Head Coach Brandon Brewer and his Greenwood Bulldogs went 1-2 in tournament play in Little Rock during spring break last week. But they returned to 5A West conference play last Monday and Tuesday against the Russellville Cyclones, the defending league champs from 2024 and the favorites to repeat this season.
They were also slated to travel to Rogers last Friday for more non-conference play against the Mounties, but the stormy, rainy weather that blanketed the state forced the cancellation of that game. Greenwood returns to league play against the Mountain Home Bombers on Tuesday this week in a traditional doubleheader format.
One month into their regular season, the Diamond Dogs are 8-5 overall and 3-1 against 5A West competition. Coach Brewer offered the following comments about his team’s performance thus far this season: "I think so far we are off to a good start in conference [play]. We have a huge series coming up on Tuesday at home with the doubleheader against Mountain Home. [They are] well coached and tough. It’s important we come out Tuesday and have a good day.
“We have pitched it well [so far] and need to continue building off that,” he continued. “Our defense has been playing better too, and we are figuring out some pieces as we go along. We must find a way to manufacture some runs against the good arms we see in our conference. Mason Moore has thrown outstanding so far. Our team seems to play our best when he is on the mound. He has been a warrior and always wants the baseball. I’m very proud of the way he’s handled himself and gone about his business.”
Finally, Coach Brewer added, "This team of guys is really fun to coach. They are working hard every day to get better, and I think as the stretch run happens we will start to play our best baseball and hopefully get hot." Brewer is in his third year at the helm of the Diamond Dogs.
Lake Hamilton
With classes out for spring break, Coach Brewer took his Bulldogs to Little Rock last Thursday (March 27th) for the first of three non-conference tournament games. Their opener against the Lake Hamilton Wolves went six innings with sophomore starter Aaron Taylor and senior reliever Parker Branton on the hill. Taylor went 3.2 innings with Branton covering the final 2.1 frames. The GHS starter gave up nine hits and five runs, but only three earned. Branton gave up two hits and one earned run, which turned out to be the winner for the Wolves in a 6-5 victory.
Three Lake Hamilton hurlers toiled for the Wolves with their starter going five scoreless innings before two relievers struggled to close out the game in Greenwood’s final at bat. Lake Hamilton scored twice in the top of the first inning and three times in the fourth to build a 5-0 lead. Another run in the top of the sixth made it 6-0 before the Diamond Dogs rallied for five runs in the bottom of the sixth, coming up one run short with pinch runner Scott Holland being thrown out at home for the second out in the inning.
The late rally started with Jaxon Cole being struck by a pitch, before a Cooper Webb single and a walk to Aaron Taylor, loading the bases. Brayden Renick and Zack Zitzmann followed with RBI singles, making the score 5-3 with no outs. A two-RBI double by Wyatt Frye then cut the GHS deficit to 6-5. After a groundout advanced Frye to third, he was replaced by pinch runner Holland, who tried to go home on a pop fly by Ty Holt into short center field that fell in for a hit. Holland was thrown out at home, effectively ending the rally with the tying run stranded at second base when the next hitter grounded out.
The Bulldogs had eight hits in the game, half of those in their final at bat. Brayden Renick was the only GHS player with two hits. He also had an RBI and scored a run. Six others had solo hits including Jayden Campbell, Ty Holt, Jaxon Cole, Cooper Webb, Zack Zitzmann, and Wyatt Frye, whose double was the only extra-base hit for Greenwood. Zitzmann also had two runs batted in.
Valley View
A couple hours after their contest with Lake Hamilton, the Bulldogs returned to the diamond against Valley View High School from Jonesboro. But the GHS defense faltered badly, committing four errors that aided the Blazers in scoring their four runs, all unearned, despite the solid pitching of Mason Moore (4.1 innings) and Cooper Webb (1.2 innings). The duo allowed just five total hits, gave two walks, and struck out five enemy batters. At the same time, GHS bats were silent, resulting in a 4-1 Bulldogs’ loss.
The Blazers scored twice in the second inning before adding single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Greenwood’s lone run came in the top of the fifth on a single by Brayden Renick and an RBI double by Mason Moore. Renick had two hits and Mason one for the totality of the GHS attack. The contest lasted 6½ innings.
J.T. Robinson
The next morning (Friday) the Bulldogs redeemed themselves against the Senators of Joe. T. Robinson High School by notching a 6-2 win behind the strong mound work of pitchers Cayden Mendenhall and Brayden Brewer. The former started the game and went four innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits, plus two walks. Brewer pitched the final two frames allowing no hits or runs to close out the victory. The home team, the Senators scored once in the first inning and again in the fourth.
The GHS offense got off to a good start, taking a 2-0 lead after their first at bat. They scored two runs in the fourth and twice more in the sixth. The Bulldogs had six knocks in the game with Brayden Renick and Zack Zitzmann getting two hits each. Jayden Campbell and Cooper Webb had the other two hits. Campbell and Webb both had triples while Renick had a double and two RBIs. Zitzmann and Campbell also had solo RBIs. The Bulldogs also took advantage of six walks and three Robinson errors.
Russellville (2)
Last Monday the Bulldogs returned to classes and to 5A West conference play at home against the defending 2024 league champion Russellville Cyclones. Then on Tuesday the same two teams reconvened on the diamond at Russellville as the two squads split the oddly scheduled doubleheader. The Diamond Dogs won game one, 3-1, before dropping Tuesday’s affair, 3-0.
In the opener on Monday, all the game’s runs were scored early in the contest. Greenwood scored twice in the bottom of the first inning and once more in the third, while the Cyclones crossed the plate once in top of the first. The final 3½ frames were scoreless. A leadoff single by Jayden Campbell sparked Greenwood’s first inning rally, followed by an RBI hit by Ty Holt and a steal of home by Scott Holland. Holt tripled in the third and scored on a sacrifice bunt by Cooper Webb.
The Cyclones had two more hits than the Bulldogs, who had five total safeties plus a walk and two hit batsmen. The team leader was catcher Ty Holt with two hits plus an RBI and a run scored. Jayden Campbell, Aaron Taylor, and Mason Moore also had solo hits, with Moore getting a double. Cooper Webb also had an RBI.
Moore (104 pitches) and Webb (14) also combined to throw 118 offerings in the game with Moore getting the start before Webb relieved him in the seventh inning for the final two outs. The GHS starter allowed six Russellville hits, gave two walks, fanned ten enemy hitters, and allowed one earned run to notch the victory.
But the shoe was on the other foot in Tuesday’s rematch in Pope County, a 3-0 Cyclones’ shutout win over Greenwood. Aaron Taylor and Cooper Webb did the pitching for the Bulldogs with Taylor going two frames and Webb four, allowing just seven hits and one earned run. A GHS error contributed to the other two Russellville tallies.
The Cyclones scored twice in the third and once in the fifth while two Russellville pitchers held Greenwood scoreless on five hits, notching 17 strikeouts, 15 of those by premier starter Trystan Newberry in 6.1 innings of work. Zack Zitzmann had two knocks for the Bulldogs, including a double. Jayden Campbell, Ty Holt, and Wyatt Frye had solo hits.