Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Tigers Exit Regional With Gragg Solo Blast
FARMINGTON — The Prairie Grove softball squad got caught looking ahead at a potential rematch with U.S. 62 rival, Farmington, and were blanked 6-0 by Gravette in the district semifinal at Ozark on April 29.
The loss sent the Lady Tigers into a tailspin and they never recovered. A week later they were eliminated, 6-1, in a first round 4A North Regional game at Farmington by Booneville. Only an 11th hour solo home run by senior Loren Gragg kept them from going scoreless again.
Down to their last out, Tiger fans were wishing a Princess Leia might materialize out of the darkness of a 6-0 deficit akin to the emergence of a spirited leader as portrayed by actress Carrie Fisher in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
Gragg fouled off a pitch for strike one, then violently swung the bat to connect with a pitch like a warrior princess brandishing a light saber to resist the Bearcat empire and the ball sailed over the center field wall for a home run.
“She’s been through so much. She had gall- bladder surgery two weeks ago and she’s battled back problems, I’m just really proud of her. I’m happy for her,” said Prairie Grove coach Chris Collins.
“To hit a home run in her last at-bat of her senior year, that’s going to be a good memory for her and for me.”
Collins noted Gragg hit some home runs for the Lady Tigers as a sophomore and has battled injuries since.
“It didn’t necessarily end the way we wanted it to but I’m real proud of the way we fought all year to overcome injuries. They really banded together this year and I’m real proud to be their coach.”
Kelbie Brown began the year as a key figure in the Prairie Grove rotation but went down with an injury before returning to the lineup. Madison Skelton assumed the majority of the pitching duties after that but Brown continued to swing a bat as the leadoff hitter.
Collins said goodbye to a veteran lineup of seven Lady Tigers, who have started since their freshmen season.
The group was part of a team that went 5-17, then doubled the amount of wins in their sophomore season and missed going to state by one run two years in a row. The 2013 Lady Tigers went 14-5.