No coach or team is bigger than baseball itself and 4A North Regional host Lincoln acknowledged as much in keeping the 2014 tournament on schedule.
The Wolves sacrificed home-field advantage for the greater good although few fans recognized that when Lincoln's baseball season came to an abrupt end with a resounding clang like a steel trap snapping shut in a 3-2 loss to Pottsville on May 8.
One of the harsh realities of sports is first-round losers in Arkansas high school Regional baseball tournaments are done no matter what they've accomplished up to that point such as Lincoln winning 2014 conference and district championships. Intensifying the shock factor were multiple compound fractures breaking the hearts of Wolves' backers.
Moving Games
Lincoln athletic director Deon Birkes said keeping the tournament on schedule was a high priority and was grateful for timely assistance from their U.S. 62 brethren, Farmington (12 miles distance) and Prairie Grove six miles down the highway where first-round games were moved due to heavy rain the day before.
Both Birkes and then Lincoln baseball coach Brad Harris called Farmington and Prairie Grove early Friday morning with an urgent request.
"We said, 'can your fields be playable?' And they said, 'absolutely,' and they got to work on it immediately so that was a huge deal to be able to get the tournament in," Birkes said.
Except that instead of playing on their home field at 10 a.m., the Wolves traveled to Farmington and didn't play until 4 p.m. lengthening a day which began with Harris and the team trying to get their field ready at 7:30 a.m. only to discover it was too wet.
"In hindsight maybe we should have waited but things happen for a reason. You just got to go back and self-evaluate and see why, but we're going to continue to host cause that's what we do. We get up every time we get knocked down. We're going to get up," Birkes said.
"I appreciate Farmington and Prairie Grove. They're class acts, class AD's [athletic directors] class school systems and we're proud that our conference just jumped in there and helped us when we needed it."
Junior Transfer
Junior shortstop/pitcher Drew Harris, who quarterbacked the Wolves to their first-ever wins in football state playoffs and dated Madison Rich, daughter of Lincoln boys basketball coach Tim Rich, was preparing to transfer to Benton and elimination meant he would not take the field again in a Lincoln uniform.
"I definitely wanted to see them win and it's pretty upsetting that they didn't cause I think they should have gone very far," Madison said, explaining the personality trait she most admired in Drew was his kindness.
As children of coaches the two shared a unique insight in their dating relationship.
"It sort of helped us understand each other. It's sort of different being a coach's child because your family lives in a different way because your coaching father is not really around all the time. So, we sort of understood each other on that and just how our dads would be involved in various things in their seasons."
End Of Tenure
For Brad Harris, who resigned in April to relocate his family to Benton to be close to his ailing father, the loss was particularly painful bringing an anti-climatic end to his coaching tenure at Lincoln where he guided the Wolves to state baseball appearances in 5 previous seasons and orchestrated a major turnaround in the football program. Lincoln went 16-7 on the baseball diamond yet couldn't string together enough hits in succession to win and were hurt by base-running errors against Pottsville.
"That's the game of baseball. That's why the big leagues play 162 [games]," Brad Harris said. "It's a different day every day you get up with that game. We just didn't swing it real well and made a few mistakes. That's what happens to you in baseball, you get beat when you make mistakes like that."
"Coach Harris is a class act. He does great things. He does a lot of good things," Birkes said. "He helped bring our programs, baseball and football both to the upper echelon. We owe him a lot of gratitude for that. He's connected with these kids so it's really always tough to see him leave. He's a great man, great integrity, so it's a tough way to see him go out."
Healing will begin to occur in the baseball program once Lincoln hires a new head coach.
MARK HUMPHREY IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR THE ENTERPRISE-LEADER.
Sports on 07/23/2014