Heidi Bogle had three hits and started a key double play to help Springdale Har-Ber to a 7-6 victory over Conway in the first round of the Class 7A state tournament at Veterans Park.
Winning pitcher Emily Stockalper added a home run and Morgan Neal a two-run triple for Har-Ber (15-9), which has won six of its last seven games.
The Lady Wildcats did it the hard way Thursday by rallying from a 5-2 deficit to take a 6-5 lead in the fourth.
Bogle contributed greatly to the comeback with three slap singles and two RBI while batting leadoff for the Lady Wildcats. She also helped Har-Ber out of a jam in the sixth inning when she started a double play after Conway put its first two runners on base.
Bogle played most of the season in center field, then moved to shortstop only a few weeks ago.
"Heidi is an athletic kid and she's played a lot of softball already at the age of 14," Har-Ber coach Lynn Lawson said. "We were making too many errors in the infield, so we pulled her in from the outfield during the Van Buren tournament. She's been there ever since."
Stockalper overcame a slow start to earn the victory. She hit a home run in the first inning and got stronger with her pitching performance as the game progressed.
Conway put the potential tying run at second base in the seventh after a two-out throwing error. But Stockalper got the next batter on a groundout to end the game.
"[Stockalper] moved the ball well and we had a hard time putting it where we wanted," Conway Coach Chata Hickey said. "We had some errors at the wrong time and, when it came to hitting, we didn't take care of business."
Neal tied the game with a two-run triple and scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error by Conway catcher Olivia Canalichio.
Conway forced a 6-6 tie when No. 9 hitter Bailey Beckman hit a two-out double in the top of the fifth.
Lindsey Williams had three hits to lead Conway.
ROGERS HERITAGE 16, WEST MEMPHIS 0
ROGERS -- Senior Dasha Donahoe pitched a perfect game and Rogers Heritage (16-7) sent 25 batters to the plate the first two innings in a first-round thumping of West Memphis.
Donahoe started the game with two strikeouts and struck out the last six West Memphis batters in a game shortened to three innings on the 15-run mercy rule. The only West Memphis batter that made contact grounded out.
Heritage scored six runs in the first inning and they then added 10 more in the second. In all, five Heritage batters were hit by a pitch and the Lady War Eagles drew 11 walks. Leadoff batter Kenzi Ziem had two singles and two RBI for Heritage.
Heritage will face Bryant in a quarterfinal game at 12:30 p.m. today. Bryant (16-5) had a first-round bye.
VAN BUREN 11, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 1
ROGERS -- McKennah Sikes hit two home runs and drove in five runs to lead Van Buren (23-4) to a first-round victory over Fort Smith Southside (17-13).
Sikes received an intentional walk to load the bases in the fourth inning after she hit home runs in her first two at-bats. She hammered a three-run shot to center field in the first inning and followed with a two-run home run to right-center in the second.
The Lady Pointers continued to score and ended the game in five innings because of the mercy rule. Van Buren advanced to play Bentonville at 10 a.m. today.
Van Buren scored five runs in the first inning after Southside scored its only run in the top of the inning. Baylor Miles had an RBI double and Haley Hogan an RBI single for the Lady Pointers, who ended the game on an RBI single by Emilee Aaron in the fifth.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK 8, FORT SMITH NORTHSIDE 5
ROGERS -- North Little Rock (19-7) broke a 5-5 tie with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and Rachel Gregory recorded two of her 10 strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh inning as the Lady Charging Wildcats took a first step toward a third consecutive Class 7A state softball championship.
Cassidy Tucker hit a two-out, two-run double in the sixth to give North Little Rock a 7-5 lead and Bailey Harris provided another insurance run with an RBI single. North Little Rock, which trailed 5-1 early, finished with 12 hits as eight of nine hitters in the lineup had at least one hit.
North Little Rock took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Sydney Parr singled and scored on a single by McKenzie Escovedo.
The Lady Bears took a 5-1 lead with three runs in the third and two more in the fourth inning. Sydney Green hit an RBI single in the third for Northside while Alexsia Banks hit an RBI single in the fourth. Northside scored runs in the third and fourth innings on North Little Rock errors.
North Little Rock cut the lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth as two runners scored on a two-out error after an RBI sacrifice fly by Morgan Seaton. The Lady Charging Wildcats tied the game 5-5 in the fifth when Ashton Bobbitt doubled before scoring on a wild pitch.
North Little Rock will face 7A-West Conference champion Rogers at 10 a.m. today in the quarterfinals.
CLASS 5A
GREENBRIER 9,
HOT SPRINGS LAKESIDE 8
HOT SPRINGS — Greenbrier hit three home runs in opening a 9-1 lead then held off Hot Springs Lakeside for a 9-8 victory in advancing to the quarterfinals of the Class 5A state softball tournament at Kimmy Park in Hot Springs.
Courtney Rollins hit two of the team’s home runs, while Maranda Clendenin added the third for the Panthers. A bases-loaded triple by Charline Lasley gave the Panthers a 9-1 lead in the fifth before Lakeside’s furious rally in the seventh. In another Class 5A state tournament game Thursday, Chase Nelson hit two home runs twice and Braxton Burnside and Kristen Skelton had one apiece in Paragould’s 11-0 victory over North Pulaski. Peyton Carter pitched a three-hitter for Paragould.
Sports on 05/15/2015