By Whitney Keith
With a handy 2-0 victory Tuesday, the Mansfield Lions clinched a win over the Norwood Pirates, and with it, the Summit Conference title.
“We’re conference champs, which is something that coach (former coach Doug Jones, who passed away earlier in the year) had as goal No.1,” Mansfield co-coach Gary Greene said.
The Lions’ last Summit Conference championship came in the spring of 2009.
Earlier in the day, Mansfield scored another victory when they received the top seed in the Class 2 District 10 tournament. That district nearly mirrors the Summit Conference, including conference schools Fordland, Norwood, Gainesville, Seymour, and the lone non-Summit Conference school, Sparta.
Norwood received the No. 2 seed at the meeting.
CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF MANSFIELD VS. NORWOOD
The victory came slowly for the Lions. Both teams remained scoreless through the first three innings. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Crayton Henry drew a walk. He came around to score on an RBI by senior Mason Roy.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, senior pitcher Jonah Williamson hit a double, then scored on a throwing error, leaving the score 2-0 in the Lions’ favor.
Mason Roy and Spencer Greene both had singles, and Williamson doubled to lead Mansfield at the plate.
Greene said he saw several positives in the contest, but also room for improvement.
“We pitched well, caught well, defended well. Jonah did really good on the mound,” he said. “However, I don’t think we’re aggressive enough in the hitter’s counts that we have. Not quite where we ought to be, but we’re going to keep working on it.”
Norwood coach Drew Miller also cited offense as an area for improvement for his squad.
“We played defense really well, better than we have in the past. We did a good job getting runners on base, just not getting them in,” he said. “We need to work on hitting with runners in scoring position. That’s going to be a key point of emphasis this week.”
Hits for Norwood included: Hesston Gray (2 singles), Tyler Prichard (single), and Seth Bradshaw (single).
The Lions are scheduled to travel to Willow Springs on Thursday, but due to Willow Springs’ field conditions as a result of recent flooding, and scheduled maintenance on Mansfield’s field, the game location may be moved to another school’s location.
The Pirates will host Billings on Thursday evening.
The win brought Mansfield’s record to 12-2, while it dropped Norwood’s to 11-6.
