STATE BOUND
Lady Wolves earn another trip to playoffs
PEARCY — Despite a rough patch last week during the 6A-West district tournament, Lake Hamilton has performed well this season, which is no surprise with 12 upperclassmen.
With six seniors and six juniors, the Lady Wolves (16-10) have a strong set of leaders that “are hungry,” head coach Amy Teague said.
“This group of seniors, four years ago, when I got them as a freshman group, they really showed a lot of interest,” she said. “We won (the Class 6A state title) in 2012, and we were competitive in 2013. That junior group came back as seniors and had a good season. Then we had a little lull there for a little bit.
“This group of seniors, I saw when they were freshmen, they really had a hunger for the game. They were really passionate about it. I remember having a team meeting with them. A lot of them were expressing, ‘We want to win a state championship.’ The hunger was there.”
Teague encouraged the players to get involved in playing during the off-season on travel teams, which helped improve their skills and made them more confident.
“They really took on to the sport, and they were passionate about it,” she said. “They worked at it. They’ve been working for this season for four years.
“Of course, the group underneath them, when they came in, were very passionate about it. Several of them had been involved in travel ball. They kind of jumped on board, too.”
While the upperclassmen provide the leadership, a class of 11 freshmen brings support and talent to the diamond as well.
“Not only do I have six seniors and six juniors, I have a freshman group that really adds to our culture,” Teague said. “They support these older kids. They encourage them. They’re just a very supportive group when those older kids are out there, they’re behind them in the dugout supporting them.
“That goes a long way. It keeps the energy. I will say that they’ve played a huge role in just keeping the team morale up. They come in every day and work as hard as they can to get better, knowing that they may not see a lot of playing time. They really are doing a great job of keeping the energy.”
Early in the season, the Lady Wolves had a string of losses, dropping to 2-4 by the end of the second week of the season.
With teams like Class 7A powerhouses Bryant (27-4) and Rogers Heritage (15-11) and Class 3A semifinalist Haskell Harmony Grove (22-5), Teague was not surprised by the outcomes. In addition, one of the team’s top batters was suspended for four games among that stretch.
“That period of time, our leading batter and catcher went on a fourgame suspension for a little mishap in school,” Teague explained. “The school suspended her, so I suspended her for games. We were missing her. That was a big deal.
“You’re talking about a kid, who at that time had a .600 batting average and then two home runs and 16 RBIs. Offensively, that’s a big hit. That was a key. Of course, (so was) playing against the teams we were playing. I always like to play teams that, even if you lose, will make you better. We were facing top-quality teams during that period.”
The Lady Wolves went on a 10-1 run in the next four weeks.
“I feel like we were beating some teams that were weaker teams, and we were doing what we were supposed
to do,” she said. “I don’t want to take anything away from the kids, but we should have been beating them by that much. With El Dorado, we run-ruled them in four innings, 15-0.
“Sunday practice, like I said, I felt like we went through the motions. Monday, we had Lakeside, 17-0, and we did fine. Then, we faced Magnolia on Tuesday, and I feel like that our work ethic from Sunday and Monday kind of carried over to Tuesday. I felt like we got lucky Tuesday to win that game, 5-4.”
By Wednesday of that week, Teague realized her team was becoming overconfident. Following the 4-3 loss to El Dorado, the Lady Wolves lost, 5-0, at conference-leading De Queen.
Lake Hamilton closed out the regular season with a pair of dominant wins over Camden Fairview and Hot Springs before edging White Hall in the final regular season game of the year. The fourth-place finish in the
6A-West earned Lake Hamilton a berth to the Class 6A state tournament in Greenwood.
The Lady Wolves will start out with a 10 a.m. matchup on Thursday against Pine Bluff
(11-17), the fifth seed from the
6A-East. Teague said she has a pair of pitchers who can propel the team on a tournament run.
“I’ve got Annalee Diehl, who has been my starter,” she said. “She went out with a sprained ankle, and she missed six games pitching. She did play against El Dorado, but she just batted because she wasn’t cleared to pitch yet. I’ve been using Annalee as my starter and letting her go as long as she can, and then I bring in Charlye (Rowland) to finish. They do a good job working together.
“Both of them are really strong pitchers. Both of their careers, they’ve done an excellent job. I feel like they keep us in ball games, close enough where if we hit we have a chance. Our success depends on our hitting. Both of our pitchers are not going to overpower a good-hitting team. If we don’t hit, we will struggle.”
Teague said she is also confident in her defense.
The rest of the Lady Wolf defense is strong as well.
“Our best defense is with Annalee on the mound,” Teague said. “With her back, we’re going to pitch her as long as we can. When we have to go to Charlye, we will. It’s nothing against Charlye’s pitching, it’s that we’re better with Charlye in a defensive position.
“Of course, then we had a little injury with Kamryn Knox, who is probably my best infielder, fielding-wise. She’s my flex player, so that means she only plays defense; she doesn’t bat for us. She’s a heck of a little infielder.”
The Lady Wolves face three games in three days in order to reach the 6A finals.
“I want it for them because they’ve put in a lot of work,” Teague said. “I would love to see this group make a run. Do I think they can? Absolutely. One of our biggest keys is that we’re going to have to generate runs. More than likely, the top teams, they’re going to put some runs on the board against us, and we’re going to have to match that. Our key is going to be offensive production. If we can produce runs, then absolutely we can make a run.
“Do I see the drive and the want-to? Absolutely. These kids are great kids. They’ve got good work ethic, and they put a lot of work in. I would love to see this group. I want it for them. That’s the kind of group they are. It’s been a fun year.”