The Lady Bulldogs have played ten games in less than three weeks since the spring softball season began on March 3rd with a 12-8 win over Gentry. Since then, the GHS ladies have gone 5-4, including a 3-1 start in 5A West conference play with league wins over Van Buren, Harrison, and Alma. They also just competed in a weekend tournament in Jonesboro, winning two of three contests.

Head Coach Donald Hart offered these remarks after his team played in Jonesboro this weekend. “Headed into the break the Lady Bulldogs are 6-4 overall and 3-1 in conference [play]. They had a great weekend fostering growth and building competitiveness. We finished 2-1 in the Blazer Blast in Jonesboro, against stiff competition. I love this team’s fight and never give up attitude!” said Hart.

After a week off for spring break, they return to action on March 30th at home against Morrilton in non-conference play. They will host Russellville the next day in league action before traveling to Siloam Springs the following Friday, also a conference contest. Greenwood is currently 6-4 overall.

Maumelle

The Lady Bulldogs dropped their first road game of the season at Maumelle on March 6th, losing 4-1. The visitors scored their lone run in the top of the first inning on a solo homerun by Emily Creason. The GHS catcher also had a single in the game, accounting for two of Greenwood’s three hits. The other belonged to Annie Been, also a single. That was the totality of the offense for the visitors.

GHS starting hurler Alyssa Lovell went 4.1 innings, giving up three hits and three runs, none of them earned. She also fanned two hitters and walked two before being relieved by Makayla Bachert and then Jordyn Floyd. The Lady Bulldogs made five defensive errors in the game, all of which led to Maumelle’s four runs, two in the third and one each in the fifth and sixth innings. GHS pitching limited the Lady Hornets to just four hits.

Bentonville-West

Up next for the GHS girls were the Lady Wolverines of Bentonville-West, a Class 6A school that pounded out 17 hits and plated 15 runs in a 15-8 road victory at Greenwood on March 9th. Once again, the GHS defense played poorly, making six errors that led to eight unearned runs.

Alyssa Lovell started in the circle for the home team but pitched only one difficult inning, yielding five hits and five earned runs in the first frame. She was followed by relievers Jordyn Floyd, Sienna Wells, and Makayla Bachert, with Wells going 3.1 innings. All four GHS hurlers were touched up for runs, though Floyd’s three runs were all unearned.

Despite giving up five runs in the first, the Lady Bulldogs got right back in the game with five tallies of their own in the bottom half of the frame. A pair of walks, four singles, and a sacrifice fly accounted for the runs to tie the score at 5-5. But Bentonville-West added three more runs in both the second and fifth innings before putting the game away for good with four runs in the sixth. Greenwood plated two runs in the second but could generate only one more tally in the sixth to make the final score, 15-8.

Offensively, Greenwood had 13 hits with five players getting multiple knocks. Emily Creason led the way with three hits and an RBI. Daisy Parker, Annie Been, Ava Cranor, and Taelyn Martin all had two hits each. Been had two runs batted in while Cranor, Martin, and Emmerson Israel all had one RBI each. Creason and Parker had the only extra-base hits for Greenwood, both doubles.

Van Buren

On Tuesday, March 10th, the GHS ladies opened 5A West conference play at home against the Lady Pointers of Van Buren, notching an easy 13-0 win behind winning hurler Alyssa Lovell, who pitched five scoreless innings in the run-rule victory. She gave up just three hits with no walks and three strikeouts. She was backed up by a much-improved defense that made just one error behind her.

Greenwood scored twice in the first inning and seven times in the second to take complete control of the game. The Lady Bulldogs added four insurance runs in the bottom of the fourth to invoke the 10-run sportsmanship rule. Down by a baker’s dozen in the fifth, the visitors were retired in the top of the fifth, stranding their final baserunner before the game was called.

Taelyn Martin led the GHS hit parade with three knocks, all singles, and two RBIs. Alyssa Lovell and Emmerson Israel had two hits each with Lovell knocking home a run and Israel plating two runs. Ava Cranor had a double and an RBI while Israel added a triple among her two hits and two RBIs. Daisy Parker and Emily Creason also had solo hits with Creason also picking up a pair of runs batted in. But perhaps the offensive star of the game was Lakyn Dawson with two hits, including a second inning three-run homer, and four total RBIs. Annie Been had the other GHS hit.

Harrison

On Friday the 13th the GHS girls completed a solid first week of conference play by dominating the Lady Goblins at Crooked Creek in Harrison, winning 16-1 in three innings. A dozen Greenwood hits and three Harrison errors helped the Lady Bulldogs plate six runs in the top of the first inning and five each in the second and third frames. Alyssa Lovell went two innings in the circle for the “W” followed by Jordyn Floyd’s one inning of work in relief. Harrison managed just one hit and one unearned run in the game.

Lovell and battery mate Emily Creason had three hits each to lead the way offensively for Greenwood. Lovell had a single and a pair of doubles, but Creason turned in the best performance of her prep career with three home runs and six RBIs. She homered in each of the three innings, driving in teammate Daisy Parker with every blast. Annie Been also had multiple hits, both singles with an RBI.

Daisy Parker, Lakyn Dawson, Emmerson Israel, and Ava Cranor all had solo knocks. Dawson’s hit was a double. She also drove home a pair of runs. Ava Cranor’s hit was a three-bagger, driving home two runs as well. Ten of Greenwood’s 16 runs were earned.

Alma

The next conference victim for the GHS girls was the Lady Airedales of Alma who came calling on Tuesday, March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day. But the green-and-gold didn’t help the visitors avoid a 10-0 run-rule shellacking in six innings at the hands of the Lady Bulldogs. Alyssa Lovell and Makayla Bachert did the honors for the home team in the circle. Lovell started and went five innings, giving up four hits with five strikeouts. Bachert closed out the game, yielding one hit with two Ks in one inning of work.

Five Lady Bulldogs had multiple hits, including Laykn Dawson and Emmerson Israel with three knocks each. Dawson had a homerun and three RBIs while Israel had a double and two singles. Emily Creason, Taelyn Martin, and Mallory Steele all had two hits. Creason had a double and two RBIs. Martin and Steele had one RBI each.

Greenwood scored twice in the first frame, three times in the second, once each in the third and fourth innings, and three times in the sixth to shorten the game. The Lady Bulldogs banged out 13 hits and played perfect defense in winning their third consecutive conference game.

Farmington

But the Lady Bulldogs were brought down hard at Farmington two days later on Thursday the 19th, losing 9-0. The game was moved up a day to avoid a bad weather forecast on Friday, and the change didn’t sit well with the visitors, who made four fielding errors and mustered just two hits against the Lady Cardinals. Emily Creason and Emmerson Israel both had singles to account for all the GHS offense.

Alyssa Lovell started in the circle for Greenwood and was hit hard, yielding six hits and seven runs in one inning of work, though only five of those runs were earned due to GHS errors. Jordyn Floyd relieved and pitched the final five frames, also yielding six hits, but just two runs, neither of which was earned. The Lady Cardinals scored twice in the first inning, five times in the second, and twice more in the fourth.

Valley View

This past Friday Head Coach Donald Hart and his staff took their team across the state to a weekend tournament in Jonesboro at the Southside softball complex. Their first opponent was Valley View, whom Sienna Wells held to just two hits and no runs in an 8-0 GHS win in six innings. Greenwood scored once in the top of the first inning, four times in the third, and once each over the last three frames.

GHS bats were responsible for 11 hits, including three extra-base knocks, a double by Daisy Parker, a triple by Ava Cranor, and a homerun by Emily Creason. Parker and Annie Been led the team with three hits each. Creason had two hits while Lakyn Dawson, Emmerson Israel, and Cranor had one hit each. Creason had two RBIs, as did Dawson and Cranor. Alyssa Lovell also drove home a run. All but one of Greenwood’s runs were earned.

Greenbrier

The Lady Bulldogs played twice on Saturday, dropping their 10 a.m. contest to the Lady Panthers of Greenbrier, 12-1. The home team, Greenbrier pushed across five runs in the top of the first inning off GHS pitching. A one-out single was followed by a walk and two more singles before a two-run homer put the Lady Bulldogs at a severe disadvantage before they ever came up to bat.

Another Greenbrier rally made it 10-0 in the top of the fourth inning before Greenwood finally scored in the bottom half. Annie Been scored the lone GHS run. The final two Lady Panthers’ runs came in the fifth. Makayla Bachert started in the circle for Greenwood and took the loss. She was later relieved by Jordyn Floyd.

Conway

The Lady Bulldogs shook off the loss to Greenbrier earlier that morning, taking out any lingering frustration on the Lady Wampus Cats of Conway in a 14-0 rout during the noon hour. Alyssa Lovell pitched all four frames for Greenwood, allowing just three hits and no walks with a pair of strikeouts for the win. After scoring twice in their opening at bat in the first inning, the Lady Bulldogs blew the game open with eight tallies in the second and four more in the third. The game ended after four frames.

With the bats, the GHS girls were led by Emily Creason’s 4-for-4 performance, including a double, homerun, and three RBIs. She was just one of seven Lady Bulldogs with multiple hits. Alyssa Lovell had two knocks with one RBI; Lakyn Dawson had two hits, including a double, and two RBIs; Annie Been had two hits and drove home a run; Emmerson Israel had two knocks, including a home run and four RBIs; Ava Cranor added a pair of hits; and Lettie Brownfield whacked a double among her two hits with two runs driven home.