Since their extra inning home loss to Van Buren on March 16th, the Greenwood Bulldogs have been on quite a roll, winning 10 consecutive games, including this past Monday over Fort Smith Southside, also in extras. The Diamond ‘Dogs won 6-5 in nine innings over the Mavericks.
The unbeaten string began with the 4-0 trip to Arizona and the Coach Bob Invitational during spring break, and continued with wins over Fort Smith Northside, Siloam Springs, Ozark, Russellville, Pottsville, and now Southside. Greenwood is 18-3 on the season and remains unbeaten (6-0) in league play.
Southside
Monday’s tilt was a close affair throughout, with both teams counterpunching in a non-conference rivalry game. Freshman Landry Jurecka got the call to start the game on the mound for Greenwood, and lasted six innings until being relieved by senior Isaac Schwartz, who started the seventh and eventually earned the win after three innings of scoreless work.
Jurecka allowed six hits, a walk, and four earned runs, striking out two Mavericks’ hitters. Schwartz gave up two hits, a walk, and also fanned two.
A first-inning error by the Bulldogs opened the door for Southside’s first two runs of the game. A pair of hits and two sacrifice bunts also figured into the scoring for a 2-0 Mavericks’ lead.
Greenwood tied the score in the bottom of the second on hits by Blake Pschier, Jake Smith, and Chance Eoff. Smith and Eoff drove home the two runs.
Both teams also scored single runs in the third, with the Bulldogs plating shortstop Peyton Holt, who singled, stole second, and went to third on a throwing error. Connor Noland then sent a fly ball to right field that scored Holt.
Still tied at 3-3, Greenwood regained the lead in the fifth on a triple by Jackson Webb, an RBI double by Cooper Passmore, and an RBI two-bagger by Holt. A double play bailed the Mavs out of the inning, but they still trailed 5-3 heading into the sixth.
But Southside’s diminutive #9 hitter, Mason Love, burned Jurecka and the Bulldogs in the top of the frame with a surprising two-run dinger to right field, tying the score at 5-all.
Pitching and defense then took over for the next couple of frames as both teams changed pitchers and both infields turned critical double plays to keep the score tied. Greenwood went rather quietly in the sixth and seventh innings, and a Southside twin-killing snuffed out a potential winning rally in the eighth.
But after stranding two visiting runners in the top of the eighth, and another in the ninth, the Bulldogs put the game away in the bottom of the ninth.
At the dish with one out, Chance Eoff reached on an error, then advanced to third base and then to home on consecutive hits by Jackson Webb and Cooper Passmore for the walk-off win.
The ‘Dogs had 10 hits in the game, most of the damage coming from four players with two hits each – Holt, Pschier, Webb, and Passmore. Eoff, Noland, Holt, and Jake Smith all had solo RBIs, and Passmore had two driven in, including the deciding run.
After the game, GHS Head Coach Trey Holloway talked about the win. “This is two years in a row we’ve had a big game with [Southside] that’s been a one-run game. They scored in the first inning and put some pressure on us. We bent and bent, but we never broke. We’ve talked about being resilient, and we’ve showed that the last couple of weeks.”
Asked about his team’s status at this point in the season, Holloway said, “We’ve won 10 in a row, and we can get caught up in that really easy, but that’s not how we play. Last week I didn’t think we played very well and yet we found ways to win. Today I thought we played better. We just need to be committed to the process and get better every day.”
The coach also said that he expects to get outfielder Colton Sagely and infielder/pitcher Ryan Daggs back from injury in time for the post-season conference tournament at the end of the month. Until he was hurt, Sagely was the team’s lead-off hitter.
Pottsville
The Class 4A Apaches came to Greenwood last Thursday sporting a 10-3 record and gave the Bulldogs all they could handle in non-conference play. The home team won it in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the seventh on a game-winning hit by Blake Pschier.
Pottsville pitching held the Diamond ‘Dogs scoreless until the fifth inning, at which point they already trailed 4-0. The Apaches pushed across two runs in the second and fifth against GHS starting pitcher Jace Presley, three of which were earned runs.
When Presley failed to record an out in the fifth, Pschier came in to relieve him and got the final nine outs, giving two hits, two walks, and fanning two hitters along the way. The line on Presley included three hits, five walks, and two strikeouts.
Greenwood scored twice in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the score. An error and a walk started the bottom half of the fifth, followed by an RBI hit by Chance Eoff and a run-scoring double by Cooper Passmore. Trailing 4-2, the ‘Dogs tied the score in the sixth on a bases-loaded single by catcher Jake Smith.
After Pschier retired six of the last seven hitters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings, the Bulldogs won it in the bottom half of the seventh.
The winning rally started with a lead-off walk to Passmore, who later advanced to second base on a catcher’s interference call. Pschier then won the game with a walk-off double, plating the run.
Greenwood had eight hits in the contest, including two each from Brandon Woolsey and Connor Noland. Smith drove home two runs while Passmore and Pschier had the only extra-base hits for the Bulldogs, both doubles.
Russellville
Jackson Webb was the hero earlier in the week when the Bulldogs traveled to Pope County to face conference foe Russellville on Tuesday, April 3rd. After the Cyclones took a 7-6 lead after five innings, Greenwood rallied with a run to tie the score in the seventh, and two runs to win it in the eighth.
Senior Isaac Schwartz started on the hill for the Bulldogs, but was touched up for three runs in three frames of work. Two of those runs were earned on two hits and three walks.
Schwartz got relief help from Nicke Phelps, who covered the fourth and fifth innings, yielding four hits and four runs in the fifth. Senior Connor Noland then worked three frames of nearly spotless relief with four strikeouts as the Bulldogs came from behind for the victory.
A homerun by Jackson Webb leading off the seventh tied the score and forced extra innings. In the eighth, with two runners on, Webb stroked a double to plate both teammates. Noland then shut the door on the Cyclones in the bottom half of the inning.
At the bat, the Bulldogs tallied nine total hits, with three coming off the bat of red-hot Peyton Holt. But they weren’t just regular hits. Holt hit all three balls out of the park for homers, collecting 12 total bases, scoring three runs, and driving in five runs.
Webb had three hits, including a homerun and double plus three RBIs. Catcher Jake Smith added a pair of hits as well and Chance Eoff walked twice and scored both times.
Ozark
Peyton Holt and Jackson Webb have helped carry the team offensively all season, and the March 31st game at home against the Class 4A Ozark Hillbillies was no different, an 8-0 win for the Bulldogs.
Holt hit a two-run homer and Webb continued his magical season with three hits, including his fourth triple of the spring. Webb’s three hits raised his batting average to .491. Not to be outdone, Holt was hitting a measly .600 at the end of last month. Cooper Passmore also had two hits and scored twice.
Two Greenwood pitchers, sophomore Jace Presley and freshman Chance Eoff, limited the Hillbillies (11-3) to just three singles in the contest. Presley struck out 10 batters in five innings and got credit for the win, while Eoff fanned four hitters in just two frames.
The Bulldogs scored twice in the first inning and five times in the second before adding one more in the fourth. Both teams played flawless defense, committing no errors.
Siloam Springs
The day before beating the Hillbillies, the Bulldogs hosted the Panthers of Siloam Springs in a 6A/5A-West conference game, notching a 7-2 victory for starting pitcher Landry Jurecka.
The freshman transfer from Alma lasted four innings, giving up three hits and one run while fanning five Panthers’ hitters and walking just one. Connor Noland and Brandon Woolsey covered the final three innings in relief, all scoreless.
Greenwood scored in each of the first four innings, once in the first and twice in each of the next three frames. The Bulldogs out-hit Siloam Springs eight to seven, but the Panthers committed three errors in the field while the GHS defense was perfect.
The hits were evenly distributed up and down the GHS lineup. Only Noland had a multi-hit game with a single and a double, plus and RBI and run scored. Cooper Passmore was one-for-two with a pair of walks and a run scored.
Northside
Greenwood won its March 29th rivalry game over Northside, 10-5, but the biggest takeaway was the loss of centerfielder Colton Sagely to injury after hurting his knee on a play near the fence.
“He might end up with quite a few stitches,” said Coach Holloway after the game. “It looks like he may be out for a while.” Sagely is expected back in a couple more weeks.
The Bulldogs struck early for two runs in the first, with Sagely setting the tone with one of his two hits. He then swiped second and scored on Cooper Passmore’s RBI single. Connor Noland drove in Passmore with a double for the 2-0 lead.
The Grizzlies tied the game in the bottom of the second, but a three-run outburst by the Bulldogs put them back on top, 5-2. But Northside quickly made it 5-4 with two more runs in the third.
Holt then singled as part of a two-run GHS fourth, and smacked his second homer of the season to lead off the fifth. The ‘Dogs added two more runs in the sixth to secure the five-run margin of victory.
Greenwood’s Blake Pschier went four innings on the mound for his fourth win in five decisions, giving six hits and two runs. He got relief help from Isaac Schwartz, two innings, and Nicke Phelps, who needed just nine pitches to retire the side in the Northside seventh.
Upcoming
After being rained out twice last week in Greenwood’s attempt to play Alma, the game was rescheduled for a second time to Wednesday of this week. Results were not available.
Friday’s originally scheduled league game with Farmington has also been moved to Thursday, and the original Thursday date with Class 7A Conway will be made up at a later time. The weather forecast is calling for rain all day on Friday.
Greenwood traveled to Clarksville this past Tuesday and will make the long trip to Harrison next Tuesday. The Bulldogs then close out the regular season with games against Springdale, Russellville, and Siloam Springs before opening play in the post-season conference tournament at the end of the month.