VAN BUREN -- Bentonville High outfielder Keelah Griffith didn't get many opportunities at the plate, but she made the most of her second and last at-bat Saturday night at the Field of Dreams.
Griffith hit a two-run home run in the fourth and final inning to give Bentonville a 2-1 victory against Bentonville West in the championship game of the River City Rumble tournament.
Bentonville High 2, Bentonville West 1
West^001^001^0^—^1^4^0
Bentonville^000^2^—^2^5^0
Wood and Holt; Cochran and Cornell. W-Cochran, 10-1. L-Wood, 8-2. Sv-None. HR-Bentonville, Griffith.
"She did a good job and had a good plan of attack," Bentonville coach Kent Early said. "That's a senior stepping up in a big-time spot."
McKenzie Vaughan opened the bottom of the fourth with a single. Two batters later, Griffith was able to give Bentonville the lead with a deep home run on a pitch up in the zone.
Bentonville's Morgan Nelson followed that with a double off West pitcher Emma Wood, but the game was called after that to secure the win for Bentonville in the time-shortened game.
"That's a big game," West coach Anthony Cantrell said. "Emma pitched a really, really good game. We wanted the ball up. The kid just put a good swing on it. That's how it rolls sometimes."
Bentonville pitcher Cailey Cochran pitched around jams in the first and third innings to limit West to just one run in the game.
West got a leadoff single from Jazmine Dodd and later a walk from Honesty Holt, but neither were able to score in the opening inning of the game.
Dodd again had a leadoff single in the third, which was followed up by a walk from Hallie Wacaser. Cleanup hitter Anna Griffin was able to reach on a bunt single to load the bases.
A sacrifice fly by Ryen Rossi allowed West to take a 1-0 lead in the inning. But Cochran, who stranded five West runners in the game, was able to get a groundout after that to end the scoring threat.
"She has pitched really well and pitched through what I call some growing up situations," Early said of Cochran. "We need to stay ahead of hitters. But she is really stepping up for us right now."
Cochran finished the game for Bentonville, the two-time defending state champions, with four innings pitched while allowing just the lone run. She had eight strike outs and allowed six total base runners.
"Against a team like that, you have to do anything you have to do," Cantrell said. "They scored two and we only got one. That's just how it goes sometimes."
Wood finished with two earned runs allowed and struck out three hitters while allowing five total base runners for West.
Wood didn't allow a run until what ended up being the final inning of the game, but it was just enough for Bentonville to pull away.
"We got one more hit than they did," Early said. "I felt like the turning point in the game was when we limited them in what could've been a big inning. That was huge on defense."
West was able to rally to get into the championship game with a big hit from Griffin. She hit a game-ending grand slam to give West a 6-4 victory against Sheridan, the two-time defending 6A state champions.
In the consolation championship game, White Hall pulled away in extra innings when Crystal McVay was able to drive home Makayla Henderson for a 6-5 victory.
Preps Basketball on 04/01/2018