The Armorel Tigers and Taylor Tigers will battle for the 1A state title Friday at 12:30 p.m. at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville.
Three hundred and fifty miles separates the two schools but that has not stopped them from developing a competitive rivalry over the better part of the past decade.
"I don't think you could get two towns farther apart if you tried," said Taylor head coach Robbie Frizzell. The differences end there -- and with their school colors -- for the two teams.
Frizzell and his Tigers from the southwest part of the state are playing for their sixth championship in seven tries while Brown and his Tigers from the northeast corner are shooting for their third in sixth tries.
"It seems like if one of us is not winning the title, the team that does has to go through us," said Fizzell.
The two teams have played each other in the state tournament five times with the first coming in the state title game in 2004. It was both teams' first trip with Taylor coming out on top.
The teams have split their last four games with Taylor winning in the state semifinals in 2009 before Armorel knocked them out in the quarterfinals in 2010 and the opening round of the 2011 tournament hosted by Armorel. That year, Armorel went on to win Brown's second title. The most recent matchup came in the 2013 state semifinals at Taylor Field in Pine Bluff. Taylor overcame a 4-1 deficit in the bottom of the seventh inning to beat Armorel, 5-4, in eight innings.
The similarities don't end there. When asked about the other, the two head coaches have similar compliments for one another.
"It's going to be a tough one. They're a very well put together team. They're well coached. They're going to execute the fundamentals," said Brown.
"We've got our work cut out for us. They're well coached and fundamentally sound," said Frizzell.
The teams come in with similar records with Armorel at 22-9 and Taylor at 21-8.
They both hosted and won regional tournaments and have had a similar road through the state tournament thus far. Both teams had a scare in the state tournament with Armorel's coming in their eight-inning 3-2 win over Kirby in the quarterfinals and with Taylor squeaking by Scranton, 2-0, Monday in the state semifinals.
They both have quality starting pitching. Projected Armorel starter, Ashton Kennedy, comes into the game with an ERA of 1.48 and WHIP .978 while projected Taylor starter, Jordan Vaughn, has a 1.59 ERA and an impressive 1.23 WHIP. Both teams have catchers who stop the running game with sophomore Andrew Lannon behind the plate for Armorel and senior Ben Lane, who's thrown out 21 batters this season, for Taylor.
With so many similarities between these two teams, one thing is sure.
The two best teams in the 1A are meeting at Baum Stadium Friday and they may need more than seven innings to decide a winner.
afitzpatrick@blythevillecourier.com