The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs have been very busy since returning to school after spring break, playing nine games over the last two weeks, ending with this past Tuesday's big win over Alma, 6-0. A week earlier, the GHS girls lost their opening 6A contest to Siloam Springs, 3-2.
The team will host Bryant in a varsity doubleheader on Friday, starting at 5 p.m. They will travel to Rogers next Monday, then host Class 6A Russellville on Friday the 22nd.
GHS Head Coach Ronnie Sockey confirmed that the defending 6A state champions have faced a daunting slate of games since the end of March. "Since spring break it has been a tough schedule," he said. We started off with a big win at Van Buren in conference play. Victoria Taylor no hit them, and we had five or six players with at least two hits in that game. It was a great team effort at Van Buren.
"Then in the Rumble on the River tournament at Van Buren, we lost three really tough games to Rogers (2-1 in nine innings), Mena (2-0), and Van Buren (4-3). We learned a lot from these games and our defense was tested. They were great games to learn from and get better against very tough competition," said the coach.
"The [game] that hurt the most was the 3-2 conference loss to Siloam Springs. We were hitting the ball well, but could not come up with the one big hit or one lucky break we needed to pull out the win. Then we bounced back to sweep Conway (12-2, 7-2)," added Sockey.
Alma
At home this past Tuesday, Greenwood blanked the Lady Airedales 6-0 in conference play, in what was a must-win situation by the Lady Bulldogs. A second straight 6A league loss would have been potentially disastrous following the early setback to Siloam Springs.
The game was scoreless through four frames, but Greenwood broke through by pushing across four runs in the bottom of the fifth, then added two more in the sixth. Greenwood starting pitcher Victoria Taylor was superlative, allowing just one hit while striking out 12 Alma hitters over seven innings.
Offensively, the Lady Bulldogs were led by Kelsy Knox, Mariah Hamilton, and Ericka Calderon with two hits each. Knox, Hamilton, and Tatum Holland all had solo RBIs. Altogether, Greenwood banged out 12 hits and made no errors defensively. Alma committed four miscues.
Conway
Last Friday, April 8th, Greenwood hosted Conway and won both games handily. The Lady Bulldogs took the opener, 12-2, behind another strong pitching effort by Taylor, who gave up solo runs in the first and fourth innings. Greenwood scored three times in the first, once in the third, and five times in the fourth to put the game away. Three more five inning runs completed the scoring.
The heart of the GHS batting order accounted for most of the damage. Tatum Holland, Darian Wilson, Kelsy Knox, and Pheobe Ulmer all had two hits apiece, along with Kaila Cartwright. Holland, Wilson, Knox, Hamilton, and Cartwright all drove homes two runs each.
In game two, Greenwood won 7-2 behind the effective pitching of Kaila Cartwright. She threw seven innings, gave four hits and two runs, one earned, while fanning seven Conway hitters.
Offensively, the Lady Bulldogs scored once in the second inning, but trailed 2-1 after four. They retook the lead for good with three runs in the fifth and sixth innings for the win. Knox and Hamilton had two hits each, while Holland and Knox drove home two runs apiece.
Siloam Springs
Last Tuesday's (April 5th) home game against Siloam Springs was a nail biter, with the Lady Panthers pulling out a narrow 3-2 win, hanging the tough loss on Victoria Taylor, who pitched a complete game. She allowed a single run in the opening frame and two more in the sixth, striking out 12.
Greenwood out-hit Siloam Springs by a margin of six-to-two, but couldn't string together the hits to manufacture more than two runs. The Lady Bulldogs scored in the fifth and the seventh innings. The defense also made three errors in the game, contributing to the loss.
River City Rumble
The Lady Bulldogs won their tournament opener against Ozark (5-0) as pitchers Victoria Taylor and Kaila Cartwright combined on a one-hit shutout. Taylor went the first two innings, giving up one hit and striking out three. Cartwright pitched three perfect innings to get the win, striking out two.
Greenwood scored two runs in the first inning and added three more in the third on Mariah Hamilton’s three-run homer. Hamilton had a huge game, going 3-for-3 and driving home five runs. Sydney Parker and Tatum Holland also went 2-for-3.
On the same day (April 1st) Greenwood lost to Rogers in nine innings, 2-1. Victoria Taylor threw 8 2/3rds innings and took the hard luck loss. She gave up just two hits and fanned an incredible 22 hitters among the 26 outs made by Rogers. Both Rogers' runs were unearned, aided by two GHS errors.
On day two of tournament play, the Lady Bulldogs ran into some strong pitching and fell to Mena, 2-0. Kaila Cartwright was the starting hurler for Greenwood and took the loss, yielding just four hits while fanning five Mena hitters. Tatum Holland had two of the team's six hits.
They also lost to Van Buren, 4-3, surrendering four early runs to the Lady Pointers before rallying with a single run in the third and two more in the fifth. Victoria Taylor took the loss, giving up two earned runs on six hits while striking out eight Van Buren hitters. Greenwood had five total hits with Mariah Hamilton driving home two of the team's three runs.
Final Comments
Coach Sockey also talked about several players who have performed well lately. "We've had several players stepping up for us," he said. "Tatum Holland is leading the team in batting average. Phoebe Ulmer is doing her job getting on base a lot. Kelsy Knox has had several big hits to drive in runs for the team. Mikayleigh Davis has adjusted well to being the leadoff hitter. She's stealing a lot of bases to get into scoring position for the big hitters," said the coach.
"Freshman Mariah Hamilton has been steady all season, leading the team in homeruns, RBIs, and doubles. There has been several players coming through for the team from top to bottom of the lineup. They can all produce some offense for us."