Springdale Har-Ber senior Blake Adams went 7-0 with a 1.69 ERA. He struck out 96 batters in 661/3 innings in 2019. Adams has signed to play at the University of Arkansas.
By Paul Boyd
SPRINGDALE -- Blake Adams was double trouble for Springdale Har-Ber's opposition.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound senior was not only one of the state's top high school pitchers, but he was also one of the most feared hitters. For that reason, he is the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps Baseball Player of the Year for the 2019 season.
Cedar Park needed to get past their original rival Leander to get back to the playoffs and they did so in style. Junior quarterback David Cooper tossed two early touchdown passes to senior Jamal Porter and ran for another; senior Trae Samuel Frost Hill rumbled for three rushing touchdowns and the Black Rain defense posted a 4th quarter safety for good measure. After the rubber pellets settled at Gupton Stadium, the Timberwolves had manufactured a 46-7 Halloween nightmare over the Lions in our VYPE Austin Central Texas Game of the Week.
It wasn’t clear early that Cedar Park was going to post such a convincing win, however. After Cooper (12-20, 154, 2 TD, INT) tossed the 30 and 34-yarders to Porter (6-102, 2 TD), Leander’s senior running back Mason Montgomery (12-71, TD) scampered in from 5 yards out to cut the lead in half. But the Lions would get no closer.
Hill’s first 4-yard run score capped off a 12-play, 57-yard drive; his second from 13 yards out – following a missed Leander field goal attempt – put the period on a 13-play, 80-yard march as Cedar Park opened a 29-7 halftime lead.
Cooper’s 4-yard bootleg and conversion boosted the Cedar Park lead to 37-7 before Hill’s final 41-yard dash closed out the offensive output. Hill finished with 202 yards and 3 touchdowns on 22 carries. The Timberwolf defense notched their Safety on a fumbled snap in the end zone to bring the final score to 46-7.
Senior quarterback Ke’Marion Gordon went 15-27 for 185 yards through the air and rushed for 86 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries for Leander.
Leander (2-4 in District 8-5A-1, 3-6 overall) hosts East View Friday (11/7) to close out the season. Cedar Park (5-1, 6-3) clinched a playoff spot with the win. The Timberwolves travel to Birkelbach Field in Georgetown to face undefeated-in-district Georgetown to try and claim a piece of the district crown in a game that VYPE will broadcast.
