Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
EMILY PERRY
SCHOOL Bentonville CLASS Sophomore POSITION Second baseman NOTABLE Finished the season with a .410 batting average with 8 home runs and 42 RBI, good for second on the team. … More than two-thirds of her 34 hits went for extra bases. She led the Lady Tigers with 14 doubles, and she had one triple. … Also finished third on the team with hits and runs scored (34). … Drove in a season-high five runs during a victory over Springdale on April 4. … Hit a home run and drove in four during Bentonville’s rout of North Little Rock in the Class 6A state tournament semifinals. … Had a bases-loaded double that briefly gave the Lady Tigers the lead during the Class 6A championship game against Cabot.
DID YOU KNOW Perry attended a small Catholic school before she transferred to Bentonville before her freshman year, so she was not well known when she joined the softball team that spring.
QUOTABLE “The offseason was very competitive, and all my teammates were battling for spots. I started as the DP, but I had to fight for that position, too. Once I earned my way into the lineup, I wanted to do more and contribute more. Once (Bentonville coach Kent Early) tried me at second base, I did fine and I wanted to make him proud.
“I think the state championship was definitely the signature spot of my season. I’m going to remember that forever. I went up to bat with the bases loaded and two out. That was really a pressure situation, but coach Early has prepared us for these moments during our practices.”
JOSH LLEWELLYN
SCHOOL Rogers Heritage
HEIGHT 6-2
WEIGHT 180
CLASS Senior
THE SCOOP Llewellyn hit .388, drove in 10 runs and scored nine and started behind the plate for the War Eagles. … He also hit over .400 in 6A-West Conference play from the lead-off spot and earned all-conference honors. … The senior started off hitting in the two-hole in the batting order but moved up to the lead-off spot, which is unusual for a catcher. DID YOU KNOW Lewellyn had not played an inning of high school varsity baseball at Bentonville High until moving to Rogers Heritage this year for his senior year. He enjoys fishing for trout on the White River to get away and clear his mind.
QUOTABLE “As soon as I got to Heritage it felt like home. I was a late bloomer. I know I played very well, but I can’t put that all on myself. My teammates turned to brothers in a year. I was able to do what I needed to do on the field as well as make brothership connections and connect my love for the game with the people I was surrounded by and come out with some of my best friends.”
“I never really got much of a chance to play, but when I got a chance I wasn’t about to let it go. I tried to make the most of it and that’s what I did.”