Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Bentonville West rallies in sixth
BENTONVILLE WEST 5, ROGERS HERITAGE 2
CENTERTON — Bentonville West didn’t take long to respond after Rogers Heritage tied Tuesday’s game in the top of the sixth inning.
West countered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth and beat Heritage 5-2 in 6A-West Conference action at the Wolverine Softball Complex. Mabry Van Es struck out five and walked two to earn the victory for the first-place Wolverines (6-0, 5-0).
“They’ve got a good lineup and Mabry did what I asked her to do,” West Coach Anthony Cantrell said. “They swing it like crazy. She kept the ball down all night and kept us in the ballgame.”
Izzy Ulepich had a home run and triple for Heritage (62, 2-2). Ulepich tied the game 2-2 when she sent the first pitch in the sixth inning over the right-field fence for a home run. But West manufactured three runs in the bottom of the inning to regain the lead.
Eva Riffe led off with a stand-up double, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on a wind-blown double by Emma Wheatley to left field. Kaitie Leonard contributed a single and a stolen base before freshman Whitnee Sherry hit a hard grounder that scored a run.
“Whitnee put the ball in play right there and we’ve got [Jordan] Durham at third, and she can run a bit,” Cantrell said.
Heritage scored one run on two hits in both the second and sixth inning but the War Eagles failed to score in five other innings against Van Es. Bentonville took a 2-1 lead in the second on a walk and a three-base error on a dropped fly ball in the outfield.
“[Mabry] did a nice job of pitching and keeping us off guard,” Heritage Coach Rodney Bowen said. “We had five hits on the night, which I think we’re a better-hitting team than that. But they did a good job calling pitching and getting us to hit the ball off the end of that bad.”
West also backed Van Es with a strong defensive effort, particularly in center field with senior Olivia Thornton and right field with senior Payeton Dilday, who field a handful of opportunities.
“Olivia is a four-year kid for us and she’s athletic as all get-out,” Cantrell said. “My senior right fielder also stepped up. Payeton made some great plays.”
BENTONVILLE 13, FAYETTEVILLE 3
Anna Lee Kulka had three hits, including a home run, and drove in six runs to lead Bentonville to a run-rule victory at Fayetteville Kulka had a two-run single in the first inning to help the Lady Tigers take a 3-0 lead, then she added her three-run home run as part of Bentonville’s fiverun fifth. Kylee Wyman then made it back-to-back home runs with her solo blast to end the fifth.
Bentonville finished with 13 hits as Kulka and Wyman each had three while Alexi Lornnij and Taylor Chrisp each had two hits. Ryann Sanders went the distance in the circle and picked up the win with eight strikeoutss, while Fayetteville did its scoring on Kendall Watts’ solo home run in the fifth and Linly Chapman’s two-run blast in the sixth.
ROGERS 4,
FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 0
Kadence Janney and Daylyn Osborne combined on a three-hit shutout with 14 strikeouts to help the Lady Mounties to a 6A-West Conference win.
Janney pitched the first three innings and did not allow a hit. She walked one and struck out nine. Osborne followed with 4 shutout innings, allowing 3 hits while striking out 5 and walking ` to pick up the win.
The Lady Mounties (5-1, 3-1) scored single runs in the the third and fourth innings aided by Northside errors. Ryleigh Johnson added an RBI single and Osborne drove in another with a fielder’s choice in the sixth.
Johnson and Talyn Jackson had two hits each for Rogers. Eden Davis broke up the Lady Mounties’ no-hitter with a double into the left-center field gap with one out in the top of the fourth for Northside (3-5, 0-4).
SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 14, SPRINGDALE 1
The Lady Wildcats (6-1, 4-0) scored 14 runs in the third inning to roll to the 6A-West Conference victory.
Springdale (1-5, 1-4) led 1-0 after two innings, but Har-Ber hit three home runs in the third. Anniston Reith, Savannah Woods and Bell Haney each hit home runs in the third.
Zyria Palmer, Kylie Burris and Woods each had two hits. Woods and Haney each had three RBI, while Reith and Burris had two RBI.
Josie Samarin had a hit and scored Springdale’s only run.
Freshman Cyarah Dotts worked five innings with nine strikeouts for Springdale Har-Ber.