Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sanders strikes out 10 in Tigers’ win
6A-WEST SOFTBALL BENTONVILLE 6, ROGERS 2
BENTONVILLE — Ryann Sanders gave an emphatic fist pump after striking out the final batter on Tuesday.
The Bentonville sophomore right-handed pitcher was masterful in an 6-2 win against Rogers, fanning 10 and earning the complete-game win that moved the Lady Tigers into sole possession of first place in the 6A-West Conference.
“I was just really excited,” said Sanders, who windmilled 93 pitches and 68 for strikes without walking a batter. “We were down this weekend. We lost one and we really needed this W to get back the momentum that we need.”
Bentonville coach Kent Early said his team, and particularly Sanders, were keyed up after losing to Class 5A Benton on Saturday, a game in which his team committed an uncharacteristic five errors.
“Ryann pitched great today,” said Early. “She was ready to play. The whole team was ready to play. But she showed up today.”
The Lady Tigers (11-1, 5-0) jumped in front 2- 0 early and never let off the pedal in handing Rogers (7-2, 4-1) its first league loss.
Junior Kasey Wood drove a 2-0 pitch into the left-enter gap to lead off the bottom of the first, and Alleyna Rushing followed with an infield single. After Rushing stole second, Sanders drove in Wood with a sacrifice fly, and Rushing scored on am RBI double by Trista Peterson, who was 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles for a 2-0 lead.
Rogers cut the two- run lead in half in the top of the second when Ava Johnson lined a one-out single. Johnson scored later in the inning when an errant Bentonville throw to second trying to prevent Johnson from stealing, went to the fence in center, allowing Johnson to race around the bases. It was one of three errors committed by the Lady Tigers on Tuesday.
Savanna Schenkle got the run back for Bentonville in the second with a solo home run.
Rogers rallied in the fourth as Sydney Smith led off with a single, but Sanders recorded back-to-back strikeouts. Dahana Toumala sliced a ball into shallow right that Bentonville right fielder Amber Turner laid out for, but came up just a little short. With Smith running on the hit, Lady Tiger second baseman Tallulah Pascucci raced out to shallow right and fired a strike home to nail Smith.
“The right- fielder did a good job of keeping the ball in front, then Tallulah did a great job on getting to the ball and throwing it home,” said Early. “That was big.”
Bentonville added a run in the fourth on Peterson’s second double, who later scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-1.
Rogers made it a 4-2 game in the sixth on a two- out solo homer from Smith to right-center, but Bentonville tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on a Rogers fielding error.