CONWAY, Ark.-The Texarkana Razorbacks rallied late to remain alive in the American Legion Arkansas Senior state tournament.
The Razorbacks pushed across seven runs in its final two innings at the plate to reach Saturday's late game against Paragould, Texarkana knocking out the Little Rock Vipers, 9-5, at UCA's Bear Stadium.
Paragould eliminated Batesville, 8-1, Saturday. Batesville lost to Bryant, 11-1 in 6 innings, Friday.
Should Texarkana pick up its second win on Saturday, it will play again at noon today. The championship is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
After chasing the lead for most of the game, the Razorbacks rallied for five runs on just one hit and five free passes in the sixth inning to topple the Vipers.
"We showed a lot of resilience today; it's hard to wake up after a loss and get going in the morning," Texarkana interim coach Dane Peavy said. "The toughness of our team is starting to show itself."
Four hit batsmen were sandwiched around a walk, with Roc Howthorne and Kevin Zhao each picking up RBI after being struck by a pitch.
Kade Garmany ripped his third hit of the game, driving in a pair, and a third run scored as the ball got thrown around.
Dylan Adock, the first of two relievers, picked up the win after replacing Daegan Covington in the sixth.
Covington threw 101 pitches in five innings, allowed six hits and five runs-two earned-with five strikeouts, six walks and one hit batter.
Adcock threw 28 pitches in 1 1-3 innings, gave up three hits and no runs. He walked one and fanned one before Keegan Rogers got two outs in the seventh to preserve the lead.
Braden Larey beat down a bunt single with two down in the second for the Razorbacks. A wild pitch moved Larey to second, and he scored on Gage Harris' single to shallow right field.
The Vipers loaded the bases with no outs on three straight walks in the third. After a strikeout, a hit batsmen brought home a run to tie the game.
Garrett Hatfield singled to center to drive in a run, but Texarkana center fielder Roc Hawthorne threw out the runner attempting to score from second.
Razorback catcher Garmany was able to block the plate while receiving the throw, applying the tag for the second out and then throwing out Hatfield at second base. Hatfield attempted to advance on the throw home but was out to end the inning.
Zhao singled to right-center for Texarkana in the bottom of the third, he moved to third on Garmany's hit to left and scored to tie the game on Covington's sac fly to center.
After a leadoff walk to Little Rock's Nick Jones, C.J. Price bunted for a hit, and an error on a fielder's choice left the bases loaded. Covington got a pair of strikeouts, but Andrew Howard smacked a ground-rule double to left to make it 4-2. Gage Hall singled in another run before the third out was recorded on a rundown between third and home.
"We got down 5-2 and chipped our way back," Peavy said. "It's a great job on the guys' part to stay engaged, grind out at-bats and I'm proud of what they accomplished."
The Razorbacks got two runs back in the bottom of the fifth.
Christian Vicknair singled to center to lead off the rally, and Garmany lined a two-out single to left. Covington drilled a double to left-center field to plate both runners, cutting the deficit to 5-4.
Texarkana came back in the sixth with five more to put the game away, and the Razorbacks left the bases full of Vipers to end the game.
Little Rock 002 300 0 - 5 9 2
Razorbacks 011 025 x - 9 8 1
John White, C.J. Price (6), Andrew Howard (6) and Nick Jones. Daegan Covington, Dylan Adcock (6), Keegan Rogers (7) and Kade Garmany. WP-Adcock. LP-Price.