Mohawks lose two close ones, set to host district

Mohawk Tanner Murray is congratulated by teammates after getting a hit recently against the Brookland Bearcats. The Tribe is scheduled to take on Brookland again Thursday afternoon in the first round of the district tournament in Piggott. (Times file photo) [Click to enlarge]

The Piggott Mohawks lost a couple of close conference games last week, as they closed out the regular season and prepared for this week's district tournament. The Tribe is scheduled to take on the Brookland Bearcats at 6:30 Thursday evening in their first round game. With a win they'll get a third chance at the Corning Bobcats this year, after splitting their two regular season meetings. According to coach Shawn Hearn, there are still several regular season games to play..but it was likely that the Bobcats would be the first round foe. Otherwise, if the standings are shuffled, the Mohawks could face the Manila Lions in the second round.

Last week the Tribe visited the Tuckerman Bulldogs and dropped a 6-8 decision, as they ended up being swept on the season by the 3A-3 north champs. Then Thursday afternoon the Mohawks visited the Corning Bobcats and came out on the short end of a 4-5 decision. Actually the Tribe was in the ballgame until the bottom of the sixth inning when Robby Crossfield drove in Zack Brown to give the Bobcats the lead. Colby Lovelace led the Mohawks with a 1 for 3 day including a two run homerun. Senior Tyler Grubb took the loss for the Tribe, as they gained a regular season split with their conference rivals.

Of the Corning game Hearn would later note, "we hit the ball hard, but it was right at them..our kids played hard and they played well..we just didn't get any breaks."

With the two losses the Mohawks finished as the number three seed in the north division, and will take on the fourth-seeded Bearcats in the first round. More details on the bracket may be found in a related story found elsewhere on this page.