Greenwood pitcher Kaila Cartwright

Tompkins scores winning run on bang-bang play at home

FAYETTEVILLE — Nicole Tompkins was forced to backtrack to third base when she saw Sarah Moore’s grounder head toward the second baseman.

Her retreat didn’t last long. Tompkins reversed course when the throw home sailed over the catcher’s head, allowing Sheridan to walk off with its second consecutive Class 6A state softball championship Saturday as the Lady Yellowjackets won 3-2 over Greenwood at Bogle Park.

“What a wacky finish,” Sheridan Coach Shawna Strawn said. “But a wacky, awesome finish.

“They knew what we had, and we knew what they had. It was just who was coming to get the job done and who had the bigger heart.”

Tompkins dropped a bunt toward third to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning, and an errant throw allowed her to get to second base. She took third on Kendall Ellison’s sacrifice bunt.

Moore then slapped a ball directly to Greenwood second baseman Sidney Bieker, who threw home to keep Tompkins from running home with one out.

The throw was high and went to the backstop, allowing Tompkins to slide into home just before pitcher Kaila Cartwright applied the tag.

“When I saw the ball overthrown, I was like, ‘OK,’ and I took off for home,” Tompkins said. “[Strawn] told me to go, then I dropped the wagon and took off like she told me to.

“It was close. I thought I was going to have to take [Cartwright] out.”

Home runs accounted for all the early scoring between the two 6A-West Conference rivals, which had split their two previous games this season.

Mariah Hamilton put Greenwood (25-7) on the scoreboard in the first when she blasted a two-run home run over the center-field fence.

Sheridan (31-4) countered on Maggie Hicks’ two-run blast to left in the third.

Hicks supplied the defensive play that kept Greenwood from regaining the lead in the top of the seventh.

The Lady Bulldogs had picked up back-to-back walks with two outs in the inning, but Hicks ran into shallow center field and almost tripped over a teammate’s feet as she caught Paxtyn Hayes’ fly ball to end the threat.

“It came down to those two plays,” Greenwood Coach Ronnie Sockey said. “We had chances at the plate that we missed. They made great plays to get out of the inning. We had runners at second and third earlier in the game, then first and second in the seventh. They made the plays, and we didn’t.”

“They knew what we had, and we knew what they had. It was just who was coming to get the job done and who had the bigger heart.” — Sheridan softball Coach Shawna Strawnn

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF • @NWABENGOFF delivers to a Sheridan batter Saturday during the Class 6A state championship softball game at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF Sheridan’s Nicole Tompkins slides in with the winning run ahead of Greenwood pitcher Kaila Cartwright’s tag in the Lady Yellowjackets’ 3-2 victory Saturday in the Class 6A state softball championship at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.

NWA Democrat-Gazette/BEN GOFF Sheridan players celebrate after Nicole Tompkins (second from left) scored the winning run against Greenwood in the Class 6A state softball championship.