The Greenwood Bulldogs baseball team is on quite a roll, building a 12-3 overall mark after winning four straight last week in the Coach Bob Invitational tournament in Arizona.
Head Coach Trey Holloway and his Bulldogs rebounded from a late-inning 2-1 loss to rival Alma on March 6th, winning four straight games before losing at home in extra innings to Van Buren on March 16th just prior to their trip out west.
Clarksville
On March 9th the Bulldogs hosted the Panthers in conference play, winning easily, 13-1 in 4½ innings. A seven-run third inning and a five-run fourth accounted for most of Greenwood’s runs behind a strong combined pitching effort from Blake Pschier, Jace Presley, and Brandon Woolsey.
Shortstop Peyton Holt led the way offensively with three hits, including a double, triple, and an RBI. Ryan Daggs and Landry Jurecka added two hits each, and Jurecka’s two doubles drove home four runs. Isaac Schwartz also had two runs batted in.
Sallisaw
On Saturday, March 10th, Greenwood hosted the Sallisaw Bulldogs, and the home team notched another mercy rule victory, 11-1, in just under five innings. Landry Jurecka and Isaac Schwartz toiled on the mound for Greenwood, with Jurecka going four frames for the win, giving up one run on five hits with five Ks and just one walk.
Offensively, the Diamond ‘Dogs scored seven runs in the first inning, then added two more in the second and one each in the third and fifth innings. Greenwood had nine hits in the game, but Sallisaw was generous with seven defensive errors in the contest.
Ryan Daggs had three hits, as did Peyton Holt, who had a pair of triples among his three hits. Daggs had two RBIs, as did Connor Noland. Jackson Webb had two hits and three RBIs.
Farmington
On Tuesday, March 13th, the Bulldogs traveled north to Farmington to face the Cardinals in conference play, winning 8-2 in seven innings. Blake Pschier went 5.1 innings for the win, getting relief help from Jace Presley. Pschier had six strikeouts and allowed just one earned run.
The ‘Dogs scored a solo run in the top of the first, then added on with two runs each in the third, fifth, and seventh innings, and a single run in the sixth.
Jackson Webb and Connor Noland had two hits each, with Noland driving home two runs. Brandon Woolsey added a double and two RBIs as well. Pschier had Greenwood’s other extra-base hit, a double.
El Dorado
Connor Noland struck out 12 Wildcats’ hitters and threw a one-hit shutout on Thursday, March 15th, as Greenwood topped El Dorado, 6-0. The game was played at Hendrix College in Conway, to ease travel requirements for both teams. It was also a possible preview of 6A state tournament play. El Dorado’s only loss of the season has been to Greenwood.
Greenwood’s Cooper Passmore and Jake Smith drove in two runs each, and Jackson Webb had two hits and scored two runs in the Bulldogs’ eighth victory of the season.
Webb’s triple with two outs and Colton Sagely’s RBI single gave Greenwood a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Then after Sagely stole second, Passmore followed with an RBI single for a 3-0 GHS advantage.
Three more runs followed in the fifth on a pair of walks and hits by Brandon Woolsey and Jake Smith. Noland did the rest, setting the side down in order over the final three frames, including seven strikeouts. The GHS defense played well behind him, making just one error.
Van Buren
Bryson Patrick lined a double into the left centerfield gap to break an eighth-inning tie and propel Class 7A Van Buren to an 11-8 win in non-conference play at Greenwood on Friday, March 16th, before both teams departed for long spring break trips, Greenwood to Arizona and Van Buren to Florida.
“We played some good teams this week,” said Coach Holloway after the loss. “El Dorado was good and [Van Buren] is one of the better teams on this side of the state in 7A. We would have liked to have pulled this one out. We have three losses on the year and have had four bad innings. After spring break, we won’t have this. We’ll clean those up.
“It was like a playoff game,” said Holloway. “They wanted to beat us so much that they threw their No. 1 [pitcher] again, 60 pitches after he threw 90 on Monday. I know they want to win, and we want to win as much as anybody. It was a good atmosphere.”
The Pointers batted around in the first inning and scored four runs, but the Bulldogs rallied with two runs in the third inning and three more in the fourth to take a 5-4 lead.
Van Buren countered with three runs in the top of the fifth and another in the sixth to retake the lead 8-5, but Greenwood tied it with three tallies in the bottom of the sixth.
The Bulldogs also had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases, but failed to score. “We got our guys up,” said Holloway. “We had a chance to knock them out and didn’t.”
Brandon Woolsey drove in half of Greenwood’s runs with a double in the third inning to score Colton Sagely and Cooper Passmore, and a single in the sixth inning, which scored Sagely and Peyton Holt. Jackson Webb, Woolsey, Passmore, and Holt all had two hits each. Holt’s were both triples.
Holloway employed four different pitchers in the game, including Isaac Schwartz (1), Jace Presley (3), Landry Jurecka (4), and Chance Eoff. Presley took the loss, surrendering four runs on four hits.
Spring Break
While most other GHS students were enjoying spring break with family and friends away from school activities, the Bulldogs were treated to a long road trip to the Desert Southwest to play in the Coach Bob Invitational, held at several sites around the state of Arizona.
About 40 teams from a dozen states participated this year, including both Greenwood and Fayetteville from Arkansas. Greenwood played in the open division and won all four games against teams from Colorado, Arizona (2), and Texas. The team also stopped off to visit the Grand Canyon.
Shadow Ridge
Greenwood’s first victim last Tuesday was Shadow Ridge High School of Surprise, Arizona, in an offensive shootout, 17-12. Despite giving up nine earned runs, Blake Pschier got the win, pitching 3.2 innings, allowing seven hits while also fanning seven. Nick Phelps and Cade Lynch pitched in relief.
The Bulldogs took charge early with 11 runs in the top of the first, but had to hang on for dear life as Shadow Ridge rallied with three in the first, seven in the fourth, and two more in the fifth, cutting the GHS lead to 14-12. Greenwood scored three times in the third and three more in the seventh to secure the win.
Connor Noland was the offensive leader for the Bulldogs with three hits, including a homerun, and five RBIs. Peyton Holt, Blake Pschier, and Jackson Webb all had two hits each, while Colton Sagely and Landry Jurecka both drove home two runs.
Pueblo Central
Last Wednesday the Diamond ‘Dogs played twice, first defeating Central High School of Pueblo, Colorado, 11-1. Starter Isaac Schwartz went all five innings for the victory, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out five.
Greenwood scored early and often, starting with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. They added one more in the second, two more in the third, four more in the fourth, and two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to invoke the 10-rule mercy rule. Central scored its lone tally in the fifth.
Shortstop Peyton Holt led the team with three hits and three RBIs, including a double and three runs scored. Jackson Webb, Connor Noland, and Colton Sagely all had two hits each, with Noland also picking up a triple and three runs batted in.
Kellis
In the second game of the day the Bulldogs defeated Kellis High School of Glendale, Arizona, by a score of 8-5. Greenwood out-hit Kellis nine to five and committed three errors to two for the Arizonans.
Connor Noland started on the mound for Greenwood and got the win, going six innings, yielding three earned runs on four hits and a pair of walks. He also fanned nine batters before giving way to Chance Eoff in relief.
Noland also helped out offensively with a hit, a walk, and an RBI. Peyton Holt and Jake Smith both had two hits, with Smith picking up two RBIs.
The game was scoreless into the third inning, with Greenwood pushing across a single tally in the top of the frame. But a five-run fourth inning put the Bulldogs up 6-0. But Kellis came back with four runs in the bottom of the inning.
Leading 6-4, the Bulldogs added single runs in the sixth and seventh, while Kellis scored its last run in the bottom of the seventh.
Liberty Christian
Greenwood’s final game was last Thursday against Liberty Christian High School of Argyle, Texas, an 7-1 victory for the Bulldogs. Landry Jurecka went the distance for the win, throwing seven innings of five-hit baseball with no walks and five strikeouts.
Liberty got its lone run in the top of the first and was blanked the rest of the way. But the Bulldogs struggled to score as well. They finally broke through with a pair of runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth, out-hitting Liberty 11 to 5 while playing flawless defense.
Peyton Holt, Jackson Webb, Cooper Passmore, and Brandon Woolsey all had two hits each to pace the GHS offense. Webb had two RBIs while Holt had a double and a triple.
Upcoming
The Diamond ‘Dogs will travel to Fort Smith Northside on Thursday for a non-conference game. On Friday they will host league foe Siloam Springs and the game will be live streamed on the Greenwood Dog Pound website. All weekday games start at 5 p.m.
On Saturday at noon the Bulldogs will host Ozark in non-conference play before traveling to Russellville next Tuesday for a league game against the Cyclones. Non-conference foe Pottsville comes to Greenwood next Thursday, as does league opponent Alma next Friday.