VAN BUREN — After pitching seven strong innings, Tori Stafford made sure she did not have to pitch an eighth.
Stafford's walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning lifted Van Buren to a 4-1 7A/6A-West Conference softball victory Tuesday.
How They Scored
Van Buren 4, Springdale High 1
Springdale^000^001^0^-^1^3^3
Van Buren^100^000^3^-^4^6^2
Baldwin and Bradley; Stafford and Miles. W – Stafford. L – Baldwin. HRs – Springdale, Thompson; Van Buren, Stafford.
The win keeps the Pointers (14-3, 3-0) just a half-game behind Bentonville (4-0) in league play.
"A win is a win in this league," Van Buren coach Andy Williams said. "We never panicked. We made some big plays defensively."
Stafford pitched a complete-game, three-hitter while also getting three hits at the plate for the Pointers. On the mound she walked none and struck out seven.
"Tori pitched well tonight," Williams said. "She made one bad pitch to one of their best hitters and she knocked it out of the park."
It was her offensive heroics, though, that clinched the win.
In the bottom of the seventh, Ashlee Deffenbaugh and Breanna Vest reached on consecutive singles. After a fielder's choice grounder by Ashton Sangster forced out Deffenbaugh at third, Stafford came to the plate and powered a 3-0 pitch over the fence in left-center to end the game.
"I told her when time was called and the count 3-0 that (Springdale) was not going to walk her," Williams said. "I told her to look for a good pitch to hit. She got all of the next pitch. She had to get all of it to hit it out of left-center with the wind blowing like it was."
Van Buren did get eight hits off Springdale High's Chelsea Baldwin, but could never get the one big hit until Stafford's game-winning blast. Baylor Miles added a pair of hits for the Pointers.
Lady Bulldog coach Ashley Kemp said that despite her team committing three errors, the defense was solid enough.
"We just gave up one big hit," said Kemp. "We made some errors, but we made some big plays on defense to get out of innings."
For a young team, Kemp said her Springdale squad is getting better. Last season, the Lady Bulldogs finished 3-21.
"I am impatient in that I want to win now," Kemp said. "But we are playing better. We just need to win games to build momentum."
Van Buren scored an unearned run in the bottom of the first. Ashley Sangster reached on a two-base error, stole third and scored on Emilee Aaron's sacrifice fly to left.
After getting out of no out, runners on second and third jam in the first inning, Stafford cruised until the sixth inning. With one out in the Springdale sixth, Kelcee Thompson crushed a homer to right-center to tie the game at 1-1.
Sports on 04/09/2014