CONWAY -- North Little Rock's offense is in state championship form.
The defending Class 7A state champions pounded out 19 hits in a 12-2 victory over Van Buren in six innings Monday afternoon, setting up a state championship meeting with Bentonville, a matchup of the two 7A conference champions.
North Little Rock (21-5), the 7A-Central champion, will play 7A-West champion Bentonville, in the title game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.
The Lady Charging Wildcats will look to win their state record-tying sixth state championship since 1999.
Second baseman Sydney Farr led North Little Rock offensively Monday at City of Colleges Park, going 4 for 5 with a RBI triple and scored 2 runs. Center fielder Reagan Sperling finished 3 for 4 with 2 runs. Every North Little Rock player had at least one hit.
Bentonville beat Springdale Har-Ber 6-3 in the other semifinal.
"We had a ton of hits up and down the lineup. It wasn't any one person," North Little Rock Coach Anthony Cantrell said. "Now we have a chance to defend, that's the biggest thing."
Van Buren tied the game 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning when Van Buren freshman catcher Baylor Miles hit a two-out, two-run home run -- the Lady Pointers' only hit off North Little Rock starter Rachel Gregory.
North Little Rock responded with 10 runs in the final three innings against Van Buren (23-7), the No. 2 seed from the 7A-West, but it was the one the Charging Wildcats scored in the bottom of the fourth that seemed to change the game's momentum.
First baseman Katy Kinnison's two-out single off Tori Stafford knocked in Farr, who had advanced to third with two outs on catcher McKenzie Escovedo fly ball to center fielder Ashlee Deffenbaugh.
Van Buren Coach Andy Williams argued that Farr didn't tag up to go to third after the catch, but the play stood, much to Williams and the Lady Pointers' dismay.
"We lost all the momentum we brought into the dugout after we homered," Van Buren Coach Andy Williams said. "We missed some pitches. They're a good team. They're better than us, they won the game. I would have liked to have seen what would happened right then. If we get that out, we're in our dugout tied at 2-2 with all the momentum in the world."
BENTONVILLE 6, SPRINGDALE HAR-BER 3
Morgan Vaughn allowed five hits and struck out six in a complete-game effort to lift Bentonville (24-4) over Springdale Har-Ber (21-9) in a Class 7A softball state semifinal game at City of Colleges Park.
Mackenzie Hardison and Emma Kinsey each had RBI singles. Hardison finished 2 for 3 and scored 2 runs while Kinsey went 2 for 4 and scored a run. Payton Wildeman had a RBI double while Vaughn scored a run.
Gracie Bogle and Hannah Sharum each went 2 for 3 to lead the Lady Wildcats and each had a RBI single.
Sports on 05/20/2014