Hitters step up for Bentonville
BENTONVILLE 10, CONWAY 9
BRYANT — Bentonville’s Ashley Parker stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded and a simple approach: Stick the bat out and see what unfolds.
Trailing Conway 9-8 in the seventh inning, the strategy paid dividends when Parker looped a pitch into shallow left field, scoring Whitney Freeman and Kali Piha in a 10-9 walkoff victory Saturday in the semifinals of the Class 7A softball tournament at Bryant Field.
“The left fielder was back,” Parker said. “[The pitcher] supplied the power, I just stuck the bat out.”
The Tigers (22-4) loaded the bases in the seventh before Conway (18-10) got two outs, and Lady Wampus Cats pitcher Morgan Goodnight nearly got out of the jam.
“That was clutch,” Bentonville Coach Kent Early said. “But that’s what a slapper does: Find a pocket in a defense.”
In the top of the sixth, the Lady Wampus Cats, the No. 2 seed from the 7A-central, broke an 8-8 tie when junior Taylor Kuhn singled to center field to score younger sister Cheyenne Kuhn — capping a comeback from an 8-5 deficit.
Conway scored one in the first and four in the second to take a 5-0 lead. The Lady Wampus Cats used three consecutive one-run singles with two outs by Deonna Howard, Mattison Shaw and Kaylee St. Johnin teh four-run second.
Piha, who allowed 9 runs on 18 hits over 7 innings, didn’t help matters when a rising fastball got past catcher Macey Brake to bring in Shaw.
But Bentonville responded, starting with three runs in the bottom of the second. Piha hit a two-run double and later scored on a Goodnight wild pitch.
The Tigers tied it at 5-5 with two runs in the third inning and took the lead when Jordan Taylor hit home run to center in the fourth. Kate Lacina added another run when Alicia Lowery scored from third on a fielder’s choice, and the lead reached 8-5 on Brake’s RBI single that scored Taylor, who doubled earlier in the inning.
“I told our girls in the dugout around the fifth inning, ‘You’re in a fight, and we’re trading licks right now,’ ” Conway Coach Chad Longing said. “‘Someone’s going to have to cut someone to win.’ ”
Goodnight, who allowed 10 runs on 17 hits and struck out 3 in 7 innings, did her best to cut into the lead in the top of the fifth.
After Cheyenne Kuhn hit a leadoff single, Goodnight drilled the first pitch from Piha over the left field wall to make it 8-7. Howard tied it later in the inning when she beat out a grounder as Mallory Brook — who got on with a one-out single and moved to third on a single by Morgan Setzler — scored.
“Boy, we almost get out of it in the seventh, and then there’s that little bloop,” Longing said. “It just gets you.” BRYANT 7, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 0
The Hornets will have a chance for a third consecutive title, but will have to do it without the services of pitcher Peyton Jenkins.
Jenkins left the game with an injury to her right knee, crumpling to the dirt after throwing a strike with two outs in the second inning.
But Bryant’s bats carried the load against the Wildcats, the No. 2 seed from the 7A-west.
Catcher Jessica Taylor gave the Hornets, the top seed from the 7A-central, a 3-0 lead when she hit a home run in the first inning.
That lead would stand up even after Jenkins went down, and freshman Jordan Williams came on to pitch 5 1 / inning 3 without allowing a run on 2 hits to earn the victory.
Har-ber starter Emily Stockalper lasted 2 innings, giving up 3 runs on 4 hits in the loss. Hannah Bender came on in relief after Stockalper walked Williams to open the bottom of the second inning.
But Bender promptly hit Taylor in the back and then allowed a two-run double by center fielder Kayla Sory that made it a 5-0 lead. After Cassidy Wilson grounded out, first baseman Kaley Coppock’s single brought in Sory for a 6-0 lead.
Third baseman Mckenzie Rice added a home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to cap the scoring.