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Noland’s start Friday as much about his improvement as anything

Connor Noland will start regional opener Friday, which raised some eyebrows, but following Dave Van Horn’s moves tends to work out pretty well.

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There were some eyebrows raised Wednesday afternoon when the news broke that freshman Connor Noland would be starting the NCAA Regional opener Friday.

Dave Van Horn usually starts his ace, which would be Isaiah Campbell in this case.

Instead, he’s going with Noland against noted powerhouse Central Connecticut State. Some have taken that to mean Van Horn feels he didn’t need to start Campbell in this one and can save him for the second day of the tournament.

Kole Ramage can be excused for getting his hopes up. He seemed to be the beneficiary during a stretch where Noland would go 4.2 innings in a game, then Ramage would come in and pick up a win.

By the time Noland finally got his first win on April 16 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff when he worked just two innings and got the win, thanks in large part to a five-run start in the first inning by the offense.

He joked after the game to the scorer he didn’t want that to be his first win and was told it was pity win. It was done in a lighthearted manner.

The reality is, though, Noland has gotten better through the season. His ERA of 3.71 is second best on the team behind Campbell. More importantly, he’s given up less than a hit per inning pitched over the course of the year.

Then there’s Van Horn, who is at the stage of the season where he makes more good decisions than bad ones. Don’t take that as a negative. Every coach has a few along the way he wouldn’t do again with 20-20 hindsight.

Either way it goes Friday, Van Horn will have Campbell on Friday. The odds are it will be to put the Razorbacks in a position where they only have to win one game over possibly two days to advance to a Super Regional.

Van Horn is breaking a trend where he’s started his ace on the opening day of the regional the last few years.

Based on the track record, following Van Horn’s hunches usually works out pretty good.

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2024 High School Rankings

Following is the Arkansas Sports Media High School Football Poll including the Overall Top 10, the top five in Classes 7A, 6A, 5A, 4A, 3A and 2A, plus the top three in the 8-man division, as voted by a panel of sports media from around the state for the week ending August 24. Ranking is given with first-place votes received, records, total points and ranking from last week's poll:
OVERALLRecordPtsPrv
1.Bryant (18)8-02521
2.Conway (6)8-02302
3.Greenwood (2)8-02103
4.Little Rock Parkview7-11714
5.Bentonville5-31416
6.Benton7-11265
7.Fayetteville6-21008
8.Pulaski Academy6-2757
9.Rogers5-3459
10.Shiloh Christian6-24010
Others receiving votes: Marion 13, Valley View 9, Joe T Robinson 8, Mountain Home 4, Cabot 3, Elkins 3.
CLASS 7A
1.Bryant (20)8-01241
2.Conway (6)8-01052
3.Bentonville5-3753
4.Fayetteville6-2455
5.Pulaski Academy6-2354
Others receiving votes: Rogers 5.
CLASS 6A
1.Greenwood (26)8-01301
2.Benton7-11022
3.Shiloh Christian6-2713
4.Marion7-1524
5.Mountain Home7-131
Others receiving votes: Little Rock Catholic 4.
CLASS 5A
1.Little Rock Parkview (23)7-11271
2.Joe T Robinson7-1902
3.Valley View (3)8-0803
4.Hot Springs Lakeside7-1484
5.Farmington7-130
Others receiving votes: Camden Fairview 4, Maumelle 4, Morrilton 3, Greenbrier 2, Harding Academy 1.
CLASS 4A
1.Elkins (19)8-01161
2.Arkadelphia (5)6-2792
3.Little Rock Mills (1)8-0703
4.Warren6-2404
5.Malvern (1)8-0315
Others receiving votes: Dardanelle 22, Southside Batesville 11, Mena 8, Bauxite 7, DeWitt 4, Highland 2.
CLASS 3A
4.Bismarck (15)8-01054
5.Fordyce (4)8-0765
Prescott (3)7-1531t
1.Osceola (2)6-149
3.Mayflower (1)8-036
Others receiving votes: Booneville (1) 31, Rivercrest 19, Mansfield 14, Charleston 4, Rison 3.
CLASS 2A
1.Carlisle (21)8-01211
2.Conway Christian (4)8-01042
3.Des Arc7-1663
4.Bigelow (1)6-2455
5.Murfreesboro6-230
Others receiving votes: Marked Tree 10, Mineral Springs 6, Junction City 5, Cross County 1, Mount Ida 1, Poyen 1
8-MAN SANCTIONED
1.Strong-Huttig (25)5-0761
2.Midland (1)7-0502
3.Cedar Ridge7-1253
Others receiving votes: Rector 5.

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ESPN ARKANSAS 99.5 IN FAYETTEVILLE, 95.3 IN THE RIVER VALLEY, 96.3 IN HOT SPRINGS, 104.3 IN HARRISON-MOUNTAIN HOME.