Pea Ridge Softball
Lady Blackhawks Rolling
Pea Ridge is off to a solid start to the season as the Lady Blackhawks began 4A-1 Conference play with a 4-1 win Tuesday against Gravette. They are 6-3 overall.
"So far, so good," Lady Blackhawks coach Josh Reynolds said. "We are getting good pitching performances, getting timely hitting and we are playing routine defense."
Jerika Schooley has been solid on the mound the last three games, including striking out seven in a 1-0 win over Harrison. Sara Whatley hit a home run for the Lady Blackhawks in the win.
"She is throwing the ball well," Reynolds said. "She is locating her pitches in and out. She gives us a chance to win every game."
Ashley Thielemier leads the offense from the leadoff spot. Thielemier was 5-for-6 in Pea Ridge's last two games.
"Ashley is hitting the ball well," Reynolds said. "When she gets on, we can do a lot of things with her on the base path."
-- PAUL NIELSEN • @nwapaul
Huntsville Softball
Lady Eagles Ready
Huntsville will finally get to play its first 5A-West softball game today.
The Lady Eagles (2-4) have had four conference games postponed because of weather but will travel to Greenbrier for a league-opening doubleheader today, a makeup for games originally rained out.
"If we play defense and hit the ball, we can play with anybody," Huntsville coach Greg Sone said. "What's got us snakebit so far this year is a lot of mistakes on defense -- errors that are uncharacteristic of the way our kids play."
Pitcher Emily Dotson has been solid all year and gives Huntsville a presence on the mound, if her defense plays well behind her.
"Monday in Springdale was probably her best outing of the year," Sone said. "We got beat 3-0, but she had zero earned runs. We've just got to play solid defense."
Offensively, senior catcher Taylor Bohannanc, a Williams Baptist College signee, is leading the way by hitting .588.
-- JIMMY CARTER • @NWAJimmy
Greenland Softball
Larkin, Wright Sizzling
Junior right fielder Kristen Larkin and sophomore catcher Sarah Wright have formed a dangerous tandem at the top of the batting order for Greenland.
The duo led the Lady Pirates (3-2, 2-0 3A-1 Conference) to a strong start in league play in outscoring Cedarville 33-0 in a doubleheader sweep. Larkin is leading the team in batting, hitting better than .600.
"She has a good eye," Greenland coach Jacob Lisko said. "She takes a lot of walks. She either walks or gets a hit -- very few strikeouts."
Wright is hitting .586 as Greenland's leadoff hitter.
"She knows how to lay down a bunt," Lisko said. "She's fast -- lays down a bunt and beats the throw. She caught for us last year, so I knew I'd get solid play out of her. I wasn't expecting this good of a bat. She's really buckled down and learned how to lay down a solid bunt."
-- JIMMY CARTER • @NWAJimmy
Gravette Softball
Injuries Are Mounting
The middle of the season is not an ideal time to start a rebuilding phase, but injuries to two starters left Gravette softball coach Taos Jones with no choice.
The Lady Lions (6-5, 0-1 4A-1 Conference) lost starting shortstop Megan Ward with an ankle injury during a March 18 game against Prairie Grove, then centerfielder Melanie Bunch with the same thing before a March 21 game against Siloam Springs. Both were batting about .500 before the injuries.
"It's not been good for us," said Jones before his team played a makeup game Friday against Gentry. "At times, the youth has shined. The young kids, though, are starting to come together, and it's just a process right now."
Ashley Horn, who moved from left field to second base before the season started, has made the switch to shortstop in Ward's absence while Jessica Crawley takes over at second.
HENRY APPLE • @NWAHenry
Decatur Soccer
Bulldogs Playing Hard
The Bulldogs split a pair of games this week heading into Friday's conference home game with Danville.
Decatur (3-3) defeated Eureka Springs on Monday behind a clutch goal by Ociel Garcia. The Bulldogs then lost a close 2-0 game to Class 3A Green Forest on Tuesday. The Tigers took a 1-0 lead at halftime and then added a late goal for the win.
Decatur coach Barry James said he is pleased with the progress the Bulldogs have made so far this season.
"We are playing hard, but we have been up-and-down," James said. We still have some room for improvement. But overall, I am mostly pleased."
James said midfielder Hector Aguilar has been logging quality minutes for the Bulldogs.
-- PAUL NIELSEN • @NWAPaul
West Fork Baseball
Young Tigers Battling
West Fork baseball coach Bob Wise said he likes the prospects of his team's future, but the present could be tough at times.
The Tigers are 2-5 overall and 1-1 in the 3A-1 West, managing a doubleheader split with Elkins earlier this week. The team's youth makes it tough sometimes, even though several of their losses have come to teams in larger classifications, Wise said.
"We start three freshman and four sophomores, so the future looks bright," Wise said. "But right now we'll probably take a few lumps here and there."
The Tigers snapped a 3-3 tie with a run in the bottom of the fourth and scored four more in the fifth en route to a 9-4 win over Elkins in the first game Tuesday.
West Fork continues league play Tuesday when it hosts Greenland for a doubleheader.
-- PAUL BOYD • @NWAPAULB
Gentry Softball
Lady Pioneers On A Roll
The Gentry Lady Pioneers cruised to a pair of easy wins in 4A-1 Conference play recently, but coach Fabrizio Campagnolla wants to make sure his team stays grounded.
"We have things we need to improve on," Campagnolla said. "It's sometimes hard to see that when you win 7-0, but there are certainly things we can be better at. We are playing fairly well. I keep telling them more challenges will come."
The Lady Pioneers (7-1, 2-0 4A-1 Conference) blanked Danville 9-0 and Dardanelle 7-0 and also defeated a Rogers Heritage team comprised of mainly their younger junior varsity players 5-1.
Freshman Amber Ellis had four goals in the win over Heritage to raise her season total to 29. Starting goalkeeper Caroline Page has allowed only one goal this year in five games, but she's missed one game because of illness and two others while recovering from having wisdom teeth pulled.
-- PAUL BOYD • @NWAPAULB
Prairie Grove Softball
Lady Tigers Improving
Prairie Grove softball coach Dustin Beck likes the progress of his Lady Tigers, who are 5-4 overall.
"Anytime there's change, there's going to be a growth period," said Beck, who is in his first year at Prairie Grove after coaching for several years in Oklahoma. "We played some big schools early, and injuries have been an issue as well. But we're starting to click."
Prairie Grove is 1-0 in conference play after a 4-3 victory over Ozark. The Lady Tigers are playing in a tournament at Van Buren this weekend before facing a busy week in 4A-1 Conference play next week.
Prairie Grove will play at Lincoln on Monday before returning home to face Farmington on Tuesday and Berryville on Thursday.
-- RICK FIRES • @NWARICK
Elkins Baseball
Elks Search For Consistency
The 3A-1 West Conference baseball race is a jumbled mess with all five teams in the league tied at .500 in the standings. Elkins interim coach Aaron Clark, who is still filling in for Jeff Eddleman while Eddleman recovers from a recent heart bypass surgery, believes the Elks could be a team to come out on top if one or two of the conference doubleheaders could go their way.
"There's times I want to stop the game and just run them, and other times I'm really proud of them," Clark said. "We just have that one inning or two in the doubleheaders where we have an error or a big walk, usually in the first game, that costs us. And then we'll come back with a big hit or a big pitch at a different time.
"It's just our inexperience. But the main thing I told them is I don't mind the losing, I just want them to compete."
Elkins (3-5, 2-2) has been led by Devin Neilsen on the mound. Neilsen has all three pitching wins for the Elks this season and struck out 17 batters in a win against West Fork, while also hitting over .400 on the year.
Elkins plays at Cedarville on Tuesday.
-- VERNON TARVER • @NWAVernon
Farmington Softball
Lady Cardinals Scoring Plenty
Offense has been a strong suit for Farmington this season.
The Lady Cardinals have scored at least five runs in eight of 10 games this year and have been able to produce up and down the lineup so far. As a team, Farmington is hitting .356 with five regular starters batting better than .300 so far.
Brooke Larkin leads the way, hitting .567 with one home run and 10 RBIs. Oakley Sisemore is batting .467 with 12 runs scored and Paige Purifoy has a .400 average with seven RBIs. Bethany Doty leads the Lady Cardinals with three home runs and 11 RBIs, and Sara Beth Jones rounds out the .300 hitters, batting .310 in 33 plate appearances.
Farmington (7-3, 1-0 4A-1 Conference) hosts Bryant at noon today before returning to conference play at 5 p.m. Monday at home against Berryville.
-- VERNON TARVER • @NWAVernon
Sports on 04/05/2014