North Little Rock's offensive explosion against Van Buren on Monday in the semifinals of the Class 7A softball state tournament got Bentonville Coach Kent Early's attention.
The Charging Wildcats scored 10 runs in the final three innings of a 12-2 six-inning victory over Van Buren and Bentonville beat Springdale Har-Ber 6-3 later Monday in Conway to set up Saturday's Class 7A state championship game at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.
It's a matchup of the top two teams in Class 7A. The defending 7A state champion Charging Wildcats (21-5) won the 7A-Central while the Lady Tigers (24-4) earned the 7A-West title.
"They looked fantastic," Early said of the Charging Wildcats. "We have to make the routine plays. We also have to eliminate the big inning.
"They're going to score runs. We know that, they know that."
North Little Rock, which will try to win its sixth state championship, is led offensively by sophomore second baseman Sydney Parr (.560, 3 HR, 45 runs), junior catcher McKenzie Escovedo (.520, 3 HR, 30 RBI) and senior first baseman Katy Kinnison (.402, 4 HR, 29 RBI). The Charging Wildcats had 19 hits in Monday's victory over Van Buren.
"There's nobody in our lineup that's an automatic out right now," North Little Rock Coach Anthony Cantrell said. "That's big for us, because it keeps our kids in the game and everybody believes in everybody. That's huge."
The Charging Wildcats' big-inning philosophy has worked for them this season, and Kinnison hopes it continues Saturday.
"Whenever we put our foot on the gas, don't let up, stay on their throats, we've stuck to it," Kinnison said.
In her first season as North Little Rock's starting pitcher, junior right-hander Rachel Gregory (13-5) has a 1.98 ERA with 80 strikeouts and 63 walks. Winning a state championship as the Charging Wildcats' ace -- Gregory was the No. 2 starter behind Kayleigh Wynne last season -- is important for Gregory.
"It would be an honor to be the main pitcher and say I won, but it's not about me," Gregory said. "It's about my team."
Bentonville is led by senior pitcher Morgan Vaughn, who has a 1.25 ERA and has struck out 146 in 162 2/3 innings. Offensively, Vaughn is batting .397 with 5 home runs and 30 RBI.
Early said that facing North Little Rock is a challenge, but his team is ready for it.
"You've got two good teams going and it's the two top teams in the conference," Early said. "I think it played out well. The two No. 1 seeds are playing for the championship. I don't think you could draw it up any better."
Sports on 05/23/2014