El Dorado hosts Benton in baseball, softball and soccer.
The El Dorado Lady Wildcats had their chances to upend Benton. However, the host team was unable to get the clutch hit as they lost 2-1 to the Lady Panthers Friday at the El Dorado/Union County Recreational Complex.
“We were able to hit the ball hard with runners in scoring position,” Lady Wildcat coach Michael Brooks said. “If we get a ball to drop (during a couple of those situations) we’re looking at us being on top 3-2 or 4-2. When we get runners in scoring position, we have to get them in.”
In a well-played 6A-South contest, El Dorado made an astute defensive play in the top of the seventh to avoid falling further behind.
With Benton holding a 1-run lead, Delaney Bono came to the plate. At this juncture of the game, there were runners on first and second and two outs recorded. Bono was able to make contact with a pitch from El Dorado’s Rebecca Voss for a single. Benton attempted to score another run on the play. But, the Lady Wildcat infielders communicated well and caught the Lady Panther trying to score from third in a run-down. The run-down came to an end when second baseman Nikki Oliver quickly tossed the ball to catcher Marissa Rice, who was able to apply the tag just before the runner reached the plate.
Knowing they had just dodged a bullet, El Dorado’s players were exuberant as they sprinted to their dugout to prepare for the bottom half of the seventh.
“On that play, the whole team did a good job. But Nikki had the ball in her hand and she stayed under control. She ran the runner back to third,” Brooks said. “When she took off for home she stayed relaxed and threw the ball to Marissa, and made a good play. We executed defensively down the stretch and it was good to see our girls
do that.”
The Lady Wildcats began their half of the seventh with plenty of momentum. However, Benton pitcher Bre Langford remained composed and did not allow El Dorado to get a runner on base in the bottom of the inning. The Lady Wildcats’ final at-bat featured a pop fly to left from Heaven Leveritt, an Ariel King strikeout, and a groundout by Mekaylan Hicks.
“Their pitcher, she did a great job. She had a good game pitching,” Brooks stated. “She just kept us off base. Maybe if we get a runner on we might have been able to do something.”
Benton never trailed in this contest as it scored a run in the top of the first, due to a hit by Jordan Herbner and one El Dorado error. Holding a 1-run cushion, the Lady Panthers added to their advantage in the third inning.
Benton received singles from Bono and Langford to push its lead out to 2-0.
In the bottom of the third, the Lady Wildcats got on the board. King led off the inning with a single. After Catherine Lansdell was struck out, Henley Perry hit a single to left field. Kelsey Howard then used a slap-hit to center field for what would be an RBI double. The score was now 2-1 as El Dorado had runners on second and third. But, the Lady Wildcats failed to move the runners over. Oliver hit a pop fly to center field and Tristen Lewis grounded out to conclude the inning.
During the bottom of the fourth, El Dorado received another prime opportunity to score.
After Leveritt hit a single to center field, the Lady Wildcats had runners at the corners with only one out. But, with King at the plate, the runner on third was picked-off for the second out. Moments later, Langford struck out King to end the the Lady Wildcats’ fourth inning scoring threat. In the remaining stages of the game, El Dorado was unable to get a runner past first base as it would lose by a single run.
“It’s a tough one. I thought the girls competed hard. We knew our girls were going to compete,” Brooks said. “We could tell just by the way they were carrying themselves that they were ready to take on the best team in the state.”
At the plate for El Dorado, which is now 6-2 overall and 4-2 in league play, it was led by Perry who had two hits.
Langford was the winning pitcher as she gave up six hits and struck out seven. The Loss went to Voss who amassed four strikeouts while giving up five hits.