Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lady Wolves Win On Freak Play
LINCOLN — Lily Riherd scored the equivalent of an in- the- park- home- run on a bunt single followed by a throwing error lifting Lincoln to a 6-4 nonconference victory over rival Prairie Grove on April 9.
Riherd recorded a bunt single, but a costly Prairie Grove throwing error sent the ball deep into right field. Two runners on base ahead of Riherd also scored on the unusual play, which shifted the Lady Wolves into a 6-4 lead.
Lincoln coach Brittany Engel relished the play while celebrating her first win as head coach in the rivalry.
“I was really happy with Lilly Riherd’s bunt that worked out for us. I called a base hit bunt and she delivered, and not only that, but made it all the way around the bases so that works, too,” Engel said.
Moments earlier Lincoln trailed 4-2 after committing a similar miscue.
“They [Lincoln] are a good club in their division and we didn’t play catch. That makes it tough to win here. They kind of did the same thing and it got us back in the game. We repaid the favor later in the game and it bit us,” said Prairie Grove coach Dave Torres.
Freshman Brinkely Moreton began Lincoln’s comeback with a solo home run to lead off a 4-run fifth inning. Saylor Stidham drew a walk and Amber Bryant singled to put two runners on when Riherd came up. Riherd was struggling hitting and asked if she could bunt, when she realized she had already been given the go-ahead.
Facing Prairie Grove starter, Chloe Hillian, Riherd took a called strike before putting the ball into play with a bunt that changed everything. In their haste trying to get Riherd out at first, the Lady Tigers threw high and hard, and they never did get her out. Riherd beat a path around the bases and crossed home plate before Prairie Grove could retrieve the errant throw and return the ball to the infield.
“I saw it went all the way out there. Coach was like a crazy lady waving me in. I didn’t think I was going to make it so props to Coach Engel,” Riherd said.
The win was sweet for Riherd, who played her freshman season at Prairie Grove.
“Most of them are still my really, good friends, but I made a lot of really, good friends here at Lincoln, too. It’s nice to play with and against all of my really, good friends,” Riherd said.
Senior Alexandra Torres also played for Prairie Grove. Like Riherd, she enjoys friendships with the Lady Tigers and their coaches.
“I still talk to the coaches.
They still check on me. We all rally off each other,” Torres said.
Moreton’s solo shot made up for the freshman sensation taking a rare “called strike three” for the third out in the second inning that had Prairie Grove junior catcher, Rhiannon Umfleet, tipping her cap to Hillian on her way to the dugout.
Lincoln led 2-0 at that juncture with Landrum stealing home after leading off with a single in the first inning, and Kristine Rhine scoring on Landrum’s RBI single in the second, but Prairie Grove would tie the game in the third and take a 4-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning.
Prairie Grove’s first run occurred on a Lincoln throwing error. Hillian led off with a walk and was replaced by a courtesy runner, who scored when the Lady Wolves overthrew first on a bunt by Lily Davis. Davis scored when Elizabeth Stoufer reached on an error evening the score at two runs apiece.
In the top of the fourth Autumn Spatz and Hillian singled. Stoufer plated both of them with a two-out triple. Moreton struck out Kennison Hamilton to end the inning with the Lady Tigers taking a 4-2 lead. Torres praised the pitching of Hillian, who was solid in the circle.
“Chloe did a good job. She kept us in the game. She gave us a chance to win it in the end there. You know you always wish to get the tying run to the plate in the last inning and we got it. We had a chance, just didn’t get it done,” Torres said.
Engel listed Moreton’s solo home run as a trigger that really pushed the Lady Wolves to get ahead in the fifth inning.
“We wouldn’t have had the ability to fight back if that wouldn’t have propelled us past the struggle point. We were struggling a little bit and I think that home run got us started again and then we just took over,” Engel said.
The Lady Wolves regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth and won 6-4 in a see-saw battle on Saturday, April 9, 2022, in nonconference softball action.
“Yeah, it was a great win for us. It was what I feel like we needed to do on Wednesday [April 6, 2022] against Farmington [a 4-2 loss for Lincoln]. We needed to battle back, we needed to show some fight and we did that today,” Engel said.
Prairie Grove had one last opportunity when Umfleet doubled down the third base line with one out in the top of the seventh, but the next two batters couldn’t move her around the bases.
“I like the way our kids competed. It was their fifth game in five days. They had a lot of energy and they competed and I love them for that. I wouldn’t trade this team for the world,” Torres said.
Both teams came into the contest off wins.
Prairie Grove 12, Elkins 3
Prairie Grove (8-5) broke away from a 3-3 tie by generating six runs in the fourth inning to defeat Elkins, 12-3, on Tuesday, March 29. The Lady Tigers added three more runs in the seventh. Sophomore Kennison Hamilton (2-for-4, 3 RBIs) and Hayden Vertz (1-for-4, double, two RBIs) led the way at the plate.
Alyssa Sisemore went 2- for- 4 with a double for Elkins ( 4- 4). Aleisha McGowan and Lacey Vanamburg also had two hits for the Lady Elks.
“We got some big hits, got a big lead and kind of coasted from there so we had a good week. We went two- andthree for the week, but they competed. They responded to some stuff they [our opponents] were trying to put on them and did a good job of recognizing that,” Torres said.