Nate Olson: Former Arkansas Razorbacks star Casey Martin put hometown Lonoke on the map, three Hogs commits furthering the tradition
Lonoke pitcher Steele Eaves pitched a complete game in Friday's Class 4A state championship game.
By Nate Olson | Photos by Tommy Land
Cole Spears had a daily reminder that baseball dreams do come true in Lonoke.
Spears had a picture of former Arkansas star baseball player Casey Martin on the background of his school-issued Chromebook laptop. Martin grew up in the small rural Arkansas farm town situated 24 miles east of Little Rock on Interstate 40.
“[Martin] inspired me,” he said. “I always used to watch him. I’ve texted him a few times. My brother went hunting with him one time. We know him just a little bit.”
After starring for the Hogs for two seasons (his junior season was canceled due to COVID), Martin set the standard for Lonoke baseball players as he was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the third round of the 2020 MLB draft. Martin plays for the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws.
Martin is trying to carve a path to the big leagues, and Spears and fellow Lonoke juniors Steele Eaves and Tripp Sullivan are following in Martin’s footsteps to Arkansas. All three of the star prospects committed before this season.
They took a step in cementing their own legacies by winning the Class 4A state championship Friday morning with a 6-3 victory over Ashdown on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas.
“I am going to remember this one forever,” said Eaves, who pitched a complete game and earned MVP honors.
Cole Spears and his junior teammates spend many nights working out in his father's baseball facility in Lonoke.
With the trio of Hogs pledges and another Division I pitching recruit, Jaxson Ingle, the Jackrabbits were a heavy favorite to win the championship.
We just came here expecting to win,” said Sullivan, who is being recruited as a pitcher. “I knew in the back of my mind we were going to win. We just have something special here.”
Lonoke cruised to a 6-0 lead, but the Panthers put up three runs in the seventh inning to make things interesting before Eaves was able to close the door to earn the complete-game win.
“It was just like a regular game,” said Spears, who pitches and plays in the outfield and started at shortstop Friday. “We just came out and played our best. We had no doubt.”
The championship is years in the making as the trio has played together since elementary school.
“Being in this group means a lot,” Eaves said. “We’ve grown up since about five years old playing all summer together. All the hard work we put in has got us to where we are today.”
Spears said Jackrabbits head coach Bryan Eagle pushes the entire team more than most programs. He points out that the team was dismissed from class early two days in a row last week to practice at neighboring Cabot to get work on the Panthers’ artificial surface to prepare to play the title game on Bear Field's turf surface. There is also weightlifting and batting practice before school.
But the trio does even more extra work, spending many nights at the batting facility in Lonoke that Spears’ father owns.
“These guys are Division I, and they know what it takes and push us in games and practice and in the weight room,” Lonoke senior Jonathon Lewis said. “They make us all better.”
Tripp Sullivan is one of a few players on the Jackrabbits team that will also play football this fall.
It’s that work ethic that made Spears believe he and his friends have D-I potential.
“I think so, because we kept working,” he said. “If you keep working, you can achieve big things. But if you just sit there and don’t work, it isn’t going to work out.”
Spears is also quick to include Ingle, who has college interest but hasn’t committed to a program.
“We push each other, and we have Jaxson Ingle, and he is a D-I talent,” Sullivan said. “We push him, and he pushes us. We are all pushing each other and getting better.”
And how does a town with a population of just over 4,000 have one alum from its high school playing professional baseball and four others primed for D-1 careers?
“We just have great ballplayers here and have been playing together our whole lives,” Sullivan said.
All of the juniors agree the path they are on is remarkable.
“You don’t get many chances like this,” Spears said. “It is crazy. I think we all know how special it is.”
The bad news for opponents is the four juniors and others from this year’s team will be back for another year. Before three of them move on to Fayetteville, they will be focused on one thing.
“I think next year we are going to win it again,” Spears said. “We just have to keep working.”
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Nate Olson is a regional editor at SBLive Sports overseeing coverage in Arkansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Follow him on Twitter at @ndosports.
