Paragould rallies, beats White Hall

HOT SPRINGS -- An ugly start had a thrilling finish for Paragould.

The Lady Rams gave up four runs to White Hall in the first inning of Monday's semifinal game at the Class 5A softball state tournament, but pitcher Peyton Carter held the Lady Bulldogs scoreless the rest of the way. Chase Nelson's third home run in three games tied the game in the fourth, and Braxton Burnside came home from second base on Claire Brown's seventh-inning single to give Paragould a 5-4 victory at Kimery Park.

The comeback victory put Paragould into Friday's 5A championship game against Vilonia at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.

White Hall jumped on Carter in the first with Crystal McVay's RBI triple and run-scoring hits by Taylor Akins and Henley Tucker. Carter pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second and then held the Lady Bulldogs to one hit over the next four innings before working around two singles in the seventh.

Carter shut out North Pulaski in the first round and allowed an unearned run in Saturday's 6-1 quarterfinal victory over Greenbrier.

"But I didn't think she had that same good zip or location early [Monday] before she got better," Paragould Coach Bill Schatzley said. "Sometimes she's been that way. We kind of restored order a little bit and she calmed down and settled in. That was a key. She got better as the game went along."

Carter gave up 10 hits, walked 2 and struck out 7.

Paragould's comeback was gradual. Nelson tripled leading off the first and scored on Kiara Cole's single.

A walk and hit batter loaded the bases, but White Hall's Lauren Graves struck out the next three batters. After Carter left the bases full in the second with her third strikeout of the inning, Macy Carter and Cole doubled in the bottom half to trim White Hall's lead to two.

"I told them if we're going to be behind, I'd rather it be early," Schatzley said. "I said, 'We can't get it all back with one swing. Let's just go to work, have good at-bats, get some base runners. Let's just chip away.' "

Nelson had the biggest chip, belting a Graves pitch over the center-field fence after Haylee Keating walked leading off the fourth. It was Nelson's third home run of the tournament.

"I knew it was gone, right off the bat," Nelson said.

White Hall failed to threaten again until Karia Hall and Graves singled with one out in the seventh. Peyton Carter struck out pinch-hitter Ciara Linker and got Taylor Akins on a fly out to right.

In the bottom half of the seventh, Burnside singled with one out and stole second. Brown followed with a hard ground ball down the third-base line, and Burnside easily beat out an off-the-mark throw to the plate for the winning.

"We were able to hang around, Braxton got a big hit and stole a base, and Claire was able to pick her up," Schatzley said. "She said, 'Coach, I got my pitch.' With Clair, a lot of times she gets anxious. I have a saying. I told her it's kind of like going out to eat; Get what you want. The kids kid me about that, but that's one of the things we use to hit. It's kind of corny, but I believe in it so it doesn't matter."

Brown went 2 for 3, Nelson and Cole each went 2 for 4, and Burnside was 1 for 2 with 2 walks. For White Hall, Graves was 2 for 3, while Hall, Akins and Kayla Reap each went 2 for 4.

VILONIA 10, De QUEEN 0

The Lady Eagles got no-hit pitching over six innings from Sydney Vader and two three-run home runs from Rachel Henson in the victory.

A potential pitching dual turned one-sided after De Queen's Josie Vaught struck out Vilonia's first two batters in the third. The Lady Eagles' Cassie Leach reached on an error, Buggy Lyons singled and Henson homered to center for a 3-0 lead.

Henson struck again in the fifth as Vilonia pushed the lead to 8-0. The rally started with a two-base error, Leach following with a single and Sarah Brantley scored on Lyons' fielder's-choice groundout. Henson added her second home run, and Morgan Gray drove in the inning's fifth run with a single after Cacy Simpson reached on an error.

Vilonia ended the game under the run rule with two outs in the sixth. Leach, Lyons and Henson each singled to load the bases against reliever Hanna Murry. Simpson grounded into a force play at the plate, but Gray followed with a single to score Lyons and Henson.

Wader retired De Queen's first 11 batters before Simpson dropped Makyla Jackson's long fly ball to center. She faced one batter over the six-inning minimum, striking out eight. The only batter Wader walked was called out for batting out of order in the sixth.

CLASS 6A

Greenwood edges Benton

MARION — Greenwood scored the game’s only run in the top of the sixth inning and junior Victoria Taylor made it hold up with a complete-game one-hitter as Greenwood beat Benton 1-0 in the Class 6A state softball semifinals Monday.

Greenwood moves into Saturday’s 10 a.m. state final against Sheridan at Bogle Park in Fayetteville.

“We’ve been getting better,” Greenwood Coach Ronnie Sockey said. “Our girls have worked so hard in the 3 years since I’ve been here.”

Greenwood scored when Sydney Parker knocked in Sidney Henson, who started the rally with a single.

Taylor allowed a single to the second batter that she faced, and held Benton without a hit the rest of the way. The only other base runner came on a second-inning walk to Taylor Oglebee. Taylor retired the final 12 batters she faced.

Benton starter Bre Langford took the loss. She allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

SHERIDAN 4, MARION 0

MARION — The Sheridan Lady Yellowjackets scored three in the second inning and one in the seventh to clinch a spot in the championship game.

“If we start out early, for our team, we just feed off of it the whole game,” Sheridan Coach Tamara Strawn said. “Marion’s defense was very tough, and on today, but we feed off of big hits, and we’ve been hitting hard lately.”

Sheridan’s Morgan Burke worked all 7 innings, allowed 7 hits, and walked 2 batters. Burke allowed 4 baserunners in the first 5 innings, then worked out of a bases-loaded jam against in the sixth inning, and stranded two more runners in the bottom of the seventh to end the Lady Patriots’ season.

Marion left nine runners on base.

Sheridan took a 1-0 lead on Taylor Norman’s second-inning home run. The Yellowjackets made it 2-0 when Tobi Finley singled, and Kylee Williamson knocked her in with a triple. Williamson scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0.

— Chuck Livingston

Sports on 05/19/2015