Lady Elks advance to title game
Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008
PINE BLUFF - Thanks to hard hitting up and down the lineup, the Elkins Lady Elks defeated Smackover, 9-4, Monday at Regional Park in the Class 3 A State Semifinals.
The victory lifts the defending 3 A state champion Lady Elks to 29-2 on the season but more importantly lands them in the state title game for the third time in four seasons.
"This is a great group of kids," head coach Paula Wheeler said after the victory. "They have great chemistry and really enjoy playing the game with each other. Most of them play summer ball together, so they have worked very hard together to make it to the championship game again."
The Lady Elks will be the home team at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lady'Back Yard as part of the Weekend of Champions. They will face the winner of Monday night's Bismark-Cave City game.
The Elkins-Smackover game was not a sure thing early on. Even though the Lady Elks took a 2-0 lead in the first inning, Smackover muscled its way back into the game thanks to the fine pitching and power hitting of Nickole Frasier.
On the mound, Frasier held Elkins in check through the second and third innings, and at the plate, she did the heavy lifting for Smackover in the second and the fourth when she hit solo home runs smack over the fence on Elkins ace Amber Caywood.
"It's not the first home runs Amber has ever given up, but she had not given up one this year until [Monday ]," Wheeler said.
In the top of the fifth, Smackover went ahead 4-2, but in the bottom of the inning, the Lady Elks asserted themselves at the plate, scoring 4 runs to take a 6-4 lead.
Caywood - who struck out five on the day - and the Lady Elks' defense kept the Smackover quiet in the sixth and seventh innings, while the Lady Elks tacked on 3 runs in the sixth for insurance.
"It was a competitive game," Wheeler said. "Too close for a while, but the girls really pulled together in the last few innings."
Morgan Strong came up big for the Lady Elks with two tough catches in right field and a big 2-RBI single in the fifth inning. Mandie Keith dove to make a clutch catch near first base as another standout defensive play.
Hannah Powers went 2 for 4 on the day with two singles. Kayla Harriman pounded two doubles and garnered 3 RBIs, while also going 2 for 4. Carly Powers went 3 for 4 with 2 RBIs, and Holly Dingledine hit two singles.
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