With less than three weeks left in the regular season, the Greenwood Bulldogs remain in the thick of the 5A West conference race, with four post-season slots up for grabs. They currently sit at 5-3 in the league standings but recently suffered two close losses to Van Buren after starting the conference race with a 5-1 record. Overall, the Diamond Dogs are 11-9 on the season, and are battling Harrison, Russellville, Farmington, and Alma for the top four spots in the league standings.
Greenwood will host the Siloam Springs Panthers next Monday before traveling to Siloam Springs on Tuesday to complete the split doubleheader in conference play. They will step away from league play next Thursday by going to Bryant for a non-conference contest against the Class 6A Hornets. The final two weeks of the season they have split doubleheaders against both Harrison and Farmington, two teams also hoping to reach the post-season. They will also face Rogers-Heritage and Springdale Har-Ber in non-conference play before the state playoffs begin.
Mountain Home (2)
After their scheduled contest at Rogers was washed out on Friday, April 4th, the Diamond Dogs hosted Mountain Home last Tuesday in their only true doubleheader of the season, winning both games handily, 8-4 and 5-0, improving to 5-1 in the league standings. All other conference doubleheaders this season are of the home-and-home variety on back-to-back days.
Senior Mason Moore toed the rubber in game one, going 5.2 innings for the win. He allowed seven hits, three runs, but only one earned, adding a pair of walks with three strikeouts. Moore was relieved by Cooper Webb in the sixth inning to close out the game. Three hurlers toiled for the Bombers and issued seven walks. Both teams had seven hits, and both defenses committed three errors.
Greenwood fell behind 1-0 after one inning before the Bulldogs plated four runs in the bottom of the second. The Bombers trimmed their deficit to 4-3 with two tallies in the top of the sixth, but the home team responded with four additional runs in the bottom half of the frame. The visitors got one more run in the seventh to account for the final score of 8-4.
At the plate, Jayden Campbell and Brayden Renick had two hits each to lead the Bulldogs offensively with Campbell driving home two runs. Both players also scored two runs each. Ty Holt, Zack Zitzmann, and Aaron Taylor also had solo hits with Zitzmann earning an RBI along with Cooper Webb and Jaxon Cole. Taylor’s knock was a double.
In game two, the Bombers were the home team, and they kept the contest scoreless until the Bulldogs broke through with two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Three more GHS runs made it 5-0 in the top of the sixth, a score that held up to the final out. Greenwood pitchers Aaron Taylor and Cooper Webb kept the shutout intact. Taylor started and pitched six innings, giving up four hits, a walk, while fanning six Mountain Home batters. Webb pitched a perfect seventh with two strikeouts.
With the bats, the GHS offense was led by senior Scott Holland with two hits and an RBI. Five other players had solo hits with Brayden Renick (sac fly) and Ty Holt nabbing RBIs. Zack Zitzmann, Cooper Webb, and Aaron Taylor also had singles. Webb, Holland, Jayden Campbell, Jaxon Cole, and Wyatt Frye all scored runs for the Bulldogs.
Fort Smith Southside
Last Friday, April 11th, the Bulldogs hosted the Mavericks of Fort Smith Southside, winning the non-conference affair, 5-3, behind the solid pitching of Cayden Mendenhall in relief of GHS starter Parker Branton, who lasted just 1.2 innings. In the second inning, the visitors got four hits, two walks, and three runs off Branton to tie the game at 3-3, erasing Greenwood’s early lead. But Mendenhall restored order, giving just one hit and one walk over the last 5.1 frames with seven strikeouts. After scoring three times in the bottom of the first, the Bulldogs untied the game with solo runs in the fourth and fifth.
With the sticks, Greenwood’s five hits were paired with four walks and three Southside errors for three earned runs and two unearned. Zack Zitzmann had a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning. Jayden Campbell, Cooper Webb, Jaxon Cole, and Scott Holland had the other hits. Campbell’s hit was a triple while he and Jaxon Cole had a stolen base each. Catcher Ty Holt added a sacrifice fly and RBI.
Van Buren (2)
This past Monday the Bulldogs hosted the Van Buren Pointers with the hope of notching another conference win over one of the lower ranked teams in the 5A West, but it didn’t happen. A seven-run top of the first inning by the Pointers quickly took the starch out of the Bulldogs, forcing them to play from behind the rest of the way. Van Buren added another run in the fifth while Greenwood scored once in the third and five times in the sixth, but it wasn’t enough to avoid the 8-6 loss.
Uncharacteristically, GHS starter Mason Moore just didn’t have it and failed to record an out in the top of the first, giving three hits, a walk, two hit batsmen, and six runs before being pulled in favor of Brayden Brewer, who pitched the rest of the way, scattering nine hits and allowing two runs. The first seven Van Buren hitters reached base in the first inning.
The Bulldogs did their best to recover from their early deficit, making the most of their five hits and seven walks. Ty Holt had two of those knocks, including a double and an RBI. Zack Zitzmann, Scott Holland, and Brayden Brewer had the other three hits with Zitzmann (2), Brewer, and Cooper Webb driving home runs. The Diamond Dogs got a one-out walk in the bottom of the seventh, bringing the tying run to the plate, but a pop out and strikeout ended the game.
Needing to redeem themselves in game two at Van Buren on Tuesday, the Bulldogs suffered an even more disappointing loss at the hands of the Pointers, falling 8-7 after rallying for a 7-5 lead in the sixth inning. Despite receiving five walks to go along with two Van Buren errors, the Diamond Dogs could muster only five hits against three Van Buren hurlers, though all seven GHS runs were earned.
Once again, the Pointers took the early lead with three runs in the bottom of the first, adding single runs in the third and fourth frames, before a decisive three-run rally in the sixth to secure the win. Greenwood had a solo tally in the second before a six-run outburst in the sixth gave them a temporary 7-5 advantage. The home team stroked 14 hits against two GHS pitchers, Aaron Taylor and Cooper Webb. Taylor went 3.2 innings and allowed 11 hits and five runs. Webb pitched two frames and gave up three hits and three runs. Mason Moore pitched to one batter and retired him.
At the dish, five GHS hitters had one knock each, including doubles by Brayden Brewer and Cayden Mendenhall, and a homerun by Ty Holt, a grand slam accounting for two-thirds of Greenwood’s six runs in the sixth inning. Brewer’s double was also part of that half-inning rally, driving home a run. Mendenhall also plated a runner as did Jaxon Cole.
Fort Smith Northside
This past Thursday the Diamond Dogs hosted the Grizzlies of Fort Smith Northside in non-conference action. But when the last out was recorded, the visiting Bears handed Greenwood its third consecutive loss of the week with a 5-4 Northside victory. The Bulldogs notched only three hits in the contest and made three defensive errors that allowed two unearned runs, which made the difference in the game. Cayden Mendenhall and Jake Gigerich did the pitching for Greenwood with starter Mendendall giving up all five Northside runs, three earned, on five hits and two walks in four innings.
The Grizzlies scored the game’s first run in the top of the first inning after a leadoff error and a sacrifice bunt led to a run-scoring single. But the Bulldogs plated three runs in the bottom half of the frame to take a 3-1 advantage. A hit batsman and two walks loaded the bases with one out before a sac fly by Cooper Webb drove home a run to tie the score. An Aaron Taylor RBI single followed before a Northside error allowed the third run to score.
But the Bears took the lead for good with three runs in the top of the fourth inning, opening the frame with three consecutive hits and ending it with a steal of home for a 4-3 lead. Another Northside run in the fifth inning made it 5-3 before Greenwood scored its last run in the bottom half after a hit batsman, a single, and a Northside error. But the Bulldogs were stymied at the plate over the last two frames, leaving the bases loaded in the sixth and failing to take advantage of another Northside error in the seventh inning, leaving the potential tying run stranded on base.
The GHS bats were largely silent, with only three hits by two players. Zack Zitzmann had a double and Aaron Taylor had a pair of singles. Taylor and Cooper Webb had the only two RBIs for the Bulldogs with Taylor also stealing a base. Ty Holt and Jayden Campbell both reached base after being hit by pitches. Campbell, Brayden Brewer, and Brayden Renick (2) scored the GHS runs. The Bulldogs also failed to take full advantage of seven walks issued by Northside pitching.