With the conference season over and the regular season moving into the rearview mirror, the Greenwood Bulldogs are setting their sights on a successful run through the postseason, starting next Thursday in Paragould in Northeast Arkansas. The playoff bracket was completed over this past weekend, and Greenwood will play the Searcy Lions at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday at Greene County Tech High School in Paragould.
The Diamond Dogs are the #2 seed from the West while Searcy is the #3 seed from the East. The four top seeds in the tournament are Benton (C1), Lake Hamilton (S1), defending champion Valley View (E1), and Van Buren (W1). A win over Searcy would advance Greenwood to the quarterfinals against the winner of the Benton – El Dorado game, probably Benton. That game would be played the next morning at 10 A.M. on Friday. The semifinal game in the top half of the bracket will be on Saturday at 12 noon. The state finals will be played at Majestic Park in Hot Springs the next weekend.
Head Coach Brandon Brewer recently said of his team’s aspirations: “I’m very proud of our guys and the way they have competed through the conference [season]. To win 10-plus games in conference and 20-plus games overall [makes] a good season in the state of Arkansas. But that’s not where our goals end. We are ready to get to Northeast Arkansas [Paragould] and make a [playoff] run.” In 2025 the Bulldogs reached the second round of the 5A playoffs before losing to Valley View, the eventual and reigning state champions.
Farmington
A bunch of early runs did the trick for the home team on Thursday, April 23rd, as the Bulldogs blasted the visiting Cardinals in conference play, winning 11-1. The Diamond Dogs scored five times in the bottom of the first and twice more in the second before adding two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings to invoke the 10-run sportsmanship rule to end the game after six frames. Aaron Taylor went 4.2 innings on the bump for Greenwood followed by reliever Jake Gigerich to finish the game. Taylor gave up four hits and one run with no walks and six strikeouts. Gigerich issued a walk but no hits.
Leadoff hitter Jayden Campbell led Greenwood with three hits, including a pair of doubles, with an RBI and two runs scored. Caden Mendenhall had two hits and an RBI. Ty Holt, Brayden Brewer, Cruz Coatney, Carter Koch, Aaron Taylor, Jake Gigerich, and Wyatt Frye all had solo knocks. Holt, Brewer, Taylor, Gigerich (2), and Mendenhall all had RBIs. Taylor’s knock was a double and Cooper Webb had a stolen base.
Fayetteville
Just over two weeks ago, on Saturday, April 25th, the Bulldogs traveled north on I-49 to Fayetteville to take on the Class 6A Purple Dogs in non-conference play. But an early deficit put the visitors behind the eight ball and forced them to play catchup throughout the contest, a game they eventually lost, 10-6. Lawson Leath, Brayden Brewer, and Cooper Webb all pitched for Greenwood, going three, two, and one innings, respectively. Leath took the loss, yielding five hits, two walks, and six early runs, but only three were earned.
The Purple Dogs scored once in the first, twice in the second, and three more times in the third to lead 6-4. Greenwood’s four-spot in the top of the third momentarily had the Bulldogs on top, 4-3, but that lead didn’t last long. Another Fayetteville run in the fourth and three more in the sixth inning sealed the 10-6 victory. Greenwood added single runs in the fourth and sixth.
At the plate, the visiting Bulldogs were led by Ty Holt and Cooper Webb with two hits each, including a double by Webb and a homer by Holt, who also had five RBIs. Carter Koch had the other RBI without a hit. Caden Mendenhall and Wyatt Frye had the other two hits by Greenwood.
Rogers-Heritage
After a few days off to practice, the Bulldogs returned to Northwest Arkansas the following Thursday, the last day of April, to take on the Heritage War Eagles, another 6A team. But this time the Diamond Dogs were up to the task, winning 4-0 behind the combined shutout pitching of starter Caden Mendenhall and reliever Carter Koch. The former went three innings to receive credit for the win while Koch pitched the final four frames to preserve both the shutout and the victory. Mendenhall allowed three hits and three walks while Koch walked three but gave no hits. They combined for five strikeouts.
The visitors scored twice in their opening at bat then again in the third and the seventh to account for their four runs. Heritage made two errors, but all of Greenwood’s runs were earned. Half of the Bulldogs’ eight hits were for extra bases, including doubles by Brayden Renick (2) and Cooper Webb, and a triple by Webb, who also had an RBI in the contest, as did Cruz Coatney and Ty Holt. Coatney, Holt, Jayden Campbell, and Brayden Brewer accounted for the other GHS hits, all singles. Brewer (2) and Renick also had stolen bases.
Siloam Springs
As the conference season neared its end the Bulldogs hosted the Panthers on Friday, May 1st, winning handily, 7-1. Aaron Taylor started and pitched six stellar innings, allowing two hits and one run with no walks and 12 strikeouts. He was relieved in the seventh inning by Cooper Webb who closed out the victory with three strikeouts, leaving two runners stranded. Greenwood scored four times in the bottom of the first, twice in the fourth, and once more in the sixth. Siloam Springs got its only run in the fourth.
GHS bats collected a dozen hits, three of those off the stick of Jayden Campbell, including a triple, an RBI, and two runs scored. Ty Holt had a pair of doubles with a run driven in while Cruz Coatney had a single and double plus an RBI. Others with hits included Brayden Renick, Cooper Webb, Aaron Taylor, Caden Mendenhall, and Wyatt Frye. Webb and Taylor had solo RBIs.
Valley View
Last Saturday the Bulldogs hosted the defending state champions in a non-conference affair that might also have been a preview of things to come in the playoffs. The Blazers beat Greenwood in the state quarterfinals last season and went on to claim the 5A state title. They won that game in blowout fashion, 15-6, but last weekend’s rematch was much closer, 7-2, though still a Valley View victory.
The visitors scored four times in the top of the fourth after the first three innings proved to be a pitching duel between GHS starter Brayden Brewer and Valley View’s Keaton Rogers. The Bulldogs scored twice in the sixth inning to keep hope alive until the Blazers nailed down the victory with three runs in the top of the seventh. Five of the visitors’ runs were earned.
Offensively, Greenwood mustered only four hits, one each by Brayden Renick, Ty Holt, Cruz Coatney, and Cooper Webb. Renick and Holt had doubles while Coatney and Aaron Taylor (sac fly) had solo RBIs.
Russellville
Greenwood’s road game at Russellville was moved from Tuesday to Monday of this last week due to expected rain and storms on Tuesday, and that seemed to agree with GHS starting pitcher Caden Mendenhall and reliever Lawson Leath. Mendenhall went five scoreless frames, allowing just two hits and a walk with eight strikeouts. Leath pitched a perfect two innings with four Ks to close out the narrow 2-0 Greenwood victory.
The Bulldogs scored solo runs in the top of the fourth and sixth innings with seven total hits. Both runs were earned. With two outs in the fourth, Cooper Webb and Aaron Taylor both singled with Webb later scoring on a fielder’s choice that failed to produce a third out. Greenwood then left the bases loaded when Jayden Campbell struck out. In the sixth, again with two outs, Caden Mendenhall was hit by a pitch and advanced on a single by Wyatt Frye. Campbell then drove home the second run with a single to left field.
Webb was the only Bulldog to get two hits. Others with a hit were Campbell, Brayden Renick, Ty Holt, Aaron Taylor, and Wyatt Frye. Catcher Ty Holt had a stolen base for Greenwood, which had no extra base hits in the contest.
Mountain Home
After three days off, the Bulldogs returned to action at Mountain Home last Friday in the finale of the 5A West Conference season. With Aaron Taylor and Cooper Webb doing the pitching honors for the visitors, the Bulldogs scored six runs in the first two frames to take early control of the game they eventually won, 8-2. A pair of first inning runs were followed by a four-spot in the second for a 6-0 GHS lead that held up until the fifth inning.
Greenwood made it 7-0 in the top half of the frame before the Bombers plated two runs in the bottom half. Another Greenwood run in the sixth accounted for the final score. The Bulldogs had six hits in the light-hitting contest and half of their runs were unearned due to a pair of Mountain Home errors.
Ty Holt had two hits for Greenwood while Brayden Renick, Cruz Coatney, Cooper Webb, and Caden Mendenhall all had solo hits. Coatney and Brayden Brewer had two RBIs each while Aaron Taylor had one. Taylor and Coatney had sacrifice flies that scored runs and Cooper Webb’s hit was a triple. Brewer, Mendenhall, Jayden Campbell, Ryan Ross, and Wyatt Frye each stole a base.
On the mound, Taylor was perfect but for three walks in four innings of work with four strikeouts. Webb gave up three hits and two earned runs with five walks and five Ks in two innings. Taylor earned the pitching victory.
Bentonville
Despite a late-night return to Greenwood Friday night, they hosted the 6A Bentonville Tigers this past Saturday, stretching their current winning streak to three games prior to the start of the playoffs next Thursday. Needing to get some innings for his pitchers, Coach Brandon Brewer used five different hurlers against the visitors, starting with Brayden Brewer’s two scoreless frames. Lawson Leath followed and allowed three hits and two runs.
Leading 4-2 after four innings, Caden Mendenhall was the next GHS pitcher, yielding two hits and three runs in one inning of work. Carter Koch then allowed three hits and two more runs in the sixth inning before Ty Holt tossed a hitless, scoreless inning in the seventh for the save. Mendenhall was credited with the pitching victory. Greenwood won the game, 9-7.
The Bulldogs scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 9-5 lead before hanging on for the non-conference victory. The Diamond Dogs walloped 13 hits in the contest, led by Jayden Campbell with three knocks, including a double and two RBIs. Ty Holt had two hits and two RBIs while teammates Cruz Coatney and Cooper Webb also had two knocks each with Coatney also picking up an RBI. Brayden Renick, Brayden Brewer, Caden Mendenhall, and Wyatt Frye also had solo hits. Renick and Brewer also had solo RBIs.