CONWAY -- Morgan Vaughan did it all for Bentonville.
Vaughan gave Bentonville the lead for good with a solo home run in the third inning and she went the distance on the mound as the Lady Tigers defeated Bryant 8-1 in the quarterfinals at the Class 7A State Softball Tournament at City of Champions Park.
How They Scored
Prep Softball
Bentonville 8, Bryant 1
Bryant^010^000^0^ —^1^7^3
Bentonville^101^024^ —^8^8^0
Staton and Ward; Vaughn and Fears. W — Vaughn. L — Staton. HRs — Bentonville, Vaughn.
Bentonville (23-4) will face either Cabot or Springdale Har-Ber in the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Monday in Conway. Bryant ends the season at 18-8.
Vaughan was 2-for-2 with two walks and her home run gave the Lady Tigers a 2-1 lead. She added a two-run double as Bentonville put the game away with four runs in the bottom of the sixth for a 8-1 lead. Vaughan scattered seven hits and struck out two while being backed up by an error-free Bentonville defense.
"She is one of our seniors leaders, and she did come up big," Bentonville coach Kent Early said. "The home run was really the winning hit. Everything worked in our favor today."
Bentonville finished with eight hits.Payton Wildeman added a two-run double for the Lady Tigers while Mckenzie Hardison and Emma Kinsey had two hits each. Hardison also had a double for the Lady Tigers.
"Everybody contributed today," Early said. "Their pitcher is very good, and Bryant will be back."
Katy Stillman had two of Bryant's seven hits while recording the Lady Hornets on RBI.
Sports on 05/18/2014