As the diamond season quickly draws to a close, the month of April has been a whirlwind for the Greenwood Bulldogs baseball team that continued to dominate most of the 5A West conference, suffering only two league losses so far. The Diamond Dogs will finish their regular season this week before the state playoffs begin on the 14th in Paragould. Head Coach Brandon Brewer has his team competing at a high level and hopes to carry that momentum into the postseason.
With only two conference losses on their record, the Bulldogs are assured of the #2 seed from the 5A West behind #1 Van Buren and a berth in the playoffs. Coach Brewer had this to say about his team: “I’m very proud of our guys and the way they have competed all year long through the conference. To win 10+ games in conference and 20+ games overall marks 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.”
Since we last caught up with them, the Bulldogs have played more than a dozen games, going 10-5 overall and 8-1 in league play. The first nine of those games are highlighted in this article with the remainder of the schedule covered in a subsequent article at season’s end.
Russellville
On the last day of March, the Bulldogs rolled over the Cyclones in 5A West play, winning at home, 11-3. Two pitchers toiled for the Diamond Dogs, with starter Aaron Taylor getting the win despite going only 2.2 innings and issuing five walks. Cooper Webb relieved him in the third and finished the game with nine strikeouts. All three Russellville runs were earned, but four early runs put Greenwood on top, 4-0, after two innings, and they never looked back. Single runs in the fourth and sixth innings and a five-spot in the fifth turned the contest into a romp. The Cyclones scored twice in the third and once in the seventh inning.
At the dish, the home team belted out a dozen hits, led by Ty Holt and Cruz Coatney with three hits each. Each player also had a pair of doubles. Caden Mendenhall added two hits. Coatney had two RBIs while six other players had one RBI each. The Bulldogs powered up in the game despite not hitting a home run. Instead, they peppered the Cyclones with eight doubles.
Charleston
Two days later, on April 2nd, Greenwood stepped out of conference play to host the Tigers, winning another blowout contest in five innings, 12-2. The game was scoreless through two frames before the Bulldogs broke the ice with two tallies in the third, four in the fourth, and six more runs in the bottom of the fifth to walk it off. The visitors scored both of their runs in the fourth inning. Greenwood out-hit the Tigers 8-to-2 and three Charleston errors allowed four GHS runs to score.
Starting hurler Brayden Brewer notched the victory for himself with 4.2 innings of quality work, allowing just two runs, one earned, with six Ks and only one walk. Carter Koch relieved Brewer in the fifth and recorded the final out of the frame. The six-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth started with a walk, followed by four consecutive hits before another walk and a hit batsman. Aaron Taylor then doubled home two runs to invoke the 10-run sportsmanship rule, ending the game.
Offensive highlights include multi-hit performances by Taylor and Brayden Renick, each with two hits. Renick had a triple while Taylor, Brayden Brewer, and Caden Mendenhall had doubles. Taylor led the team with three RBIs while Brewer, Mendenhall, and Jayden Campbell had two RBIs each. The Bulldogs also ran wild on the basepaths, stealing nine bases in the contest.
Siloam Springs
Returning to conference play the next day on the road against the Panthers, the Bulldogs continued their offensive barrage with an 11-hit attack that yielded 14 runs in a five-inning shutout victory, 14-0. Caden Mendenhall started the game on the mound for the Bulldogs and went four strong innings to get the pitching victory. He was relieved in the fifth by lefty Lawson Leath. Mendenhall allowed just one Siloam Springs’ hit while notching eight strikeouts.
With the bats, the visitors made the most of their 11 hits, with only a double and homerun mixed in with nine singles. Three Panthers’ errors allowed seven unearned runs by the Bulldogs. Greenwood scored twice in the first and second frames, six times in the third, once in the fourth, and three more times in the fifth.
Jayden Campbell, Cooper Webb, and Carter Koch all had two hits each with Webb picking up four RBIs. Webb had a homerun among his two hits while Koch had a double. Bentley Neece also had a hit and drove home two runs. Others with solo RBIs included Wyatt Frye, Brayden Renick, Ty Holt, Beau Bartlett, and Carter Koch. The Dogs also stole four bases in the game.
Rogers
After nearly a week off, the Diamond Dogs returned to action against the Mounties in non-conference play, losing 2-1 on the road. Seven hurlers toiled in the contest, four for Greenwood and three for Rogers. The two squads combined for just 11 hits in the game, six by the Mounties and five by the Bulldogs. The home team led 1-0 after scoring a fourth inning run before the visitors tied the score with a run in the top of the seventh. But the Mounties got a one-out double in the bottom half of the frame and scored the winning run with two outs on a walk-off single.
Lawson Leath took the pitching loss for Greenwood following Brayden Brewer, Caden Mendenhall, and Cooper Webb to the mound. No GHS hitter had more than one knock and Cruz Coatney had the only extra-base hit, a double. Greenwood’s lone run was unearned. The Bulldogs struck out 14 times in the game.
Mountain Home
The next day, on Friday, April 10th, the Bulldogs returned to 5A West competition, hosting and defeating the Bombers, 7-0, for their second straight shutout win in conference despite being out-hit by the visitors, 4-to-3, in a light-hitting affair. The Bulldogs received nine base-on-balls and took advantage of a Mountain Home error to plate three unearned runs. Greenwood scored once in the first inning and three more times in the third frame. A pair of tallies in the fifth and one more in the sixth accounted for their seven runs. Aaron Taylor started on the hill and went 5.1 innings for the win before being relieved by Cooper Webb.
Offensively, the Bulldogs were led by Cruz Coatney’s two hits, both singles, and Brayden Brewer’s solo knock. Ty Holt had two RBIs on a pair of sacrifice flies. Coatney also had two RBIs. The others were added by Brewer and Aaron Taylor.
Van Buren
The second conference loss this season for the Bulldogs came on April 14th at Van Buren, the same team that beat them in March in the league opener for both teams. The Bulldogs scored just one run in their first meeting before losing 3-0 in the rematch. The Diamond Dogs managed just five hits against Van Buren pitching, but three GHS fielding errors allowed two Pointers’ runs to cross the plate despite an outstanding mound effort by GHS starter Caden Mendenhall and reliever Lawson Leath, who combined for eight strikeouts and allowed only three hits. However, two of the three Van Buren knocks were for extra bases, including a home run.
The five GHS hits were spread out among five different players – Jayden Campbell, Brayden Renick, Ty Holt, Brayden Brewer, and Cooper Webb, who had the only extra-base hit for the Diamond Dogs, a double. The two losses to Van Buren prevented the Bulldogs from winning the conference title and the top spot in the playoffs from the 5A West. With only this week’s games left on the regular season schedule, the Pointers will finish in first place in league play while the Bulldogs will place second.
Ft. Smith Southside
On Thursday, April 16th, the Bulldogs made the short trek to Fort Smith to take on the Southside Mavericks in non-conference play, dropping a 4-2 decision in a low-scoring affair. The Diamond Dogs scored the game’s first run in the top of the second inning without the benefit of a hit, taking advantage of two Southside walks. But the Mavs took charge of the game with a four-spot in the bottom of the fourth. Greenwood added a solo homerun by Ty Holt in the sixth, but fell short of a seventh inning rally after Brayden Renick singled with two outs and was stranded to end the game.
Brayden Brewer started on the hill for the Bulldogs and pitched into the fourth inning, giving up five hits and three runs. He was relieved by Jake Gigerich, who failed to record an out, giving up two hits, a walk, and a run. Lawson Leath got the final out of the fourth inning and kept the Mavericks at bay in the fifth and sixth frames.
The Dogs had six hits in the game, two of them for extra bases. Brayden Brewer had a double and Ty Holt had a home run. Holt also accounted for three hits while the other three came off the bats of Brewer, Brayden Renick, and Carter Koch. Holt and Koch had the only RBIs in the game for Greenwood.
Harrison
The Diamond Dogs returned to conference play the next day at home against the Goblins and opened the contest with a seven-run outburst in the bottom of the first inning. They added two more runs in the fourth and another in the sixth for the 10-0 run-rule victory. Greenwood banged out 12 hits in the game while GHS starter Aaron Taylor went five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. Cooper Webb pitched a spotless sixth inning to seal the victory. Taylor had nine strikeouts and Webb fanned two of the three hitters he faced.
Four GHS hitters had multiple hits – Jayden Campbell (3), Brayden Brewer (2), Cruz Coatney (2), and Cooper Webb (2). Aaron Taylor had one hit but knocked in three runs to lead the team. Brewer had two RBIs with the others were spread out among Ty Holt, Cruz Coatney, and Caden Mendenhall. Brayden Brewer and Cooper Webb both had doubles and Holt homered for the second day in a row.
Alma
The Bulldogs began the following week by traveling to Alma on Tuesday, April 21st, for more conference action. A close contest through four frames, the Diamond Dogs blew the game open in the fifth and sixth innings. Leading 3-0, Greenwood scored five runs in the fifth and six runs in the sixth to shorten the game by one inning, winning 14-0 in six.
Sophomore Caden Mendenhall was the GHS starter against the Airedales, and went five strong innings, giving up just three hits with seven strikeouts. Jake Gigerich gave up a couple hits in the sixth inning, but left the runners stranded when the game ended early due to the 10-run sportsmanship rule.
Offensively, Greenwood’s 16 hits came off the bats of 10 different players, led by Brayden Brewer’s three knocks and three RBIs. Cruz Coatney, Wyatt Frye, and Aaron Taylor had two hits each with Taylor earning three RBIs and Frye one run batted in. Others with solo RBIs included Luke Wilson, Ty Holt, Weston Selkirk, and freshman Ty Karnes. Six different Greenwood players contributed seven doubles in the game. Aaron Taylor had a pair of two-baggers. The others were Brayden Brewer, Cruz Coatney, Jayden Campbell, Ty Holt, and Weston Selkirk.