The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs remain in the thick of the 5A West conference race, winning four of five games since returning from spring break, including a 2-1 mark in league play. They return to action on Tuesday this week at home against Van Buren in conference play, travel to Class 6A Bentonville on Thursday, then host the Lady Goblins of Harrison on Friday in another league contest. Head Coach Donald Hart and his staff and team are currently 10-5 this season and 5-2 in conference play. This week marks the halfway point in the league schedule with seven conference games remaining.
Morrilton
After a few days off during spring break, the Lady Bulldogs returned to the diamond on Monday, March 30th hosting the Lady Devil Dogs of Morrilton in non-conference play. The contest was very competitive, with the visitors taking an early lead before a GHS rally, followed by another Morrilton surge, then a second GHS response to tie the game before winning it with a sixth inning run. Greenwood triumphed in seven innings, 8-7.
With starter Jordyn Floyd in the circle for Greenwood, the Lady Devil Dogs scored solo runs in each of the first three innings. However, a four-spot in the bottom of the third put the home team up 4-3 after three frames. But the Morrilton girls plated four tallies of their own in the top of the fourth to go back on top, 7-4. Not to be outdone, the GHS ladies rallied for three runs in the bottom half of the frame to knot the score at 7-all after four innings.
With reliever Sienna Wells now in the game for Greenwood, the visitors didn’t score again, while the Lady Bulldogs got a solo run in the bottom of the sixth inning with a walk and a pair of singles. Emmerson Israel drove home what turned out to be the winning run with two outs. Wells closed the door on the victory with a perfect seventh inning.
Jordyn Floyd pitched 3.1 innings, giving up seven hits, two walks, and six earned runs. Wells relieved her in the fourth inning and pitched 3.2 frames, yielding just two hits, one walk, and one unearned run to earn the pitching victory. Morrilton also employed two pitchers against the Lady Bulldogs.
With their metallic bats, the GHS girls banged out 11 hits, including four doubles, adding two walks and a hit batsman with a pair of sacrifice flies. Emily Creason, Lakyn Dawson, Emmerson Israel, and Mallory Steele led the way with two knocks each. Creason had a single, double, and three runs batted in. Dawson also had a single and double, while Israel had a pair of singles with one RBI. Steele also had a single and double. Lettie Brownfield, Annie Been, and Kynleigh Palmer all had solo hits with Palmer driving home three runs, including an RBI sacrifice fly. Taelyn Martin had the other sac fly and RBI.
Russellville
The next day, on Tuesday, March 31st, the Lady Bulldogs returned to 5A West conference play at home against the Lady Cyclones of Russellville, extracting a 13-0 shutout victory in five innings. GHS starter Alyssa Lovell went the distance, limiting Russellville to just four hits while issuing no walks and striking out three. She needed 64 pitches to finish the job, 42 of them for strikes. She was also able to pitch around three Greenwood defensive errors.
The GHS ladies scored early and often, plating two runs in the bottom of the first inning, nine more in the second, and two runs in the third. Neither team scored in the fourth or fifth innings, but the game ended after five frames due to the 10-run sportsmanship rule. Greenwood had 10 hits in the game and scored three unearned runs on a trio of Russellville errors.
The top five hitters in the GHS lineup did most of the damage for the home team. Leadoff hitter Emily Creason had two knocks with three RBIs, including a home run. Second-place hitter Ava Cranor added a single and scored two runs. Alyssa Lovell in the three-hole had two hits, a double and home run, driving home two runs. Cleanup hitter Lakyn Dawson had a double with three RBIs and two runs scored. Annie Been rounded out the top five with two singles and an RBI. Daisy Parker had two hits in the seven hole, including a three-bagger with two RBIs. She also stole a base as did Sienna Wells. Greenwood received four walks and had a hit batsman in the game.
Siloam Springs
The following Friday, April 3rd, Coach Hart took his team to Siloam Springs for another conference contest against the Lady Panthers and used a big seventh inning rally to put the game in the victory column for the visitors, 13-6. Alyssa Lovell started the game in the circle for Greenwood but was relieved in the third inning by Jordyn Floyd, who got the win with 4.2 innings of work.
Lovell was touched up for six hits, two walks, and five runs, but only three earned in 2.1 frames of work. Floyd coughed up four hits, one walk, and one earned run with three strikeouts. The GHS defense made two errors in the field, contributing to two unearned runs for the Lady Panthers.
Second baseman Ava Cranor led the 13-hit GHS attack with three knocks, including two singles and a triple, scoring once and driving in a run. Annie Been, Emmerson Israel, and Mallory Steele had two hits each, including a triple by Israel, who had two RBIs along with Steele. Been drove home one. But perhaps the biggest blow of the game came off the bat of Emily Creason, whose lone hit was a three-run home run to center field in the decisive seventh inning. Creason had five RBIs in the game. Jordyn Floyd, Lakyn Dawson, and Daisy Parker also had solo hits with Parker and Floyd driving in solo runs as well.
Pottsville
After nearly a week off for rest and practice, the Lady Bulldogs returned to action last Thursday, April 9th, on the road at Pottsville in non-conference play. The game was close with Greenwood battling from behind through the first five innings before scoring two runs in the sixth and again in the seventh for the 8-6 victory. Greenwood trailed 3-1 after one frame and 6-3 after three innings. Two fourth inning runs pulled the visitors closer at 6-5, putting them in position to pull out the late win.
Three GHS hurlers toiled in the contest, starting with Sienna Wells, who pitched one inning and gave three hits and three earned runs with a pair of walks. Izzy Thomas followed her to the circle in the second inning and pitched two frames, allowing three hits and three runs, all unearned. The final GHS pitcher was Makayla Bachert, who went four innings, allowing no runs on two hits and a walk. She earned the pitching victory over the Lady Apaches.
The Lady Bulldogs whacked 12 hits in the game, four of them for extra bases. Daisy Parker had three hits to lead the offensive parade, including a triple and two RBIs. Emily Creason had two hits including a home run, scored two runs, and drove one home. Ava Cranor had two hits as well with two runs batted in. Lakyn Dawson, Emmerson Israel, Evelyn Neal, Taelyn Martin, and Mallory Steele all had solo knocks with Dawson driving home a run with her double.
Mountain Home
Last Friday the GHS girls took one on the chin from conference foe Mountain Home, losing their second league contest, 9-6. The game turned on a fourth-inning seven-run outburst by the Lady Bombers, who trailed 4-1 after three frames. But seven hits and a walk later the visitors were in command with an 8-4 lead. All seven runs were earned off two GHS pitchers, Alyssa Lovell and Jordyn Floyd.
Greenwood scored first in the bottom of the opening inning, pushing across a single run. Two more tallies in the second and another in the third had the Lady Bulldogs in the lead, 4-1. But after scoring their first run in the top of the third inning, the Lady Bombers went to work with the bats, scoring four runs off Lovell and three more in the frame off Floyd. They added one more tally in the seventh. The Lady Bulldogs did make three errors in the contest, but none of them figured directly into the opposition scoring.
Trailing 8-4, the GHS girls added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but were held scoreless in the sixth and seventh, despite having the bases loaded in the sixth with one out. The offensive stat line for the home team was hard to take. Greenwood had 11 hits in the game, received a whooping eight walks, plus two Mountain Home errors, but still scored just six runs, leaving runners stranded all over the bases throughout the contest.
Leadoff batter and team catcher Emily Creason led the way offensively with three knocks, all singles, scoring two runs, driving in two others, plus a pair of walks, reaching base all five times she appeared at the plate. Jordyn Floyd and Taelyn Martin had two hits each, with one of Martin’s being a double. She also drove home a run while Floyd plated two runs. Alyssa Lovell added a hit, as did Daisy Parker and Mallory Steele. However, Mountain Home pitcher Chloe Bohannon fanned 12 GHS hitters, or almost two per inning, allowing her to escape several jams and leave so many Lady Bulldogs stranded on the bases.