Lady Elks take unblemished 1-3 A crown
Posted on Thursday, May 1, 2008
ELKINS - A game effort by the Pea Ridge Lady Blackhawks wasn't enough to deny Elkins a perfect conference record for the second-straight year. The Lady Elks nursed a precarious 1-0 lead throughout much of Monday evening's contest but it held up for the defending 3 A champs.
The big hit never came for the Lady'Hawks. Four stranded runners, including two at third base, doomed Pea Ridge in a game where hits were scarce.
"We just couldn't get anything strung together," Pea Ridge coach Heather Wade said. "My defense did a good job making routine plays but we just didn't get our bats going."
Amber Caywood struck out nine and retired nine in a row to close out the hardfought game. Pea Ridge's Brittany Morgan allowed just five hits but back-to-back extra base knocks in the second inning by Morgan Strong and Maddie Divis plated the only run Elkins needed.
"We've met Pea Ridge several times this year and every time you meet somebody, it gets harder and harder to beat them," Elkins coach Paula Wheeler said. "From here on, we've just got to make sure we improve and we get better."
Pea Ridge's regular season is over and Elkins end its season today with a nonconference tilt at Gravette. Both Pea Ridge and Elkins have their eyes on the district tournament at Lincoln, scheduled for Saturday and Monday. Elkins (21-2, 10-0 ) has beaten Pea Ridge (15-8, 8-2 ) four times this season but it's likely the two haven't seen the last of one another.
After both squads went quietly in the opening frame, Elkins began to stir in the second. Caywood singled but was caught trying to score on a passed ball, which proved unfortunate for the Lady Elks as Strong roped a triple and Divis followed up with an RBI double. Elkins struggled the rest of the way trying to get that insurance run back.
"We left a lot of people stranded," Wheeler said. "Pea Ridge came out and played great defense, they didn't have any errors. Some of the things that we thought should be hits they caught and there's not a whole lot we can do about that."
Kayla Bangs singled and made it to third in the fourth inning and Brittany Huggins did the same in the fifth but Caywood pitched herself out of the jam on each occasion. Pea Ridge went down in order the final two innings, preserving the win for Elkins.
Kayleigh Harriman led the Lady Elks'offense with a 2-of-3 performance, including a double in the third inning.
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