No. 1 seed Lady Leopards face Star City Lady Bulldogs in opening round at regionals
HOMETOWN MALVERN LADY LEOPARD SOFTBALL 4A SOUTH REGIONAL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT 2023
MALVERN — The postseason journey on the diamond begins Thursday for the hometown Malvern Lady Leopards as they’ll enter as the No. 1 seed from the 4A-7 and face No. 4 seed Star City Lady Bulldogs in the opening round of the 4A South Regional Softball Tournament hosted in De Queen.
The Lady Leopards captured the 7-4A Conference title by sweeping through the league competition with only one defeat to finish 13-1.
The Lady Leopards came off a shutout win against Hope 16-0 in their final league contest that secured the conference championship for Malvern.
Veteran Malvern softball head coach Darryl Baker aims to keep the hometown performers focused and sharp in their execution as they’ve been throughout the season.
The Lady Leopards have ignited a five-game winning streak heading into the regional tournament—looking to clinch a consecutive season state tournament berth in their qualifying first round match-up facing Hamburg.
The Lady Leopards topped Camden-fairview in a shutout win 14-0 in last year’s state tournament qualifying game in regionals—falling to Nashville in the semifinals, but defeated Hamburg in the third place game.
Malvern prevailed against Farmington in the opening round in the 2022 Class 4A state tournament, but lost in a heartbreaking contest to Valley View Lady Blazers in the quarterfinals.
Malvern finished in the elite eight teams at state and third place in the 4A-7 Conference and 4A South Region tournament during the 2022 postseason.
This year, several returning team playmakers are back to make some more noise in the postseason led by lone ace senior Katelyn Minge to guide the Lady Leopards’ journey on the diamond for strong a run as state title contenders for 2023.
4A SOUTH REGIONAL SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT 2023
Opening Round Match-ups
Thursday, May 4 in De Queen
No. 1 seed Malvern vs. No. 4 seed Star City
No. 2 seed Stuttgart vs. No. 3 seed Nashville
No. 1 seed Monticello vs. No. 4 seed Magnolia
No. 2 seed Ashdown vs. No. 3 seed Hamburg