On Saturday, May 19th, the Greenwood High School Bulldogs put an exclamation point on their season, winning the Class 6A state baseball championship, defeating the Benton Panthers, 4-0, at Baum Stadium on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville.
Senior starting pitcher Connor Noland went the distance for the Bulldogs, hurling seven strong innings, yielding just two hits and no runs in claiming his 10th win of the season against no losses. Last fall Noland committed to play college football and baseball for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Greenwood proved that it was the best team in Class 6A by far, finishing the season with an incredible 24-game winning streak and a 32-3 overall mark. The Bulldogs’ last loss was to Class 7A Van Buren on March 16th in extra innings.
It was also the fourth state title in baseball in school history, the others coming in 1966, 1999, and 2006. It was the first title for current Head Coach Trey Holloway, a former Razorbacks’ pitcher who also won a state title as a senior with the Booneville Bearcats in 2001.
Connor Noland was named the Most Valuable Player of the title game after fashioning his two-hit gem that included 12 strikeouts. He was also named MVP last December after leading the Bulldogs to the 6A football championship. Ironically, Holloway also won a state football title in his senior season.
“That was my goal when I came [to Greenwood],” said Noland after the game. “I wanted to get one [championship] in both sports. To do it in the same [school] year is an amazing accomplishment. Kudos to all the guys on both teams, doing a great job and bringing it back to the city.”
The Bulldogs scored all the runs they needed in the first inning when two runners crossed the plate, then added additional runs in the third and fourth innings.
With two outs and the bases empty in the home half of the first, Greenwood’s Peyton Holt stroked a line drive down the right field line for a double. Cleanup hitter Connor Noland was then intentionally passed, bringing up Colton Sagely.
The talented sophomore outfielder wasted little time, belting a sharp single to left field, scoring Holt with ease. The cutoff throw then hit courtesy runner Jayden Jasna at third base and went into the GHS dugout, allowing Jasna to go home, staking Noland to an early lead he would not relinquish.
“That’s huge,” said Coach Holloway of the two first-inning tallies. “That takes a lot of pressure off [Connor] and our guys. I knew when we got two [runs], I got really comfortable with him on the mound.
“He wasn’t nervous before the game,” said the coach, “[and] I wasn’t nervous. With him on the mound I knew we had a good chance to win. He’s worked so hard and deserves this more than anybody.”
The Benton Panthers (22-12) had their best pitcher on the mound in senior Yates Prickett, and he lasted into the fourth inning, giving up seven hits and four runs, all earned.
For the second time in the game, Peyton Holt started a Greenwood rally in the third inning with a hard single to right center field, then advanced to third on Noland’s single to right.
Colton Sagely picked up his second run batted in when he made it 3-0 with a long sacrifice fly that scored Holt from third. But Benton avoided an even bigger mess by nabbing courtesy runner Jayden Jasna in a steal attempt at second just before a Brandon Woolsey single. Designated hitter Blake Pschier then lined out to center field to end the frame.
In the fourth inning, seniors Jackson Webb and Cooper Passmore singled with two outs, and Holt picked up his third hit to score Webb with Greenwood’s fourth and final run.
“We were trying [hard] to score,” said Coach Holloway. “I wanted to get Noland five or six runs, or as many as we could. We were going to be aggressive. We knew that going into [the game]. We ran the guys [and] did some things we normally don’t do.”
For the Bulldogs, their big bats came through in the biggest of all games. “The three-and-four-hole hitters are usually the guys that drive everyone in,” said the coach. “[But] those are the guys that got on base today to let [others] drive them in.
“We talk about the process. We talk about quality at-bats. We talk about battling at the plate, [and] that’s what those guys did today,” said Holloway.
Greenwood collected eight hits in the game and had 15 base runners in the contest. Every batter for Greenwood reached base at least once, and of Greenwood’s eight hits, seven went the opposite way.
“The majority of our hits were to right field,” Holloway pointed out. “We stayed with our approach. We didn’t try to do too much. We found ways to score runs.”
But the real story of the game was Connor Noland’s dominance on the mound. He needed 17 pitches to complete the first inning after walking the game’s first hitter. He then retired 14 Panthers in a row, including 10 strikeouts, before allowing two runners in the fifth on an infield single and a hit batsman.
A short dribbler down the third base line was Benton’s first hit. GHS catcher Jake Smith picked up the ball and threw to first base, but the runner was ruled safe on a close play, ending the no-hit bid.
“It was on my mind. It definitely was,” Noland said of the potential no-no. Benton did add a clean line drive single in the seventh.
Regarding the performance of his battery mate, Smith said, “[Connor] was incredible. He likes to throw a lot of first-pitch breaking balls. [But] they can’t touch anything he throws. It’s amazing. His stuff was on. He was hitting his spots. Every curveball he was throwing, they couldn’t touch him.”
The future Razorbacks’ quarterback and pitcher needed only 89 pitches to dispatch the Panthers and complete the game, including 60 strikes. Like most winning hurlers, Noland also got ahead by throwing first-pitch strikes to 21 of the 25 batters he faced.
“I wanted to get ahead and set the tone,” said Noland after the game. “I want to get out there and get that first out and crush their spirit.”
GHS senior second baseman Cooper Passmore preserved the shutout in the seventh inning with a nice play in the hole. With a runner on second, Passmore ranged to his left to snag a grounder on the edge of the outfield grass, throwing to first baseman Brandon Woolsey for the game’s final out.
Peyton Holt had three of Greenwood’s eight total hits with a double, two singles, and an RBI. Webb, Passmore, Noland, Sagely, and Woolsey had the other hits, with Sagely picking up two RBIs.
Connor Noland finished his season unbeaten in 10 decisions. He entered the title game with an incredible pitching line that included nine victories and a minuscule .47 earned run average.
In 59-2/3 prior innings he had allowed just 20 hits, four earned runs, and 13 walks, while striking out 111. He finished his senior season with 123 strikeouts in 66-2/3 innings.