BENTONVILLE -- There was a time when Alicia Lowrey thought her senior season with Bentonville's softball team would never start.
The inclement weather in early March left its mark on the Lady Tigers' schedule, to the point where they entered the Benton Invitational Tournament without a single game under their belts. Once Bentonville got untracked, it hasn't stopped, and neither has Lowrey, particularly at the plate.
At A Glance
Alicia Lowrey
School: Bentonville
Class: Senior
Position: Third baseman
Height: 5-7
Notable: A three-year starter who leads the Lady Tigers in batting average (.438) and runs batted in (34). … Hit a tie-breaking RBI triple that helped Bentonville clinch the outright 7A/6A-West Conference title with a 4-2 victory over Van Buren last week. … Signed a national letter of intent with Arkansas Tech in November, along with current teammates Morgan Vaughan and Emma Kinsey.
"I'm so thankful for coach (Kent) Early having us continue practice like we had been doing," Lowrey said. "With all the hard practices, it seemed like the season we had been working for so long just wouldn't start. Once it finally started, it's kept going, and it's been great."
Lowrey serves as the Lady Tigers' cleanup hitter, and she has a team-high 34 runs batted in heading into the Class 7A State Championship game Saturday against North Little Rock. She played one of the biggest roles in last week's 4-2 victory over Van Buren when she belted a tie-breaking RBI triple off the right-field fence and propelled Bentonville to an outright 7A/6A-West Conference championship.
What may be more stunning, however, is that she also has Bentonville's best batting average. Lowrey is hitting at a .438 clip through 28 games, slightly ahead of leadoff hitter Mackenzie Hardison.
"She's made a huge contribution to this team," Early said. "At the plate, she's a fantastic 4-hole hitter. She has power, but she can also hit for average, and that's more uncharacteristic about a 4-hole hitter. Usually the four-hole hitter has power, but swings the bat like Dave Kingman.
"That's huge in our game. She's solid, day in and day out. You know what you're going to get with Alicia."
Lowery said she focused a lot on her hitting during the preseason, but she still had to endure a slow start. She went hitless in her first six at-bats before she belted an inside-the-park home run in the conference opener Springdale Har-Ber, and she had a .217 batting average through the first 10 games.
Her turnaround began in an April 8 game against Rogers Heritage, when she had her first multi-hit game. She built a 17-game hitting streak before it ended in Monday's semifinal victory over Har-Ber, and she had more than one hit in 10 of those games.
"In our practices, we work so hard on hitting," Lowrey said. "With all that work, you get into a rhythm, and that rhythm keeps going. It's been really helpful.
"When you practice hard, you play hard. I'm just glad I'm able to help the team out in any way I can."
Lowrey has already taken care of her college plans. She signed national letter of intent with Arkansas Tech in November, along with current teammates Emma Kinsey and Morgan Vaughan.
In her immediate future, however, is one more game and possibly a state championship.
"I'm so excited about it," Lowrey said. "I can't explain my excitement. We've worked so hard for this, and now we're finally getting there."
Sports on 05/23/2014