By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Forsyth baseball team had a target on its back twice on Wednesday, but that was no matter for the top-seeded Panthers.
Playing its first games in 11 days, Forsyth turned in a dominant effort in the Class 3 District 11 tournament at Strafford, blanking Conway 5-0 in a semifinal contest and then turning around and handling Fair Grove 7-1 in the championship.
“We’ve had high goals all year long and so once you get one of them knocked off, it’s always good to check something off, but we’ve got high hopes this year and we want some more,” said Panthers coach Byron Richardson.
Forsyth (22-4) will get the chance for more on May 21 when the Panthers take on Lamar (13-9) in a Class 3 sectional––the same spot they were tripped up last season. On Wednesday, though, they were content to celebrate back-to-back district titles, and their third in four seasons.
One big inning and an especially strong start on the mound were enough against third seed Fair Grove, which knocked off second seed Strafford 7-5 earlier on Wednesday. Forsyth turned to ace pitcher Tristan Hunter for the finale, and the Kentucky commit didn’t disappoint.
Hunter struck out the first nine batters he faced and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Fair Grove’s Brock Boatwright ended it with a bloop single into right field. The Eagles managed only one other single against Hunter, another bloop hit to the outfield by Kelson Radford in the sixth inning.
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When Richardson finally pulled Hunter in the top of the seventh, the senior hurler had amassed 17 strikeouts––all but two of the outs recorded while he was in the game.
“Tristan was absolutely phenomenal,” Richardson said. “He has been all year for us. He’s been phenomenal all year. You can’t ask more out of your ace than what he did for us tonight.”
Hunter only faced trouble twice. He issued two walks in the fourth, but a force play slide violation at second resulted in a double play and then he finished off the Eagles with a strikeout. In the fifth, after the leadoff single by Boatwright, Fair Grove’s Jakoeby McDannald worked a walk and then both runners advanced to second and third with nobody out. Hunter struck out the side to escape the jam.
Forsyth scored all seven of its runs in the bottom of the second inning, with the Panthers sending 11 to the plate. Every single hitter either walked or put the ball in play, but it was no slug fest.
Jerrett Walls singled with one out, Tyler Strahan reached on a fielding error and then Phoenix Maloney singled to first to load the bases for Nickolas Guy, who hit into a fielder’s choice at second that scored the first run. Mason Campbell followed with an RBI single past second and Benjamin Boyer drew a walk to load the bases for Hunter, who also drew a walk––but not before another run scored on a wild pitch.
Ayden Cleveringa drove in two more with a single up the middle, and then Braxton Gross scored two more with another hard single to center that made it 7-0. The only other offense for the Panthers was a single by Hunter in the first, a single by Guy in the third and a single by Boyer in the fourth.
“We’ve done a good job all year of it not being the same guys,” Richardson said. “We’ve battled to get guys on base and find ways to get them in. It takes all of us. It’s been a team effort all year long.”
“I just love this group of guys,” he said. “They’ve been awesome all year. They’ve battled and competed and made each other better. It’s been a special group.”
