking out 11 batters in an 11-2 win over the Longhorns.

In the sixth and seventh innings, Kennedy recorded strikeouts on four of the six outs, including the final two in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.

Unlike Saturday night's 2-0 win, the Tiger offense came to life early. Sophomore Andrew Lannon's two-run laser over the right-field fence highlighted a three-run first inning as the Tigers took control early. Lannon's blast followed an RBI double from his brother, Payton, scoring Kennedy in the first inning. The Tigers plated four more in the third inning, thanks to RBI singles from Zack Gray, Logan Blankenship and Connor Walls. Gray scored on a wild pitch in a two-run fifth before Andrew Lannon doubled home Payton Lannon for a couple of insurance runs in the top of the seventh.

The Tigers tagged Longhorn pitching for 11 runs on 11 hits on the night, finishing a rather impressive 1A Region 2 tournament. Armorel outscored its competition, 31-2, and never trailed in 19 innings.

Leading the Tiger attack were Andrew Lannon (2-4, 3 RBIs and 2 runs scored), Gray (2-4, RBI and a run scored), Payton Lannon (1-1 with 2 runs scored), Nieko Sorrentino (1-4 with a run scored), Kennedy (1-3 with 2 runs scored), Nash Winters (1-4), Blankenship (1-5, runs scored and an RBI) and Walls (2-3, RBI and a run scored).

Armorel will open the 1A state tournament hosted by Taylor at 10 a.m. Thursday against the fourth seed out of Region 3.

SATURDAY Armorel 2, Hillcrest 0

Another day, another shutout.

A day after blanking Norfork, the Armorel Tigers pitched another shutout over the Hillcrest Sreamin Eagles Saturday night, 2-0, to advance to the 1A Region 2 championship game against Viola.

Armorel scored a run in the first and another run in the second and that was all they would need on the night.

Offensively, the Tigers managed just five hits off of Hillcrest pitching compared to 17 hits on Friday but got solid pitching from starter Nash Winters and Ashton Kennedy and some key defensive plays in the field to get the win.

Hillcrest had runners at second and third in the top of the fifth but shortstop Zack Gray converted a 6-to-3 double-play on a ground ball to end the inning.

Winters pitched five and a third innings of scoreless ball. He scattered just two hits, walked three and struck out five.

Hillcrest loaded the bases in the sixth inning but Ashton Kennedy came in relief and shut the door. The Eagles loaded the bases again in the seventh but Kennedy struck out the final two batters to end the game and send the Tigers to the regional championship on Monday.

Winters collected three hits at the plate and an RBI to help his cause and lead the Tigers at the plate. Payton Lannon (1-3 and an RBI) and Nieko Sorrentino also collected hits in the Tiger victory.

afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com