Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Prairie Grove Baseball, Softball Roundup
PRAIRIE GROVE — The Prairie Grove Tiger baseball and softball teams both enjoyed tremendous successes last week which included each team going on the road and winning their 4A-1 season opener at Ozark.
The Tiger baseball squad (8-3,10) in particular had a triumphant week with their 6-1 win over the Hillbillies of Ozark on April 1, followed by a 5-1 victory over Walnut Ridge, Mo., and a 4- 0 victory over Carl Junction, Mo., last weekend at the Branson/Hollister Festival.
The Lady Tigers softball team opened their week with a 9-1 victory over the Greenland Pirates on March 31, before traveling to Ozark to dispatch the Hillbillies 4-3 in extra innings. The Ladies lost a little momentum later in the week when they dropped four contests at the River City Rumble tournament held at Van Buren on Friday and Saturday.
Tiger Baseball
Against the Hillbillies in the 4A-1 conference season opener, Logan Gragg was nearly untouchable on the mound, throwing 7 innings, giving up just 2 hits and striking out 10 batters. Offensively, Spencer Kilgore recorded 1 RBI on a 3 of 4 performance and Ty Tice had 3 RBIs on 2 hits to lead the Tigers.
More stellar pitching against Walnut Ridge helped Prairie Grove take down the Bobcats 5-1. The pitching trio of Brandon May, Kilgore and Sam Dodd all combined to pitch a no-hitter against the Bobcats, with Dodd, who came on and pitched the scoreless seventh inning, earning the victory after the Tigers scored five runs in the bottom of the final frame to take a 5-1 lead. On offense, Tice and Nick Sugg each had two hits, with Tice also recording 1 RBI. Gavin Heltemes capped off a week of dominant pitching performances when he blanked Carl Junction, allowing just 5 hits over 7 innings of work in Prairie Grove’s 4-0 win.
Lady Tiger Softball
During the March 31 9-1 win over the Greenland Pirates, pitcher Madison Skelton scattered 4 hits over 7 innings, giving up just 1 run in the seventh frame, while striking out 9 batters. Skelton and Madison Cluck paced the offense with 1 hit and 2 RBIs apiece, while Allison Skelton and Valarie Shepherd pitched in with 1 hit and 1 RBI each.
Against the Hillbillies in their conference opener, Makenzie Terry (2 for 3, 1 RBI) doubled home Allison Skelton in extra innings (8th inning) for the game-winning RBI. Madison Skelton twirled all 8 innings ( three runs, three hits, five strikeouts, one base-on-balls) including the scoreless final frame for the win.
The Tigers (5-8) ran into a roadblock when they travelled to Van Buren for the River City Rumble tournament. Host Van Buren dispatched the Tigers 1- 0 in a 4 inning affair, and the Vilonia Eagles dropped Prairie Grove 7-0 with both games played on Friday. On Saturday the Tigers fell 6-2 to the Southside Rebels, then concluded their tournament with a 9-0 loss to the Harber Wildcats.