Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Nelson stars in Bentonville’s sequel
7A SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
BENTONVILLE HIGH 11, NORTH LITTLE ROCK 3
FAYETTEVILLE — Morgan Nelson didn’t get to participate when Bentonville High won its first Class 7A state softball championship last year.
She made sure the sequel was almost as good as the original.
The Bentonville senior had three hits and drove in five runs to close out her high school career Friday afternoon, and the Lady Tigers earned their second consecutive state championship against North Little Rock with an 11-3 decision at Bogle Park.
“She’s been huge all year,” Bentonville coach Kent Early said. “She was the third-leading hitter on our team and the second-leading RBI producer. She’s just been clutch all year long. She’s come up in huge spots and produced all year long. This was just a stage to spotlight her one more time.
“This is fantastic. There was pressure on us to do it the first time, and of course you’re ecstatic. But they were able to handle the pressure all year long, and did such a great job again here. They proved they were the state champs.”
Nelson, whose two-run single in the first inning gave Bentonville an early 3-1 lead, put the Lady Tigers (30-1) ahead to stay as part of a fiverun outburst in the third. Bentonville started the third with consecutive singles by Haley Cornell, Payton Wildeman and Tymber Riley to load the bases.
One out later, Nelson belted a single up the middle to drive in two runs and give the Lady Tigers a 5-3 lead. Cailey Cochran followed that with a sacrifice fly, then a North Little Rock error on Megan Crownover’s ground ball allowed two more runs to score and give Bentonville an 8-3 cushion.
“It felt amazing,” Nelson said. “She pitched a pretty good game, and I just hit the ball where it was.
“We’ve practiced this all throughout the season. We’ve hit off the machines, we’ve been tracking balls and doubling up on battling practice.”
That was more than enough cushion for Bentonville pitcher Maddy Prough (23-1), who settled down after a shaky start and was named the game’s most valuable player. The right-hander, who was named the game’s most valuable player, threw 52 of her 99 pitches and gave up three runs on four hits through the first two innings but allowed just one hit over the final five innings.
Leadoff batter Reagan Sperling had two of North Little Rock’s five hits, and they played instrumental in the Lady Charging Wildcats’ runs. She led off the game with a triple and scored on Marissa Mitchell’s groundout, then her second-inning single drove in Anna Beaver and forced a 3-3 tie.
“We came out swinging the bat, just like we’ve talked about all through the tournament,” North Little Rock coach Jason Houle said. “Prough is usually striking 17 to 19 batters, and I felt good that we were hitting the ball against a great pitcher and putting it in play. To her credit, she got us to pop out a lot, and we couldn’t string some hits together.”
Bentonville continued to pull away in the fourth, even with Lily Douglas replacing Katelynn McMahan in the circle for North Little Rock (21-7). Nelson also had a hand in that three-run outburst as her infield single drove in Jordan Gartman, then she came home and scored the final run on Keelah Griffith’s double, despite Early’s signal to stay at third.
“When she was coming around second, I knew the left fielder had the ball,” Early said. “Generally, by rule of thumb, if they have the ball before the runner touches third, you hold the runner. I did that, but I’m glad she didn’t pay attention.”