Lady Warriors advance in rout

LONOKE -- Jonesboro Westside took advantage of a rash of mistakes in the ninth inning by Southside Batesville to secure its spot in next week's Class 4A state tournament.

The Lady Warriors scored nine runs in the top of the seventh inning, three of which came off passed balls, to pull away for a 13-1 victory in the opening round of the 4A-East tournament Friday.

Westside, which advanced to take on Pocahontas at noon today, came in as the fourth seed from the 3-4A but looked nothing like an underdog. The Lady Warriors banged out 13 hits in the game, with Emily Simmons and Morgan Bice each hitting home runs. Madison Manley and Bice each finished with three hits.

Southside Batesville tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third and stayed within striking distance over the next three innings, but a disastrous seventh was too much for the Lady Southerners to overcome.

Brittnee Carson started the Lady Warriors' nine-run frame with an RBI single before a series of passed balls led to three consecutive runs. An error, followed by two more passed balls, gave Westside 11-1 cushion. Autumn Lovelady and Megan Howett each added a pair of run-scoring singles to finish off the scoring for the Lady Warriors.

Southside Batesville got its first two batters on base to open the bottom of the seventh but watched its season end as its final three batters were retired.

POCAHONTAS 3, CLINTON 2

Katie Collier scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning to carry Pocahontas into the regional semifinals with a victory over Clinton.

Clinton had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the sixth after Daley Dufrene scored from second on a throwing error and were one out away from advancing, but Ashton Graves raced home on Lauren Sharp's single in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.

Kristen Wiseman picked up the victory on the mound, allowing just a handful of hits while striking out nine. Tori Johnson struck out 12 for Clinton.

BROOKLAND 7,

STUTTGART 1

Jordan Maynard kept Stuttgart's bats at bay and Haley Morgan provided a huge spark on offense to keep the Lady Bearcats' season alive.

Brookland jumped out to a 4-0 lead and never looked back as Maynard allowed just 3 hits and struck out 4 over the final 5 innings. Morgan had two hits and two RBI over that span for the Lady Bearcats who will play Valley View at 2:30 p.m. today.

Jaelyn Maddox took the loss for Stuttgart, which avoided a shutout when Jarquisha Jones scored on a fielding error in the top of the seventh.

VALLEY VIEW 3, LONOKE 0

Montanna Smith kept Lonoke's hitters off-balance for much of the game, leading Valley View to the victory.

Smith had 12 strikeouts, including 8 over the final 4 innings to pace the Lady Blazers, who scored runs in the second and fourth innings before putting the game away in the top of the seventh when Abby McNatt scored on Haylee Needham's sacrifice fly.

Lonoke's Jarrelyn McCall singled to start the bottom half of the seventh, but Smith struck out consecutive batters before forcing Candy James to ground out to end the game.

Sports on 05/10/2014

Upcoming Events