The battle for second place in the 7A-Central Conference came down to a catfight between Conway and North Little Rock.
The Charging Wildcats, though, proved to have the sharper claws Monday night, as they rallied back to spoil the Wampus Cats' Senior Night with a 4-3 win. The loss secures a third-place finish for Conway (19-9, 9-4) in the league standings. North Little Rock (19-10, 10-4) will get a first-round bye in this weekend's state tournament, most likely as the No. 2 seed. Little Rock Catholic was atop the conference rankings heading into Monday.
"We've got a little bigger hill to climb now in the state tournament," Cats coach Noel Boucher said. "If we play up to our potential, we'll be fine."
Conway led Monday's contest 3-0 before the Wildcats cut the lead to one with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. North Little Rock then plated two more in the seventh for its first lead.
That lead was almost short-lived, as Landon McClain nearly belted a walk-off, 3-run homer in the bottom of the frame. The ball, however, went just foul.
"It wasn't foul by much," Boucher said. "Baseball's a game of inches. It's kind of cliche, but it's true."
The Cats got things going in the seventh as Zach Cates and Jeremy Atkins drew back-to-back one-out walks. That chased Wildcat starting pitcher Kyle Thompson and brought in Andrew Hohn.
Hohn was able to close the game out, including surviving McClain's near home run, and secure the win with no more damage done.
"We played pretty well," Boucher said. "We had a couple of things not go our way, but we thought we had a win. That's just how it goes sometimes."
Things were going Conway's way in the third, when the Cats scored three runs.
Stephen Hicks led off with a single, Conway's first hit of the game, and Josh Whitehurst followed with a bunt-single. In an attempt to advance the runners, Ryan Valovich also reached on a bunt, as he beat out the throw. B.J. Lowe followed by reaching on an error, as Hicks scored to give the Cats a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Zach Cates doubled to drive in Whitehurst and Lowe to increase the lead to three.
That's where the score remained until Kell Crain singled in David Stracencer in the fifth to give the Wildcats their first run. Brian Bryles scored on a sacrifice fly by Thompson in the sixth, setting up the decisive final inning.
Stracener led off the seventh getting hit by a pitch before Cates, Conway's starter, retired the next two batters. Clark Sims then singled, and Bryles followed by drawing a walk. Hunter Benton who finished 3 for 4 to lead all hitters drove in Stracener and Bryles with a single of his own to put the finishing touches on the game's scoring.
"It came down to who got a hit there at the end," Boucher said. "They did, and they won the game."
Stephen Hicks and Ryan Valovich led the Cats' seven-hit effort with two hits each.
Cates scattered eight hits and struck out five in
Cates and eight other seniors were recognized after the game. The Cat seniors are Luke Adlong, Jeremy Atkins, Blake Blaylock, Cates, Hicks, Jordan Leach, McClain, Peyton Simpson and Zach Wyatt.
"This has been a great group, and we're going to miss them," Boucher said. "They've been a part of some wonderful things here, and I hope they all have success in whatever they do."
Conway is scheduled to play at Pine Bluff today in a make-up game to conclude its regular season.
