The Taylor Lady Tigers are returning to the Class 1A State Softball Finals to defend their crown, while the Tigers will join them on the baseball diamond during high school championship weekend in Fayetteville.
A year ago, back-to-back run-scoring singles from freshman Madison Morton and junior Preslie Morgan in the fifth inning carried Taylor to a 2-1 victory over Concord.
This year's state championship softball battle between top-seed Taylor (30-1) and Hermitage (21-9) will be played at Bogle Park on the University of Arkansas campus. The baseball title game between the Tigers (21-7) and Viola (25-7) will take place at Baum Stadium.
With inclement weather forecasted for today, all of the finals originally scheduled for today have been postponed until Monday. The 1A baseball championship game will be at 12:30 p.m., and the softball final for 1A is at 3.
The Lady Tigers have been the dominant team in Class 1A this season, recording 22 shutouts and riding a 20-game winning streak. Taylor has several players back this season, including last year's MVP pitcher Lindsey Downs.
Throughout to postseason, no team has scored a run on the the Lady Tigers. They breezed through the regional tournament by blanking Blevins 20-0, Bradley 15-0 and this weekend's opponent Hermitage 10-0. So far in state tournament play, they've did the same to Midland (10-0), Calico Rock (13-0) and Concord (13-0) in the semfinals.
The Lady Tigers have also beaten Hermitage two other times this season, which include a 16-1 victory on April 12 and an 8-4 win on March 26.
Before winning the 2018 title, the Lady Tigers claimed back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. They are tied for fifth for the most fastpitch softball championships won by an Arkansas high school.
The Lady Tigers' only loss this season was a 2-0 setback to Nashville on March 16, but Taylor got revenge two weeks later by beating the Lady Scrappers 6-5.
In baseball, the Tigers were back-to-back champions in 2004 and 2005, and again in 2008 and 2009. Their last title came in 2013 and they are tied for fifth in the state for the most baseball titles won.
During regional play, the Tigers defeated Kirby 16-6 and Bradley 4-2, before losing 3-2 to Nevada in the finals. As a second-seed in the state tournament, Taylor downed Sacred Heart 13-3, Izard County 7-3 and West Side 13-1 in the semifinals.