Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Tigers Walk All Over Grizzlies
PRAIRIE GROVE — The Prairie Grove Lady Tiger softball squad ( 1- 0) opened their season with authority on Mar. 1 at home when they decimated the Fort Smith Northside Grizzlies 13-1.
With Prairie Grove dominating, the game became a mercy- rule shortened 3 inning contest.
Wi t h temperat u res dipping to the low 20’ s and snow flurries pelting the players in the field, the Tigers emulated the frigid conditions by coolly laying off the bad pitching of the Grizzlies, drawing 11 base on balls en route to their 13 run explosion.
“It’s not easy to standup there in the cold and layoff pitch after pitch and not go out of your zone,” said Tigers’ coach Chris Collins.
“Everybody wants to get out there and swing the bat and get that first hit of the year, but we were patient and did what we needed to do and made the plays that we needed to make and I’m glad to get the win out here with it snowing.”
Kelbie Brown (3 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 6 strikeouts, 3 base on balls) toed the rubber for the Tigers and ran into a little trouble in the opening inning after she yielded back-to-back extra base hits which allowed the Grizzlies to take a 1-0 lead.
A pair of walks loaded the bases for Northside with only one out, however, Brown clawed her way out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
“I was proud of
the way Kelbie pitched today. It’s not easy to stand out there in the cold and pitch like she did,” Collins said.
The Tigers quickly erased the deficit in their portion of the first inning, hanging a snowman 8 on the Grizzlies. Prairie Grove coaxed 6 walks in the frame and Northside committed 2 errors which helped Prairie Grove build a 6-1 lead.
Back-to-back RBI singles from Brown and Sidney Jaro pushed the seventh and eighth runs across the plate staking the Tigers to the 8-1 advantage. Prairie Grove carried that advantage into the third inning, then ended the contest by scoring 5 runs in the stanza.
Madison Cluck provided the game-ending blast when she stroked a bases-loaded triple into left field, plating the final 3 runs.
On offense, both Brown and Jaro finished 2 for 2 at the plate, with each scoring 2 runs and knocking in 1 RBI. Cluck finished 1 for 1 at the dish and scored 1 run to go along with her 3 RBI’s.