In the end, it just wasn’t meant to be. Despite winning 20 games this spring, earning a first-round bye in the 6A state playoffs, and hosting that same tournament, the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs couldn’t make it happen last weekend, losing in the quarterfinals to Jonesboro, 3-0.
For the first time ever, Greenwood High School hosted both the 6A softball and baseball state tournaments starting last Thursday and concluding on Saturday. Great weather helped encourage big crowds to attend every game, especially those involving the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs.
Both GHS squads earned first-round byes in the tournament, and both played on Friday afternoon. The top-seeded Diamond ‘Dogs won their game over Texarkana and went on to claim a spot in the state title game next Saturday at Fayetteville’s Baum Stadium at 3 p.m.
But the Lady Bulldogs ran into a hot team and an even hotter pitcher in Jonesboro’s ace, Haylee Davis. The tall, lanky senior hurler for the Lady Hurricanes limited Greenwood to just four harmless singles in the contest, and only twice did she allow two runners to reach base in the same frame.
Davis had only four strikeouts and issued a pair of walks, but got solid support from her defense with no errors, though her infielders handled just six ground balls in the game. Greenwood hit 10 fly balls, popups, or line drives that were caught, including a line drive double play to end the game.
The largest 6A school in the state based on enrollment, Jonesboro used a three-run fifth inning to upset the hometown Lady Bulldogs. A day earlier the Lady ‘Canes defeated El Dorado, 4-3, to advance to the quarterfinals.
“She pitched well,” said GHS Head Coach Ronnie Sockey of Davis’ performance. “She got us chasing pitches and doing things different than what we normally do,” he said. “We did hit some balls hard, but just kind of right at them. We got runners on, but we couldn’t get that big hit.
The Jonesboro girls also avenged losses to Greenwood in each of the past two years in post-season play. In the 2017 tournament the Lady Bulldogs dominated them in the semifinals.
“We’ve peaked at the right time in our season,” said Jonesboro Head Coach Josh Fleming. “We struggled a little at the beginning but have really come on here lately, and it’s been showing.”
Davis retired the first five batters she faced, and through the first five innings Greenwood had a runner reach second base just once.
But in the bottom of the sixth inning, down 3-0, Greenwood tried to make things interesting. A one-out single to left field by Harley Terry was followed by a walk to Angela Price, the first time in the game two Lady Bulldogs had occupied bases at the same time.
With the heart of the GHS order coming up, the inning looked promising, but Davis got the next two hitters, Ally Sockey and Paxtyn Hayes, to fly out to centerfield, ending the threat.
Then with one out in the seventh, seniors Ericka Calderon and Kaila Cartwright reached base, keeping the fading GHS hopes alive. Calderon walked and Cartwright flared a single to center, bringing up Rheding Wagoner.
The sophomore made good contact, hitting the ball hard, but her line drive was caught by Jonesboro’s second baseman, who threw to the shortstop covering the bag at second to double off the lead runner, ending the game and Greenwood’s dream of reaching the state finals.
The lone hits for Greenwood came off the bats of Kaila Cartwright (2), Angela Price, and Harley Terry. Cartwright also took the pitching loss for the Lady Bulldogs, despite giving up zero earned runs.
Her pitching line included seven innings, five hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. Three GHS errors didn’t help her cause, contributing to the three-run inning for the Lady Hurricanes.
Jonesboro broke a scoreless tie with the help of some luck in the top of the fifth. After a one-out single and a strikeout, a pair of seemingly harmless infield grounders set the stage for the rally. Then a groundball double down the first base line put the icing on the cake.
With two outs, a grounder toward the hole at shortstop was fielded by Ally Sockey, but the runner beat the throw to first base. Another grounder, this one toward second baseman Lexi Castillow, was fielded by the senior moving to her right, but she couldn’t maintain her balance to make the throw to first base, allowing the game’s first run to score. The double followed to make it 3-0.
Despite the disappointing loss to Jonesboro, the Lady Bulldogs finished their season with the second-best overall record (20-6) in Class 6A, behind only Sheridan (29-3), which will face Marion (17-8) in the state finals on Saturday.
The Lady Bulldogs are also still very young, losing just four seniors to graduation, including Kaila Cartwright, Lexi Castillow, Ericka Calderon, and Kimmie Colyer.
Cartwright and Colyer are both pitchers, so Coach Sockey will turn to Abbi Clem and Haven Clements, among others, to fill the circle for the Lady Bulldogs next season. Clem will be a junior and Clements will be a sophomore in 2019.
Other key returning players include Ally Sockey, Mariah Hamilton, Rheding Wagoner, and Harley Terry on the infield, Paxtyn Hayes and Josie Chapple in the outfield, and Angela Price behind the plate.
Tryouts and camps
Coach Sockey has also announced softball tryouts for next year’s squad will be held on Tuesday, May 22nd, at Lady Bulldogs’ field starting at 3:30 p.m.
This is for new players only, and each participant must have an updated physical on file with the GHS athletic office or bring physical papers to the tryouts.
There will also be two separate youth softball camps held by Coach Sockey and some of his players. The first will be on May 31st for girls ages 9-13 from 9 a.m. until noon at the softball field.
The second camp will be the following day, June 1st, at the same time for girls ages 6-8. The cost to attend either camp is $35 per student.