FAYETTEVILLE -- Greenwood coach Trey Holloway loved the way Jace Presley kept his composure under pressure Thursday evening against Fayetteville and it helped the Bulldogs walk away with a solid nonconference road win.
Fayetteville struck for three runs in the sixth inning, but Presley worked out of further trouble and Greenwood went on to claim the 5-3 victory over the 6A-West Conference co-leaders.
"What Jace does is he competes," Holloway said. "You'll notice when he got behind 2-0, he's still attacking the zone. He's not going to give in. When his back's against the wall, he's going to find a way to get the next out."
That's exactly what the 6-foot-4 junior did.
After giving up Josh Langham's two-run home run to pull Fayetteville within 5-3, Luke Davenport lined a double over the head of the center fielder. But Presley got Sam Turner to ground out to end the inning.
Peyton Holt then came on in the seventh to retire the side in the seventh in order and notch the save.
Presley, who catches in conference games, picked up the win, allowing three runs on five hits over six innings of work. He struck out four and walked one. He also drove in a run for Greenwood.
That extended Greenwood's winning streak to 10 games, but Holloway said his team has work ahead of them next week. The Bulldogs (20-7) will likely need to win at least one of the two games against Greenbrier to ensure they claim a spot in the state tournament.
Greenwood is the defending Class 6A state champion, but it is now competing in 5A.
But Greenwood got off to an early lead, taking advantage of a couple of Fayetteville miscues to grab a 4-0 lead after three innings.
The Bulldogs put together three hits in the second inning and took the lead on sophomore Reed Carroll's RBI-single. A second run scored when the Fayetteville left fielder mishandled the ball for a 2-0 Greenwood lead.
Greenwood added two more in the third as Holt led off with a single and scored on an error. The Bulldogs added another one a wild pitch.
Fayetteville (16-10) finally fought back aided by a Greenwood error in the sixth. Harrison Wales led off with a double and scored on a wild pitch by Presley. After a throwing error by the catcher extended the inning, Langham crushed a two-run pinch-hit homer to get Fayetteville within 5-3.
Fayetteville coach Scott Gallagher said the difference in the game was simple.
"We gave them a couple of extra outs and they took advantage of it," Gallagher said. "We took advantage of their mistake in that inning and they took advantage of our mistakes and really other than that it was a pretty close game.
"We didn't hit it well early. But their kid did a good job. He threw a lot of strikes and were maybe a little overly aggressive at times."
Fayetteville will finish 6A-West Conference play with two games next week against Springdale Har-Ber. The Purple Bulldogs will face the Wildcats at Arvest Ballpark on Monday, then host Har-Ber on Tuesday.
Greenwood 5, Fayetteville 3
Greenwood 022 010 0 -- 5 8 1
Fayetteville 000 003 0 -- 3 5 3
Presley, Holt (7) and Baker; Magre, Adams (5), Shirey (7) and Gunnell. W-Presley. L-Magre. HRs-Langham, Fayetteville.
Bentonville West 11, FS Northside 0
Three West pitchers combined on a three-hitter, while Joey Aden and Maddox Thornton each drove in three runs in West's nonconference win in Fort Smith.
Aden put the Wolverines (17-9) on the scoreboard with his first-inning single drove in Will Jarrett, who singled and stole second. He also had a two-run double during a five-run fifth that caused West to invoke the 10-run rule, while Thornton had an RBI triple and two sacrifice flies.
Kendall Thornton picked up the win as he allowed three hits through three innings and struck out three. Hunter Mayes and Carter Bourg each pitched an inning to complete the shutout.
PREP SOFTBALL
Bentonville West 11, Rogers Heritage 0
MaryBeth Dyson had three hits and scored two runs to lead West to a 6A-West Conference victory over Heritage at the Wolverine Athletic Complex.
Four different players drove in two runs apiece as the Lady Wolverines (20-3, 11-1) banged out 13 hits. Sydney Sneed had two hits while Carlee Durham had two hits, drove in two runs and scored three times.
Elise Sokolsky threw a one-hitter and struck out 10 Lady War Eagles in a 74-pitch outing.
CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS
Baseball
4A-1 at Gentry
Shiloh Christian 6, Farmington 5
Ben Baker singled with two outs in the seventh inning and the Saints earned a walk-off win in the semifinals Friday.
Farmington led 5-4 into the bottom of the seventh and recorded two quick outs before Drew Dudley was hit by a pitch. Walker Williams singled pinch-runner Ian Lafferty to third and Sawyer Duddleston added an RBI single to tie the game at 5-5. A walk loaded the bases, moving Williams to third, and Baker's flair into right produced the game-winner.
The game was scoreless until the fourth when Farmington put four runs on the board. Trey Hill, Colton Kilgore and Brandon Hodge all had RBI singles for the Cardinals and Kilgore scored on a bases-loaded walk.
The Saints answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at 4-4. Cooper Hutchinson had a big RBI double for Shiloh Christian. The Cardinals took a 5-4 lead in the sixth in Drew Sturgeon's RBI single.
Marcus Brown, Shiloh Christian's fourth pitcher, earned the win, pitching 3.1 innings with seven strikeouts.
Softball
4A-1 at Gentry
Gravette 7, Pea Ridge 3
The Lions advanced to the championship game as Sumer Kaba homered, tripled and drove in three runs.
Gravette led 3-0 before Pea Ridge pulled within a run late. But the Lady Lions scored in each of the final three innings.
Gabbi Scott was 3-for-4 with a stolen base for Gravette. Cally Kildow was 2-for-4 with a double.
Bailey Elmore went the distance to earn the win, striking out eight.
Aidan Dayberry and Haylee Fox each homered for Pea Ridge and Blakelee Winn was 3-for-4.
Farmington 14, Berryville 0
McKenzi Bogan pitched a two-hitter and the Cardinals advanced to today's championship game.
Alyssa Reed doubled and drove in four runs for Farmington and Cambre Strange was 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
Sports on 04/26/2019