Lady Bulldogs softball splits league opener with Russellville, headed to Hope for weekend tourney

Lady Bulldogs softball splits league opener with Russellville, headed to Hope for weekend tourney

New Head Coach Donald Hart and his Lady Bulldogs opened 5A West conference play last Tuesday with a home doubleheader against the Russellville Lady Cyclones. They split the two games, winning the opener, 3-2, before dropping the nightcap, 3-1. Thursday’s non-conference game at Morrilton was postponed due to rain and will be rescheduled, if possible. They opened their season at Fayetteville on February 27th then journeyed to Prairie Grove on March 7th, winning both games.

They traveled to Hope in Southwest Arkansas on Friday this week for a two-day weekend tournament to kick off their spring break holiday. When school resumes after spring break the Lady Bulldogs will host Fort Smith Southside in a varsity/junior varsity doubleheader on Monday the 27th before traveling to Van Buren the following day for a varsity twinbill at Van Buren in 5A West conference play.

Greenwood 3, Fayetteville 2

Four days after beating Fort Smith Southside in a 10-inning pre-season exhibition game, 13-7, the Lady Bulldogs traveled north to Fayetteville for their official season opener, defeating the Lady Purple Dogs in a squeaker, 3-2. Greenwood scored first, plating a run in the top of the second inning before falling behind 2-1, giving up two runs in the bottom of the fourth. But solo runs in the top of the fifth and seventh frames were enough to claim the victory.

GHS pitchers Haley McAdams and Tori Howard combined for the win. McAdams started and went four innings, scattering five hits with no walks, giving up two runs, one earned. Howard relieved and pitched the final three frames, giving up just one hit, no walks, and no runs. Both hurlers had five strikeouts and needed a combined 86 pitches to finish the game.

Offensively, the GHS girls had seven total hits, one each from the top seven hitters in the lineup, including a pair of doubles and a triple. Morgan Coryell, Rylee Cowart, Bri Taylor, and Ireland Cooper all singled, while Paige Pugh and Charlize Taylor both doubled, and Haley McAdams tripled. Cowart had an RBI and Taylor drove home two runs.

Greenwood 6, Prairie Grove 4

Against the Lady Tigers, the Greenwood girls fell behind early, 2-1, before plating five runs in the middle innings to pull ahead, holding off Prairie Grove for the 6-4 win. After the Lady Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, the Lady Tigers scored twice in the bottom half to go on top, 2-1. Neither team scored in the third, but Greenwood pushed across three runs in the top of the fourth and two more in the fifth. The home team scored twice in the bottom of the fourth, but GHS pitching did not allow another tally in the two-run victory.

Tori Howard went the distance in the circle for Greenwood, spacing 10 hits along with two free passes. She needed 111 pitches to get through seven innings and stranded nine Prairie Grove baserunners, also pitching around two GHS fielding errors. She threw 71 strikes and had four strikeouts in the contest.

At the dish, Greenwood’s top three hitters in the lineup had two hits each – Daisy Parker, Lani Coryell, and Charlize Taylor – and all three had a double among their two hits. Taylor also added a homerun while she and Coryell had solo RBIs. Natilee Horn added a two-run single, and Rylee Cowart added a sacrifice fly and an RBI. Rylee Floyd, Morgan Coryell, Haley McAdams, and Tori Howard also had singles. Greenwood had 11 hits in the 6-4 win.

Greenwood 3, Russellville 2

This past Tuesday the GHS girls opened 5A West conference play at home against the Lady Cyclones of Russellville, winning game one of the varsity doubleheader in walk-off fashion, scoring the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs in the frame, Haley McAdams singled and Emmy Burton subbed in as a courtesy runner. Morgan Coryell then doubled to left field, driving home Burton with the winning run.

With McAdams on the rubber as Greenwood’s starting pitcher, the game was scoreless through two innings. The Lady Bulldogs scored in the bottom of the third and again in the fourth. Meanwhile the visitors pushed across two runs in the top of the fourth. The contest remained tied at 2-2 until the seventh and the winning GHS rally.

In the bottom of the third, McAdams led off with a triple and later scored on an infield out by Natilee Horn, who earned the RBI. In the fourth, Charlize Taylor singled with two outs, advanced on a passed ball, and scored on an error, tying the game at 2-2. Overall, Greenwood outhit Russellville seven to two, and both teams committed an error defensively. McAdams had three of those seven hits, batting leadoff with a single, double, and triple. Coryell, Taylor, Rylee Cowart, and Tori Howard had the other four hits between them.

In the circle, McAdams was also stellar, holding the Lady Cyclones to only two hits and one earned run, giving just one walk on 90 total pitches, 54 of those strikes. She fanned nine Russellville hitters along the way, going the distance, working all seven innings for the victory, giving Greenwood a chance to sweep the doubleheader in their first conference action of the season. But in game two, it was Russellville’s pitching that dominated.

Greenwood 1, Russellville 3

The Lady Bulldogs were only able to generate three hits in the nightcap against Russellville pitching, scoring their only run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a single by Tori Howard and an RBI double by Charlize Taylor, scoring courtesy runner Emmy Burton. The visitors scored single runs in the first and third innings before tacking on an insurance run in the top of the sixth.

The Lady Cyclones got just six hits off GHS starter Tori Howard who went the distance, giving up three runs in seven innings of work, two of those earned. Greenwood committed two fielding errors, one of which led to a Russellville run. Howard struck out eight Lady Cyclone batters in an 80-pitch effort. Howard also led Greenwood with two hits, a single and double.

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