March is a green month what with the grass starting to grow and the buds appearing on the trees, especially this year. Besides reminding me of St. Pat's Day, the greens as in grass will be welcoming collegiate and high school baseball with the pros training camps down in the southern climes.
With the earlier than expected exit of the boys basketball team from the playoffs, the Pea Ridge diamond men will be in full force this week preparing to what appears to be a continuation of a very successful year in boys athletics.
The football team finished the year as the No. 3 team in the state, and was the first ever Blackhawk team to make the state semi-finals in that sport. The roundballers picked up 22 wins this season, a very enviable mark against seven defeats. Shooting slumps and injuries conspired to cut the season short, but when they were rolling, they reached the No. 8 ranking in the state. With all but one player back next year, basketball looks exceedingly bright for 2017.
The baseball boys had a great year in 2015, winning the regional and advancing to the state quarterfinals. A bad luck of the draw placed them in the quarters with Star City, the team that eventually won the state championship. Though I wasn't at the Pea Ridge/Star City game, I heard that we actually outplayed them but it didn't show on the scoreboard. Nick Hardy made the State Tournament All-Star team in 2015, with Seth Brumley and Garrett Easterling making the 4A All-State team.
This is another year with most of the roster back from last year with a number of good athletes added to the mix. The sky is the limit and there is no telling how far the team will go this year.
On the collegiate side -- "How 'Bout Them Hogs!" The Razorback's record is perfect at 8-0 for the year, just having ran through three ranked opponents at the Shriner's Classic Baseball Tournament in Houston over the weekend. Their wins included a 12-3 clubbing of No. 9 ranked Houston, and a 10-6 win over No. 24 Texas Tech after falling behind 5-0 in the first inning. They opened the tourney with a 5-2 win over No. 22 Rice.
It's hard to say just exactly where Arkansas is ranked because of the multitude of ranking or polling systems. There are five entities who rank Division I: Collegiate Baseball, USAToday, Baseball America, National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America, and, of course, the NCAA itself. It would seem to me that Baseball America carries the most weight among avid collegiate baseball fans.
Lots of folks had serious reservations about the Hogs offense this year, having lost their top three batters to the pros last summer, led by national player of the year Andrew Benintendi. Averaging more than 10 runs per game while allowing less than three runs per, so far it would seem that the Hogs have the batters to complement their solid pitching staff.
The Hogs have 11 home games in a row hosting Louisana Tech, Eastern Illinois, Gonzaga, Western Illinois and Grambling. After that, they will travel to South Carolina, a perennial national baseball power for the conference opener. It sure would be nice to be 19-0 by then. However, in baseball, it just takes one pitcher who is on for the day to break a streak.
Cardinal baseball
Lastly, the St. Louis Cardinals are in spring training hoping to put together a team that could extend their divisional winning streak. The Cards have won the last three titles and have won the most Central Division titles with 10. Chicago and Cincinatti have the 2nd most with 3 championships.
The Cards lost pitcher John Lackey and right fielder Jason Heyward, who both signed with the rising Cubs during the off season. While some fans remarked "good riddance," they were both good players, especially Heyward who will be missed. Lackey had a great year but is also a little on the old side. I got to see Lackey pitch in St. Louis last summer, and while he never overpowered anyone, he seemed to always get the job done. Can he do it two years in a row? The Cards management didn't think so.
While St. Louis won the most games in the majors last year, they ended the season with a raft of injuries, including most of the starting rotation. Everybody is back and with young players coming on with more experience, they may not miss Heyward or Lackey at all. Chicago closed fast last year with a really young staff and there are some who think they will win the Central this season.
Last year ended quite inexplicably for Chicago when they made it to the league championship series to play New York, a team they beat seven times out of seven during the season. What happened? The Mets swept them, of course, what with the Chicago curse still seemingly in play.
The year 2016 will be a good year for baseball, locally, statewide and nationally. With the warmer than usual weather, everyone should take the opportunity to catch some games.
•••
Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 03/02/2016