Still buzzing

A recent three-game losing streak may have done Greenbrier more good than harm.

The Lady Panthers had reeled off 11 consecutive victories and were tied for first place in the 5A-West Conference standings with Greenwood going into the two teams’ doubleheader on April 8. By the end of that twogame set, Greenbrier found itself two games back of the Lady Bulldogs.

“We ran into a buzzsaw down there,” Greenbrier Coach Brian Butler said of his team’s 10-0 and 7-6 losses at Greenwood. “Of course, they’re senior-loaded, and we didn’t play very well in that first one. We competed in the second one, and I was proud of them for coming back, but we went down there, and it was a different environment.

Vilonia handed Butler’s team a 7-2 loss in their next game five days later, but a walk-off two-run home run by sophomore Shelby Hardy allowed the Lady Panthers to rally to win 6-4 in the nightcap. That blast was much needed for Greenbrier (16-6, 7-3), which will have a slew of tough games over the next few weeks as it tries to position itself to make a state title run.

“I never realized how much you build from year to year until you lose a year,” Butler said, referring to a shortened 2020 season. “I tell everybody that I’ve got freshmen, redshirt freshmen and redshirt sophomores because they lost that year. We’re young and taking our lumps at times.”

Butler admitted that aside from senior shortstop Kylie Griffin, a University of Central Arkansas signee, and junior third baseman McKayla Betts, who’s committed to Alabama-Birmingham, most of his team hasn’t played together. Greenbrier also had a stretch where it dropped three of five contests in early March.

But Butler said the Lady Panthers are showing fight, which could bode well with matchups against perennial power Benton, Alma, Mountain Home and Rogers looming.

“We’ve played really well, better than what I expected us to play,” he said. “Now we’ve our moments where things come up because of inexperience. But they’ve done a good job of just playing the game and doing what they’re suppose to do. I lost six seniors from last year, but to see this group play hard and come together like they have despite some losses has been good.”