MAUMELLE, Ark. — It’s been quite the week for Maumelle baseball coach Chris Foor.
“Every time I walk down the hall, go to Kroger [or] Wal-Mart, it’s ‘Hey, I got my tickets. I'll see you on Friday night,'" Foor said.
All of Maumelle is ready to see history. When Foor got to campus in 2019, the program had never even played in the state tournament. Friday, they’ll play in their first state title game.
“It’s great, we get to set some history in Maumelle,” Maumelle senior Douglas Bjork said. “The first to ever do it, and we’ve got the team to do it.”
Fellow senior Blaize Ward agrees.
“I think its big," Ward said. "We knew it was possible. We knew we could make it, and we just played with energy and did it.”
And Foor said the community's support has been integral to their success this season.
“This community’s rallied around us,” Foor said. "I think this is something this community’s been building for many years.”
For a historic senior class, it’s the culmination of a wild journey, as Foor knows.
“This is the senior group that came in and had to deal with COVID," Foor said. "They had new coaches, new philosophies, and they’ve rallied around it and made it their own.”
Ward said that there was a sense of family in the locker room, and it has helped the team get to where they are now—the Class 5A state championship game.
“It’s been something I never would have thought of when I was coming up,” Ward said. “It’s been awesome.”
To secure a state title, Maumelle must take down mighty Valley View, who is playing in its fourth consecutive state championship game.
"[I] feel like it will be a lot of pressure... nothing we can't handle," Maumelle senior Nick White said. "Just go play ball."
Maumelle and Valley View meet in the Class 5A state title game at 7 p.m. on Friday. All state championship games are played at the University of Central Arkansas.
Weekend of Champions state tournament scores and scoreboard for Central Arkansas teams can be found here.