Rison defeats champs 3 times

FAYETTEVILLE — Rison refutes the adage it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season.

The Lady Wildcats did it by beating Spring Hill three games in three weeks.

Rison overcame an early two-run deficit to defeat Spring Hill 5-2 Saturday in the Class 2A state softball championship game at Bogle Park, denying Spring Hill its third consecutive state title. Winning pitcher Kristen Hurst held Spring Hill scoreless after the first inning and contributed a run-scoring double in the third inning to give Rison a 3-2 lead.

She was named MVP for Rison (28-5), which captured its first state championship after being eliminated in the first round by Hector last year.

“Kristen is a sophomore who’s grown a lot and has come a long way,” Rison Coach Kristie Saunders said. “She really focused hard to get those last innings in.”

Spring Hill jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning with the help of two hits and an error on a ball that got past the left fielder.

But the Lady Wildcats took control with a combined five runs in the third and fourth innings.

Spring Hill (22-10) contributed to its own demise in the third inning with three errors on the infield when Rison scored three runs to take the lead for good.

“We had one bad inning where we had some errors and just lost our focus,” said Spring Hill Coach Lori Chambless, whose team committed five total errors. “Rison’s really good about capitalizing on those errors. We tried to come back, but it wasn’t enough.”

Rison and Spring Hill are both members of the 2A-East Conference, but the teams did not meet until the district tournament. Rison won that game 8-1, then defeated Spring Hill 8-3 in the regionals.

“We knew the most important game was when we faced them in our district [tournament],” Saunders said. “We went into that game head over heels and beat them 8-1 in district and 8-3 in the regionals. They’re a good team, and we knew we had to respect them because they’ve been here the last three years.”

After scoring three runs in the third, Rison built on its lead when Kennedy Ratliff hit a two-run single in the fourth inning. The Lady Wildcats had six hits while Hurst held Spring Hill to three hits, including a double and single by Cheyenne Bobo.

“That’s our goal, to put the ball in play and keep putting people on base,” Saunders. “We can do that in all areas of the lineup, not just at the top.”