The Greenwood Bulldogs opened their 2018 baseball season last week with five games in Head Coach Trey Holloway’s fourth year at the helm. He has taken the Diamond ‘Dogs to the state semi-finals each of the last two seasons, winning 43 games during that stretch. Their sixth game overall and their first conference game was played this past Tuesday night at Alma.
Booneville
Greenwood opened play in the inaugural First Pitch Classic, hosting one of the eight regionals across the state. Their opening round opponent last Monday (February 26) was Class 4A Booneville.
The Bearcats jumped on GHS starting pitcher Blake Pschier for three early runs in the top of the first inning, but the defense committed three errors, making most of the runs unearned.
But Greenwood rallied in the bottom of the second inning to tie the game at 3-all. Singles by Landry Jurecka and Cooper Passmore, a Booneville error, and a bases-clearing triple by Jackson Webb accounted for the runs.
Neither team scored again until the sixth, when the Bearcats pushed across three more runs off reliever Isaac Schwartz on three hits and two walks. All three runs scored after two outs.
The Bulldogs scored a single run in the bottom of the sixth on a pair of hits by Schwartz and Passmore, and an error, leaving Greenwood on the short end of the 6-4 final score. A lead off hit in the seventh was erased on a 4-6-3 double play by the Bearcats.
Greenwood out-hit Booneville seven to five. Jackson Webb and Cooper Passmore had two hits each and Webb had a pair of runs batted in and Connor Noland drew three walks in four plate appearances.
FS Southside
The second game in the First Pitch Classic was scheduled for the following day, but was postponed due to wet weather. It was made up last Thursday and the visiting opponents were the Fort Smith Southside Mavericks. The game quickly turned into a track meet with both teams combining for 24 runs.
Greenwood scored 11 runs in its first three at bats and led 11-6 after three innings. Two more GHS runs scored in the fifth, and one more in the sixth. Southside scored once in the fifth and three times in the top of the seventh to narrow the final margin to 14-10. Both teams committed three errors.
Connor Noland got the start and the win for the Bulldogs, despite allowing six runs over four frames, while giving up just two hits. Righthander Cade Lynch relieved and pitched three innings. Noland gave up just one earned run on four walks with six strikeouts, while Lynch gave up three earned runs.
At the plate, Peyton Holt and Jackson Webb both had three hits. Holt also had a triple and three RBIs, while Brandon Woolsey and Noland knocked home two runs. Colton Sagely also added a pair of hits.
Morrilton
The season’s third game was last Friday, again in the First Pitch Classic and again at home against the Morrilton Devil Dogs, a 12-2 five-inning victory for the Diamond ‘Dogs. Brandon Woolsey led the way offensively with three hits and six RBIs, while starter Chance Eoff pitched all five innings for the win.
A four-run first inning put Greenwood on top 4-1 after hits by Holt, Noland, and Woolsey. Three more runs in the third and four more runs in the fourth put the game away. The Bulldogs added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth for a 10-run cushion before the game was halted.
Besides Woolsey’s three hits and six RBIs, Peyton Holt added two hits, three runs, and an RBI. Eoff, Noland, and Sagely accounted for the remaining GHS hits, with Noland and Eoff each driving home a run. Greenwood out-hit Morrilton 8-to-4, while the Devil Dogs committed four errors to Greenwood’s two.
Shiloh Christian
Last Saturday the First Pitch Classic continued as Diamond ‘Dogs won 6-1 over Shiloh Christian in Springdale, blasting 12 hits and getting solid pitching from Landry Jurecka. He toiled all seven innings, giving up just three hits and one earned run. The GHS defense made two errors behind him.
Both teams tallied single runs in the first inning, but Greenwood kept up the scoring with two runs in the second, one more in the third, and two runs in the fifth.
Colton Sagely and Peyton Holt led the offense from the top of the batting order with three hits each, and one of Holt’s swings left the yard. He also had RBIs. Colton Sagely and Blake Pschier also drove home a run each. Both Connor Noland and Jackson Webb added two hits each and Noland had an RBI.
Searcy
GHS starting pitcher Isaac Schwartz and reliever Brandon Woolsey combined on a three-hitter last Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs topped the Searcy Lions for their fourth straight victory.
Against Searcy, Schwartz, Holt, and Jackson Webb had two hits each as Greenwood scored three times in the second inning and once in the bottom of the sixth for the 4-1 victory. Searcy’s lone tally came in the top of the third inning.
Schwartz toed the rubber for the first four frames, giving up an earned run on just one hit, while walking four Searcy hitters. Woolsey pitched three innings, allowing two hits, no walks, and no runs.
Peyton Holt had a double among his two hits and drove home a run. The other RBIs were credited to Jake Smith, Jackson Webb, and Colton Sagely.
Alma
This past Tuesday night the Bulldogs traveled to Alma for their first conference game of the season, dropping a narrow 2-1 decision to the rival Airedales despite a strong mound performance by starter Connor Noland, who lasted into the seventh inning, allowing just one hit, no runs, and striking out 16.
Noland was dominate, fanning the side in the first, third, fifth, and sixth innings. But with one out in the bottom of the seventh he had already thrown 92 pitches, and Coach Holloway brought in reliever Blake Pschier, moving Noland to first base.
Pschier threw just six pitches. An infield error and a double tied the score at 1-1, and a second infield error allowed the winning run to score. Pschier took the tough-luck loss as both runs were unearned.
The game was scoreless through five innings, with Alma starter Parker Edwards matching Noland almost pitch for pitch, striking out nine Bulldogs along the way and allowing one run on just four hits.
The Bulldogs pushed across their only run in the top of the sixth after a single and stolen base by Colton Sagely, a sacrifice bunt by Jake Smith, and a sac fly by Peyton Holt to score the run.
Up next
The Bulldogs will host Clarksville this coming Friday starting at 5 p.m. and host Sallisaw, Oklahoma, on Saturday at noon. The Clarksville game is a conference affair. Greenwood will then travel to face league foe Farmington next Tuesday.