Lady Elks roll into semifinals of 3A State Tournament
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
PINE BLUFF - Elkins took another step toward defending its 3 A state softball title Saturday at Pine Bluff's Regional Park.
The Lady Elks needed fewer than 80 minutes to dispatch Horatio 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the 3 A State Tournament. The victory puts the defending state champions in the semifinal round for the sixth-straight year. A 4 p.m. meeting Monday with Smackover (19-6 ) is all that stands between Elkins and the finals.
Elkins' dynamic No. 2 and 3 hitters sparked the offense early. Catcher Hannah Powers went 3 for 3 with two runs, reaching base on a pair of bunt singles and driving in leadoff hitter Maddie Divis with an RBI single in the fourth.
Third baseman Kayleigh Harriman also had two bunt singles and a run scored. Her hard slide into second disrupted a potential double play and allowed Carly Powers' groundout to score Hannah Powers in the Lady Elk third.
Elkins was 4 for 9 with runners in scoring position. Run-scoring doubles from Amber Caywood in the first and Divis in the fourth complemented the Lady Elks' short game. Divis'twobagger - a frozen rope to left field - drove in Jessica Kimball and Mandie Keith to stake Elkins to a 5-0 lead.
Elkins coach Paula Wheeler said bunting was the mainstay of Elkins offense Saturday.
"The short game was more of our game today," Wheeler said. "Some days it's the long game. Sometimes it's the short game. Today I'd say the short game is what helped us out the most."
The combination of bunt singles and extra-base hits backed up Caywood's complete-game effort. She scattered six hits over seven innings and stranded eight baserunners.
Horatio (25-7 ) exploited pitches up in the strike zone during its first at-bat. A timely gust held aloft Britney Cox's deep fly ball to left field. The friendly breeze turned a possible two-home run into a harmless fly out.
"That one was a big, fat pitch down the middle," Wheeler said. "After that [Caywood ] was a little more cautious of where she was pitching."
Caywood kept her pitches out of harm's way in the subsequent six innings. Seven of her 11 strikeouts spanned the second through fourth frames. A two-out Horatio rally in the fifth plated two runs but didn't unnerve Caywood, a winner of 77 games in her four-year varsity career.
Wanting to steal momentum, Wheeler visited the circle after Brandi Hale's tworun double put Horatio on the board.
"I told my team it was more for the other team than it was for them," Wheeler said of her visit. "I just needed to settle the other team down."
The stall tactic worked. Caywood retired seven of Horatio's last eight hitters. She finished the day with 105 pitches and only one walk. Horatio coach Kevin Sullivan said incurring a 6-0 deficit against the stingy Caywood made a comeback all but impossible.
"Any time you dig yourself a 6-run hole with that kid pitching, it's tough to dig yourself back out of it," Sullivan said. "They're good. They're the champs until somebody knocks them off. It looks pretty good for them this year. " Smackover 6 Pea Ridge 5 A four-run second inning propelled Smackover into the semifinals. Pea Ridge broke back for two runs in the fourth and sixth but couldn't complete the comeback. Pea Ridge's Scharla Panyzek went 2 for 3 with a two-run double.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
