SOFTBALL
3A REGION 3
HARRISON -- Junior pitcher Hailey Brokaw continued her dominance in the circle while getting plenty of offensive help from her teammates in leading the Melbourne Bearkatz to the Class 3A Region 3 Tournament championship Tuesday night with a 4-0 victory over the Piggott Lady Mohawks on Cavender's Field.
Brokaw struck out 13, giving her 34 during Melbourne's three games in the tournament. She gave up a combined 5 hits and 2 runs while walking 7.
Piggott lead off batter Devyn Staples singled off Browkaw with two outs Tuesday before Shelby Morgan walked and Taylor Choate eked out an infield single, but all three were stranded and Brokaw did not allow a hit after that, walking only one batter in the third and another in the fifth.
The Lady Bearkatz had 10 hits off Staples, Piggott's starting pitcher.
Melbourne scored its first run in the bottom of the third when Natalie Cooley led off with a double to left, advanced to third on a groundout by Cailey Cossey and scored on a wild pitch. Melbourne had two more base hits in the inning but Staples worked her way out of it.
Melbourne added two runs in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Brianna Masson walked and advanced to third when Jordan Webb reached on a bunt but advanced to second after a throwing error by Piggott. After the second out, Marian Reynolds delivered a hard single into left that scored both runners to make it 3-0.
Cooley scored her second run and Melbourne's fourth of the day when she singled to lead off the bottom of the sixth and scored on a two-out error.
Cooley, Brokaw, Reynolds and Mary Hannah Sipe had two hits each for Melbourne. Cossey and Keeley Massey had the other two hits for the Lady Bearkatz.
Staples struck out seven with one walk.
BASEBALL
3A REGION 3
RIVERCREST 12, COTTER 5
Rivercrest made its hits count as the Colts outhit Cotter 12-10 to win the Class 3A Region 3 championship.
Dylan McLemore led the Colts with three hits while Austin Griffin, Brayden Wilson and Preston Nichols had two hits each. John Mark Horton scored three runs for the Colts.
Blain Richardson was the winning pitcher for Rivercrest, striking out six.
Eight of Cotter's nine batters had at least one hit. Shawn White and Brett Walker led the way with two each.
-- Scott McDonald
2A EAST REGION
OUACHITA 5,
MAGNET COVE 1
PALESTINE -- Andrew Swaim and Steven Huneycutt combined for a three-hitter in leading the Ouachita Warriors to a victory over Magnet Cove in the championship game of the 2A-East Region tournament at Palestine-Wheatley High School.
Ouachita (13-2) defeated Magnet Cove for the third time this season, breaking a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning.
"It was a great ball game," Ouachita Coach Trent Wilson said "All three games with them have been great ball games, but each time our guys have just found a way to get it done."
Swaim, a sophomore, pitched 5 innings, allowing t2o hits and 1 walk while striking out 7. Huneycutt, a junior, pitched 2 scoreless innings, giving up only 1 hit and striking out 3 in his third appearance of the tournament.
Brandon Stovall gave Magnet Cove a 1-0 lead when he hit the first pitch of the game over the wall in left-center field.
Stovall took the loss for the Panthers, giving up 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 in a complete game.
Ouachita tied the game in the second when junior Michael Volz singled in senior Hunter Dale. The Warriors took the lead for good in the fourth when Volz scored on a wild pitch.
Huneycutt's single in the fifth inning increased Ouachita's lead to 3-1. The Warriors added two more runs in the sixth.
-- Austin Emerson
1A REGION 3
SACRED HEART 5,
NEMO VISTA 4
BEE BRANCH -- Scott Weidower drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the game-winning run as the Rebels rallied to knock off the Red Hawks in the 1A Region 3 championship game at South Side High School.
Nemo Vista had taken a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh inning on a out-out single by Matt Barnes, whose hit came one batter after Ethan Robertson's infield pop-up fell between two Sacred Heart infielders.
"That was one of those 50-50 balls in between and they kind of looked at each other and it fell between them,'' Sacred Heart Coach Aaron Duvall said. "We just kept fighting in the bottom of the inning, and that is what you want out of a team with a lot of seniors."
The Rebels (15-5) loaded the bases with no outs when Phillip Gottsponer's double was followed by back-to-back walks. Hunter Andrews' ground ball tied the game at 4-4 before Weidower brought in the winning run with his walk.
-- Jeff Reed
Sports on 05/13/2015