The Greenwood girls’ varsity softball roster is now fully stocked and off to a good start in the 5A West after opening league play with a doubleheader sweep at Russellville on Tuesday, March 15th. As usual, Head Coach Ronnie Sockey and his staff had to wait for the arrival of some key personnel who also play basketball, and this season the Lady Bulldogs won another state championship on the hardcourt, extending their season to March 10th.
Greenwood played several junior varsity games early to give younger players some valuable playing experience while awaiting the arrival of their reinforcements from basketball, including starting shortstop Mady Cartwright and starting centerfielder Macey Cutsinger, both excellent hitters as well. This past weekend the GHS girls played in a tournament at Farmington. So far, they have posted a 4-2 record in their first week of varsity play.
Conference twinbill
On Tuesday, March 15th, the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Pope County to take on the Russellville Lady Cyclones in a 5A West conference doubleheader, and the two games could not have been more different. Greenwood won a 2-1 pitcher’s duel in the opener before breaking out the whoopin’ sticks and winning the nightcap, 13-0.
Oddly enough, both teams scored all their runs in the first inning of game one. Sophomore Tori Howard toed the rubber for the Lady Bulldogs and had a 2-0 lead before throwing her first pitch. The Russellville starter gave up a pair of singles in the top of the first inning that led to Greenwood’s early 2-0 lead.
With one out, Mady Cartwright singled and stole second base before Tori Howard reached base on a fielder’s choice. Both runners then scored on a two-out hit by Rylee Cowart, giving Greenwood all the runs it would need. The Lady Bulldogs tallied just five hits in the game, all singles, one each by Cartwright, Coward, Ireland Cooper, Taylor Nichols, and Paige Pugh.
But Howard limited the Lady Cyclones to just four hits, though three of them were doubles. One of those two-baggers drove home Russellville’s lone run in the bottom of the first inning. A Greenwood error and a Russellville stolen base also figured into scoring the unearned run. Both teams then went scoreless the rest of the way.
Howard went the distance for Greenwood to earn the complete game victory. She fanned five Russellville hitters and gave only two walks and no earned runs. She threw 94 pitches, 63 of them for strikes.
In game two, Howard continued her dominance as she pitched the first three frames of the five-inning mercy rule affair. She threw 32 pitches, 23 of them for strikes, yielding just two hits and no walks to earn the win. Haley McAdams pitched the final two innings in relief and was equally as good, preserving the shutout.
After being held scoreless in the first inning, the visitors scored four times in the second inning, five times in the third, three times in the fourth, and once more in the top of the fifth. A leadoff error opened the door for Greenwood in the second inning and Lawson’s homerun came in the middle of the third when the Lady Bulldogs sent 11 hitters to the dish. A leadoff walk sparked their fourth inning rally, later compounded by another Russellville error. Only six GHS runs were earned.
At the plate, the Lady Bulldogs made plenty of noise with 15 hits, aided by three Russellville errors and three walks. The GHS hitting star was Kylie Lawson, who went 3-of-4 with six runs batted in on a homerun and two singles. She also scored two runs. Senior Macey Cutsinger also had three hits, all singles, driving home a run and scoring twice.
Two other players had two hits for Greenwood, Mady Cartwright and Charlize Taylor. One of Cartwright’s hits was a double and she had two RBIs. Taylor’s hits were both singles and she also scored a run. Howard, Cooper, and Nichols all had singles and Howard added a pair of RBIs while the other two scored a run each.
Farmington tournament
Last week’s wintry weather delayed the start of the tournament originally set for Friday night. Instead, all four of Greenwood’s games were played on Saturday, with the Lady Bulldogs going 2-2, losing to Bentonville and Gravette and defeating Fayetteville twice.
Game one: Their day started at 9:30 a.m. with a four-inning 13-3 mercy rule win over the Lady Purple ‘Dogs. Haley McAdams did the pitching for Greenwood, hurling four innings, tossing 41 strikes among her 64 pitches and giving up two hits, a walk, and no earned runs with four strikeouts. Fayetteville’s two runs scored in the third inning were unearned, aided by a pair of GHS defensive errors.
The Lady Bulldogs scored early and often, plating five runners in the first inning, three more in the second, and five more in the third, taking advantage of five Fayetteville errors and four walks. Greenwood had nine total hits, two each by Natilee Horne and Mady Cartwright. Charlize Taylor added a three-run homer to match Horne’s three RBIs. Cartwright also had a run batted in, as did Rylee Cowart.
Game two: The Lady Bulldogs had several hours to kill before taking on Bentonville in their next game at 3:15 p.m. The Class 6A Lady Tigers fought Greenwood to a scoreless tie through three frames before breaking through with a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth innings. Trailing 4-0, the GHS girls plated two runs in the bottom of the sixth but left the tying runs on base as the game ended after six frames.
Tori Howard started in the circle for Greenwood and took the hard luck loss. She was relieved in the sixth by Haley McAdams. The two hurlers scattered nine Bentonville hits and issued no walks between them. The GHS defense was perfect behind them as well. Howard gave up all four runs, all of which were earned.
At the dish, Greenwood was largely stymied by Bentonville pitching, with just three hits, though the Lady Bulldogs did receive five walks. Taylor Nichols had a pair of singles for the Lady Bulldogs, driving home a run. Brianna Taylor also singled and had an RBI. Both GHS runs followed a pair of leadoff walks in the sixth, driven home by Nichols and Taylor, who were left stranded.
Game three: About an hour later the Lady Bulldogs faced the Lady Lions of Gravette and found themselves embroiled in a back-n-forth extra-inning slugfest. Trailing 3-0 early, Greenwood rallied with four runs in the top of the third inning to take a 4-3 lead. The teams then alternated scoring solo runs in the fifth, sixth, seven, eighth, tenth, and eleventh innings before Gravette finally prevailed with a walk-off run in the bottom of the eleventh for the 9-8 win.
Tori Howard started the game and pitched into the seventh inning before being relieved by Haley McAdams, who pitched into the eleventh before giving up the winning run. The two GHS hurlers combined to yield eight hits while giving eight walks, but only four earned runs. Uncharacteristically, the Lady Bulldogs committed five defensive errors in the game.
Offensively, the Lady Bulldogs had 10 hits, took two walks, and were aided by three Gravette errors. Three GHS hitters had multiple hits, led by Mady Cartwright’s 4-for-5 performance that included two singles, a double and triple, with two RBIs and two runs scored. Taylor Nichols and Charlize Taylor had two hits each with Nichols picking up and RBI. Taylor had a triple and two RBIs. Ireland Cooper and Macey Cutsinger also had solo RBIs.
Trailing 5-3, the Lady Lions scored solo runs in the fifth and sixth to tie the score. The two squads then scored one run each in the seventh and eighth innings to keep the game tied at 7-7. After a scoreless ninth frame, they each scored single runs in the tenth and entered the eleventh inning knotted at 8-all before Gravette won it in the bottom of the frame.
Game four: After a short rest, the Lady Bulldogs returned for their final game of the day against Fayetteville once again, and again Greenwood broke out the bats on its way to a 10-2 win in 4½ innings. Haley McAdams went the distance in the circle for Greenwood, throwing 85 pitches, 51 for strikes. She gave up three hits and three walks along the way to earn the victory. She allowed both runs in the top of the first inning before throwing up zeros the rest of the way.
Trailing 2-0, the Lady Bulldogs plated five runs in the second and pushed across five more in the third for the 10-2 lead. Greenwood tallied 11 hits, 10 singles and a triple. They also had three walks and all their runs were earned. Three GHS players had two hits each, Macey Cutsinger, Kylie Lawson, and Mady Cartwright. Cutsinger had two RBIs and Cartwright three. Mady also had the team’s only extra base hit. Cooper Ireland, Kylie Lawson, Charlize Taylor, and Natilee Horne all had solo RBIs in the lopsided win.
Up next: After returning from spring break, the Lady Bulldogs will host Van Buren in a conference doubleheader on Tuesday, March 29th. They will then travel to Van Buren the following weekend for another tournament. Greenwood will then play a conference twinbill every Tuesday until completing the league schedule on May 3rd. The state tournament will be held at Hot Springs Lakeside the weekend of May 12-14.