Bears Outscore Opponents 33-4 to Win South Region

PARKERS CHAPEL - Tate Hall scattered four hits and drove in two runs as the Woodlawn Bears beat the Murfreesboro Rattlers, 11-2, in a clash beween the two no. 1 seeds in the Class 2A South Region championship game Saturday afternoon at Parkers Chapel.Woodlawn (31-1) earns the South Region's no. 1 seed heading into this week's Class 2A State Tournament at Palestine-Wheatley High School. The Bears are scheduled to face the no. 4 seed from the West Region, the Mountainburg Dragons (12-7), at 3 p.m. Thursday.Should Woodlawn win, it would face the winner between Poyen and Riverside at 5:30 p.m. Friday.Bears Coach Tommy Richardson said he feels like his team is starting to hit its stride as they seek the school's fourth consecutive state championship and10th overall. Woodlawn has reeled off 20 straight victories after suffering it only setback of the season, a 6-1 loss to Class 3A Gosnell, back on March 21."I like momentum. I like winning," he said after Saturday's championship game."I'm not one of those bracket lookers that looks ahead and says 'Oh, it would be better if we lose or be better if we win.' I just try to win the next one," he said. "Let the other ones try to figure out how to beat us." After squeezing out some narrow victories earlier in the year, Richardson said he feels like his team is seeing the ball better at the plate, resulting in a higher on-base percentage and more product. The Bears outscored their opponents by a combined score of 33-4 in the regional tournament. Woodlawn has scored 10 or more runs in 11 of the 15 games it has played since April 1."Our bottom half (of the batting order) is starting to come around, and when they come around, we score 12 runs a game," he said. "When they do their job and get on, the top half is going to drive them in."Early in the year, we were kind of top heavy (with the batting order production). You can't score many runs like that. The bottom half has come along a long ways," he said.Richardson attributes the…