The Greenwood Bulldogs baseball season is now underway with three games already under their belts. After dropping their first two contests on the road at Gravette and Owasso (OK), they opened the home portion of their schedule this past Tuesday with a 1-0 win over the Shiloh Christian Saints. They will hit the road again on Friday at Springdale Har-Ber before hosting Russellville next Tuesday in an early 5A West conference doubleheader.
Greenwood 1, Shiloh Christian 0
Senior Aiden Kennon toed the rubber as the GHS starter and went five stellar innings, limiting the Saints to only one hit while giving no walks and getting solid defensive play behind him. The GHS defense made just one error. Kennon fanned eight of the 18 Shiloh Christian hitters he faced, while throwing 73 total pitches, 43 of them strikes. Junior Austin Mitchell followed Kennon on the bump and pitched two scoreless innings for the save.
The game remained scoreless through three frames with the Shiloh starter matching Kennon pitch for pitch. The Saints then changed hurlers in the fourth inning when the Bulldogs pushed across their lone run, scored by sophomore Grant Karnes. Braden Skaggs and Dawson Holt led Greenwood offensively with two hits each. Harrison Adams and Brady Pettigrew had one hit each. The ‘Dogs outhit the Saints six to one in a classic pitching duel.
Greenwood 3, Owasso 8
Last Thursday, March 2nd, the Diamond ‘Dogs traveled to Owasso, Oklahoma, located just a few miles northeast of Tulsa, as Coach Brewer took his squad back to his old stomping ground to face the Rams. Owasso is a large school of about 3,000 students, nearly three times the size of Greenwood High School, but it was the Bulldogs who jumped out on top early.
After a scoreless first inning, Greenwood plated three runs in the top of the second frame, unaware that it would be their only runs of the contest. The Diamond ‘Dogs had just two hits in the game but benefitted from five Owasso walks and two defensive errors. Grant Karnes had both GHS hits while Dawson Holt and Hunter Houston scored once each. Braden Skaggs and Austin Bercher were credited with driving home one run each for the Bulldogs.
Three GHS pitchers worked the game against the Rams, and all three were touched up. Starter Grant Karnes went three innings, giving up three hits, two walks, and three runs, two of them earned. He also struck out four Owasso batters. Senior Hunter Houston relieved Karnes and went two frames, allowing two hits and three runs, all earned. He also issued three free passes and fanned three Rams’ hitters. Junior Brady Pettigrew pitched the sixth inning and gave up two hits, two earned runs, while walking three and fanning one. Owasso’s two relief pitchers turned in five spotless innings for the win.
Greenwood 5, Gravette 6
On the last day of February, the Bulldogs went north to take on the Gravette Lions, but suffered a close one run loss, 6-5. They made the trip without senior Harrison Adams, one of the team’s top players, who was battling an illness, and without him the bats were sluggish through the first four innings. On the plus side, the Diamond ‘Dogs rallied from a 6-0 deficit to score five runs in the fifth inning, but couldn’t add on in their final two at bats to avoid the narrow defeat. Starter Austin Mitchell took the loss for Greenwood in 3.2 innings of work.
Mitchell needed 77 pitches, 46 of them strikes, fanning seven batters, allowing three walks, five hits, and all six earned runs, leaving the game with two outs in the fourth inning. He was relieved by Aiden Kennon, who gave up two hits but no runs in 2.1 innings of work. Kennon walked one and struck out three of the seven batters he retired.
The Lions scored twice in the bottom of the second inning and four times in the fourth to build their 6-0 cushion. But the Bulldogs struck for five tallies in the top of the fifth, with Braden Skaggs, Grant Karnes, Brady Pettigrew, and Weston Pschier picking up solo RBIs. Karnes had two hits in the game while Skaggs, Pettigrew, Holt, and Mitchell had one hit each. Designated hitter Zack Zitsmann had a stolen base. Defensively, the Bulldogs made two errors while Gravette made one.