Lady Warriors state tourney run ends
OUACHITA LADY WARRIORS FALL TO WONDERVIEW 8-3 IN STATE TOURNEY FIRST ROUND COMPETITION
ARKADELPHIA — The Ouachita Lady Warriors battled through a tough match-up Thursday in the first round of the 2022 Class 1A State Softball Tournament hosted at the Arkadelphia Youth Sports Complex. Despite the heated temperatures in the early afternoon, the Lady Warriors fought hard but fell short to their first round opponent Wonderview 8-3 in seven innings. Ouachita sparked early by a key home run hit from Emma Williams to give Ouachita the early 1-0 lead.
But Wonderview rallied back in their offensive execution to secure their five-run victory and advance to the second round. Sadly, the Lady Warriors campaign at state ended with a winning season. Ouachita’s defense provided key playmaking from infielders Raylee Slate, Jenna Schweitzer, Josie Stafford and behind stout pitching of true freshman Maddie Fulmer.
Ouachita Lady Warrior softball head coach Corey Brown knew how big this game meant to the team. Ouachita came off a tough loss at regionals against Bradley, but the they regrouped to make plays which helped their preparation for their first round match-up against Wonderview.
“Coming off a hard week of regionals where we took our worst loss of the year, but also made some of our best plays,” Brown said. “I feel like it was great preparation for state. [ Emma] Williams hit her first over the fence home run in the opening round of regionals so hopefully her confidence was where it needed to be.”
Brown also stated Chloe Ashcraft made some major league catches in the outfield and the Ouachita’s infield turned some double plays and fielded small ball situations well enough.
“More than the physical, I think we grew mentally through the loss “lesson” and the heat,” he added.
“Wo n d e r v i e w seemed like they are a carbon copy of our team,” Brown said.
He knew his team needed to show up with their “A” game in order to continue their mission in the state tournament.
Ouachita finishes the season 16-5 with a plus .500 overall record. Ouachita 1A-7 Conference and District Tournament champions— 1A- 4 Regional and Class
1A state tournament qualifiers.
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The Lady Warriors will return several key pieces from this year’s squad and look to rally up another productive campaign of destruction on the diamond for season 2023.