After going 4-0 in tournament play in Little Rock at the end of spring break, March 26-28, the Greenwood Bulldogs have continued their winning ways with four victories in their last five games since classes resumed on the 30th. In fact, the Diamond Dogs have won nine of their last ten games and are 14-3 overall this season.
They are 6-1 in 5A West conference play at the schedule flips to the second half of the league slate. Greenwood hosts Van Buren on Tuesday this week, hoping to avenge its only conference loss this season. They will play at Fort Smith Southside on Thursday in non-conference action before returning to league action by hosting the Harrison Goblins on Friday.
At 6-1 in league play at the halfway mark, the Bulldogs are in a tussle with Van Buren and Mountain Home for the top spot in the conference standings. But their sparkling 14-3 overall mark also has Greenwood ranked #3 in the state according to Max Preps Sports across all classifications.
To this point the Bulldogs seem to be living up to the highest pre-season expectations of Head Coach Brandon Brewer. The goal now is to keep pressing over the next three weeks as they conclude conference play, winning the league title and the #1 playoff slot from the 5A West, setting themselves up for a deep run in the state tournament to be played in Paragould.
Russellville
After averaging 10 runs per game in the Joe T. Robinson tournament in Little Rock, the Bulldogs kept up that pace with an 11-3 triumph over the Russellville Cyclones on March 31st. The contest was played at Greenwood with two GHS pitchers toiling on the mound. Aaron Taylor started and went 2.2 innings before being relieved by Cooper Webb, who finished the game. Taylor had three strikeouts while Webb accounted for nine Ks. Together they yielded a total of five hits and three earned runs. Walks were an issue for Taylor, who issued five free passes in just over two innings of work.
Both pitchers were backed up offensively by a 12-hit GHS attack led by catcher Ty Holt and third sacker Cruz Coatney with three knocks each. Both players had a double among their hits. Holt drove home one run and Coatney plated two teammates. Caden Mendenhall added two hits, including a double with a run batted in.
Others who contributed with their bats were Jayden Campbell, Brayden Renick, Cooper Webb, and Aaron Taylor, all with one hit each. All but Webb also drove home a run. Webb, Campbell, and Taylor all had doubles. Renick had a sacrifice fly while Cooper Webb and Ty Holt each stole a base.
Charleston
As the calendar flipped over to April, the Diamond Dogs hosted the nearby Charleston Tigers in non-conference play, rolling to a 12-2 five-inning run-rule victory. The game was played on Thursday the 2nd and Brayden Brewer started on the hill for Greenwood and went 4.2 strong innings before being relieved in the fifth inning by Carter Koch, who struck out the only hitter he faced. Brewer gave up two hits, two runs, one earned, walked one, and struck out six Tigers.
The game was a pitcher’s duel for the first 2½ innings before the Bulldogs broke through with a pair of runs in the home half of the third. But the Tigers tied the score in the top of the fourth with the help of a GHS error. Only one of the two runs were earned. It didn’t matter much though because the Bulldogs scored four times in the bottom of the fourth and six more times in the fifth to put the game away. In the decisive fifth frame, the Diamond Dogs didn’t even make an out, sending eight consecutive batters to the dish, all of them reaching base before the game was called due to the 10-run rule.
Greenwood tallied 12 runs on just eight hits, aided by eight walks and three Charleston errors. Leading the hit parade were Brayden Renick and Aaron Taylor with two knocks each. Taylor had a single and double with three RBIs. Renick had a pair of singles and scored twice. The other solo hits came off the bats of Jayden Campbell, Brayden Brewer, Carter Koch, and Caden Mendenhall. Campbell, Mendenhall, and Brewer had two RBIs each.
Siloam Springs
On the first Friday of this month the Bulldogs hit the road to Siloam Springs to take on the Panthers in conference play, notching a convincing 14-0 shutout victory in five innings behind the strong pitching of starter Caden Mendenhall and reliever Lawson Leath. The starter Mendenhall went four one-hit innings with one walk and eight strikeouts. Leath closed the game out with a hitless fifth, allowing just one walk with two Ks. Their teammates backed up their efforts with an 11-hit attack.
The Bulldogs scored in every inning and only once, in the fourth, scored less than two runs. Greenwood led 2-0 after one inning, 4-0 after two, and 10-0 after three frames. The visitors then added a single run in the fourth and three more in their last at bat in the top of the fifth. The game ended early due to the 10-run sportsmanship rule.
Jayden Campbell, Cooper Webb, and Carter Koch led the way offensively for Greenwood with two hits each. Campbell scored three times with an RBI, while Webb had a single, a home run, and drove home four runs. Koch had a double among his two hits with an RBI. Ty Holt, Brayden Brewer, William Houston, Beau Bartlett, and Bentley Neece all had solo hits with Holt, Bartlett, and Neece (2) earning RBIs. Wyatt Frye and Brayden Renick also had an RBI without a hit. Renick’s RBI came on a sacrifice fly. Greenwood also stole five bases, two by Holt and one each by Brewer, Renick, and Campbell.
Rogers
After scoring 26 runs in two games earlier in the week, the Bulldogs were shut down last Thursday by Rogers Mounties’ pitching in a 2-1 non-conference loss on the road in extra innings. Scoreless after three frames, the home team scored a single run in the bottom of the fourth inning. But Greenwood tied the score with an unearned run in the top of the seventh.
However, a two-out hit in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Mounties the victory in a well-pitched game. Rogers employed three hurlers while the Bulldogs used four, starting with Brayden Brewer, who went four innings, giving up two hits, three walks, and one run. Caden Mendenhall went 1.2 frames with no hits and no runs. Cooper Webb also went 1.2 innings but took the hard-luck loss. Lawson Leath recorded one out with one hit and one walk in the eighth inning before the game ended.
There wasn’t much to brag about offensively, for either team frankly. Rogers had six hits and Greenwood five, one each by Brayden Renick, Ty Holt, Cooper Webb, Cruz Coatney, and Caden Mendenhall. Coatney had the only extra-base hit, a lead-off double to start the seventh inning for the Bulldogs. The Diamond Dogs fanned 14 times in the contest and Cooper Webb had a pair of stolen bases.
Mountain Home
Returning to league play last Friday, the Bulldogs hosted the Bombers in the final game of the first half of the conference slate, winning 7-0 behind the excellent pitching of starter Aaron Taylor and reliever Cooper Webb. Taylor pitched into the sixth inning with Webb covering the final five outs in the sixth and seventh. Taylor allowed all four of Mountain Home’s hits with five strikeouts. Webb’s only flaw was issuing a single walk.
Greenwood scored its first run in the home half of the first inning before adding three more tallies in the third. Leading 4-0, the Diamond Dogs padded their advantage with two more runs in the fifth and another in the bottom of the sixth inning. Ahead 7-0, Cooper Webb got a pair of groundouts and a strikeout in the top of the seventh to secure the victory.
The GHS bats were pretty anemic, managing just three hits in the contest, mostly because Bombers’ pitching had trouble throwing strikes, walking nine Bulldogs’ hitters and hitting two others by pitch. Brayden Brewer had a solo hit and RBI from the cleanup spot, but it was #7 hitter Cruz Coatney who had the other two hits with two RBIs. Ty Holt also had two RBIs without a hit, both on sac flies. Aaron Taylor and Brayden Brewer also had sacrifice flies.