SOFTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
MADDY PROUGH, BENTONVILLE
Kent Early knew Maddy Prough was destined for a good year after what she did at Vilonia to start the season.
The junior right-hander shut out the defending Class 5A state champion on two hits and struck out 11 batters, when her season-high was seven the year before. That game, however, was just the beginning of what became a remarkable year for Prough, who finished with an unblemished season in the circle and led the Lady Tigers to a school-record 30 wins and their first state title in school history.
“When we played the Vilonia game, I was just two days from being released and thought it was going to be rough,” Prough said. “I had games when I wasn’t feeling it, but I thought from beginning this was going to be something. I felt the same way throughout the season.”
Prough compiled a 20-0 record and a 0.68 ERA, allowing 17 runs (11 earned) on 46 hits through 113.2 innings. She struck out 181 batters and walked just 16, and she went 34 consecutive innings without allowing a run at one point during the season.
Early credited much of her success to the addition to a pitch to her repertoire, as well as the additional work she put in before and during the season.
“She’s a softball junkie,” Early said. “She’s eaten up with it. She loves the game, and she loves practicing.
“She’s a hard worker, and she understands — as the saying goes — if your best players aren’t your hardest workers, then your team isn’t going to be that good. A team’s success depends on who is in the circle, and she’s a big reason for that success.”
-Henry Apple
SOFTBALL NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
ALEX McMANUS, ROGERS HIGH
Alex McManus was excited to get a chance to hit as well as pitch for the Rogers Lady Mounties this season, and she became one of the top two-way players in the 7A-West Conference.
The freshman hit a team-high.461 with 10 home runs and 29 RBIs, along with going 10-5 with a 1.74 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 83.1 innings to help the Lady Mounties advance to the state semifinals where they fell to eventual champion Bentonville.
The 5-foot-10 Notre Dame commit was especially pleased with the way she hit, since she was a pitcher only for her summer team.
“Offensively, that’s as good as I’ve done in a long time,” McManus said. “My travel ball team, they wouldn’t let me hit. So I really wanted to come out and say ‘I’m not a pitcher. I’m a hitter, too.’ I hit what 10 home runs. To be able to do that my freshman season, that was a really big deal to me.”
By her admission, the results were not what she hoped for in the circle, despite earning All-Conference and All-State honors. But that just pushes her to work harder.
“As a pitcher, I didn’t accomplish as much as I was expecting, but still it raised the stakes a little bit,” McManus said. “It showed me what I have to do to be able to accomplish what I want to accomplish in the future.”
-Paul Boyd
SOFTBALL COACH OF THE YEAR
KENT EARLY, BENTONVILLE
Bentonville started the softball season with a lineup that consisted of two freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and one senior, and the designated player was a senior who just joined the team in November.
Coach Kent Early made the combination work to near perfection. The Lady Tigers won a school-record 30 games, went through the 7A-West Conference unscathed and capped their season with the school’s first state softball title.
“I think our problem with youth is a little bit different than most teams,” Early said. “I talk to my dad (Arkansas-Monticello softball coach Alvy Early) all the time about this, and I told him we are young but we have talent. I think we’re the most athletic we can be.
“One of the things we talked about all year long was the game comes down to two things — athleticism and execution. If we can outperform teams as far as athleticism and execution, we have a good chance of beating somebody, but we can’t have one without the other.”
Early’s mantra throughout the season became “let the players play.” The two starting freshmen, Megan Crownover and Jenna Wildeman, were among four Lady Tigers who hit .400 or better during the season and led the team in stolen bases, and the entire lineup hit .269 or better.
Meanwhile, the one-two pitching punch of Maddy Prough and Cailey Cochran held opponents in check. Bentonville held its opponents to one run or less in 11 of 14 conference games.
“It came down to them buying into what we wanted to do and believing it,” Early said. “We want to be the best, but we want to outwork our opponents and do everything the right way.”
-Henry Apple