Harding Academy looks to add two more diamond titles to the trophy case
BY DUDLEY E. DAWSON
Harding Academy has built one of the state’s best overall high school sports programs with nearly 40 state championships since 2000 alone.
The school will try to add two more championships Friday in Conway.
The baseball Wildcats (24-6) will face Brookland (26-10) in the Class 4A title game at 4 p.m. at Bear Field.
The softball Wildcats (22-8-1) will follow up by battling Mayflower for the Class 3A crown at 7 p.m.
Harding Academy head baseball coach Shane Fullerton is thrilled to be back in the championship game with a program he has led to five of their seven state titles – including ones in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
The Wildcats, who lost to Gosnell in the semifinals last season, have won all seven state championships games they have played in during the program’s history.
“There is never a take it for granted attitude, but there is an expectation – no matter the final result – of excellence from this group and that is what I feel from them,” Fullerton said. “…We also have a sense of calm because we have each other.”
The softball team, which lost in last season’s quarterfinals, was 7-6-1 this season, before winning 15 of their last 17 games.
They have a star pitcher in Ava Ellis, a Tennessee-Martin commit that has over 500 career strikeouts.
“We couldn’t be more excited for our girls and there is not a more deserving team or more deserving coaching staff,” Fullerton said. “…They have done an excellent job of leading these ladies every day.
“We share what we call “The Barn.” It’s three cages under a metal roof with them. And we have seen the work they have put in and the joy they have of being a team together and it surprises us none that they have found their way to the finals.”
Fullerton believes his team is playing its best baseball right now.
“It has been a process, but it has been without a doubt that all facets of the game are firing on all cylinders right now,” Fullerton said. “We trust and hope that will continue tomorrow. I can’t say enough about this guys and the competitive that gos along with them.
“They have been one-pitch warriors, one-out warriors and one-at bat warriors. They are always looking toward winning the battles each pitch.”
Brookland, led by head coach Josh Baker, is trying to win its first state baseball championship with its only other appearance in 1990.
The Bearcats started the season 5-5, but have won 21 of their last 26 games.
“We have a lot of respect for Brookland and how they do things, Coach Baker and his staff and their kids,” Fullerton said. “We talk to each other a lot throughout the year and we can’t wait to hook it up on Friday with a very good Brookland team.”
The Wildcats had two great pitching options to start in juniors Nathan Corbitt (6-4, 185) and Cam Pryor (6-1, 190), who also is a standout center fielder.
Corbitt, who will get the nod, fanned six and gave up six hits in Harding Academy’s 8-4 win over Shiloh Christian in the semifinals.
“One of the great success stories of our year in Nate and how much he has grown as a player and as a human being,” Fullerton said. “He is a joy to be around and a great competitor.
“…He really does a good job of commanding all his pitches and he and Cam always give us a great shot to win.
Fullerton has kept his team in the game mentally with homework.
‘I give them homework ever so often and I told them the other day if somebody wanted you to describe your coach, here are the things that I would love for you to say,” Fullerton said, “and in return if somebody were to ask me about you, what would you say.
“I had 20 responses to that question and so many of those responses made me smile about exactly way those guys wanted to be.
“One of things that I said this one (championship game) means as much to me as the first one we experienced back in 2013. I want to win not just as badly.
“But there is a calm that has kind of gone with this team and the resilience that we have been working toward all year long that (they) just don’t feel the need to panic.”
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