BENTONVILLE -- Fort Smith Northside picked up a much-needed sigh of relief from Kylie Templemeyer and some extra breathing room from Shanoe Teague.
Templemeyer broke an eighth-inning tie with a sacrifice fly, then Teague's home run gave Northside an 8-6 victory over Rogers Heritage to start the Class 6A State Softball Tournament at the Tiger Athletic Complex.
STATE SOFTBALL TOURNAMENTS
CLASS 6A
At Bentonville
Thursday
Game 1 FS Northside 8, Rogers Heritage 6 (8 innings)
Game 2 Conway 10, Fayetteville 1
Game 3 Bryant 10, Van Buren 8
Game 4 Rogers High 15, FS Southside 9
Today
Game 5 North Little Rock vs. FS Northside, 10 a.m.
Game 6 Bentonville vs. Conway, 12:30 p.m.
Game 7 Bentonville West vs. Bryant, 3 p.m.
Game 8 Cabot vs. Rogers, 5:30 p.m.
"My assistant coach helped me with my swing," Teague said after the game. "She said I was trying a little too hard and to just let it come back a little bit more, relax and hit the ball. I finally got a hold of it. I knew it was gone right off the bat."
Northside started the eighth with Hannah Entrekin, the final batter in the seventh, on second base because of the extra-inning tie-breaker used, and she went to third on a passed ball. She easily came home when Templemeyer lofted a high fly ball to left field.
Teague then turned on a pitch to belted her shot over the right-field fence to give Northside (11-13) the two-run cushion. Heritage (6-17) also started its half of the eighth with a runner on second, but Lady Bears pitcher Cailin Massey retired the three Lady War Eagles pitchers she faced to preserve the lead.
"That gives our pitcher some confidence when she goes back out there and we have two runs to work with," Lady Bears coach Kelly Nickell said. "She gets more comfortable in the circle, so it was nice.
"Shanoe was really wanting that. She's a great hitter, and for her to come through like that was amazing."
Northside had to make a comeback in the fifth after Kayla Paulo's three-run home run in the fourth gave Heritage a 6-3 lead. The Lady Bears banged out four straight two-out hits, including a two-run home run by Mariady Dempsey and an RBI double by Templemeyer that tied the game.
"There were a couple of innings where we did well, then we struggled some," Nickell said. "The pitcher's timing was a little different than what we're used to seeing, and we were having some trouble getting our timing down."
Northside advances to a 10 a.m. game today against 6A-Central top seed North Little Rock, which received a first-round bye.
Northside 201 030 02 -- 8 12 1
Heritage 011 400 00 -- 6 6 1
Massey and Ray; Fultz and Moreall. W-Massey. L-Fultz. Sv-None. HR-Northside, Dempsey, S. Teague; Heritage, Paulo.
CONWAY 10, FAYETTEVILLE 1
T'yaunna Rector hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run to lead Conway past Fayetteville.
Rector accounted for all three of Conway's runs in the second inning when she hit a ball over the center fielder's headed and scored standing up. Conway added five more runs in the fourth inning with the help of a two-run double from Addison Jordan.
Conway outhit Fayetteville 13-3 and the Lady Bulldogs committed all four errors in the game. Shalin Charles hit a double and scored Fayettevills' only run.
BRYANT 10, VAN BUREN 8
Bryant scored 10 consecutive runs to wipe out an early 5-0 deficit and eliminate Van Buren.
Meagan Chism hit a home run and Aly Bowers a three-run triple in the fourth inning when Bryant scored five runs to take an 8-5 lead. Chism tied the game with a home run to left field before Bowers put Bryant ahead with a bases-loaded triple into the gap in right-center field.
Brook Fancher had a two-run triple and Leah Wilkins a two-run double for Van Buren, which led 5-0 in the third inning. Richelle Richey added an RBI double in the seventh for the Lady Pointers.
ROGERS HIGH 15, FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 9
Emma Kate Jackson's two-run single in the third inning began a string of nine unanswered runs as Rogers outslugged Southside and prevented a 6A-Central sweep of the first-round games.
Southside (15-14) had scored three runs in the top of the fourth and took a 4-3 lead on Piper Morgan's two-run double, but Jackson's hit put Rogers (16-6) ahead to stay. The Lady Mounties added an RBI double by Kaylin Melvin and a two-run single by Journee Zito to make it an 8-4 game, then added four more runs in the fifth to make it a 12-4 game.
Courtney Storey had four hits and scored twice to pace Rogers' 19-hit attack, while Jackson and Jordan Jeffrey each had three hits. Cassie Gonzalez and Zito drove in three runs apiece.
Hana Dingman had a solo home run for Southside, while Piper Morgan added an inside-the-park grand slam in the sixth and cut Rogers' lead to 12-8.
CLASS 3A
Baptist Prep 2, Charleston 0
Macie Welch allowed just two hits and struck out nine to our-duel Lady Tigers' Rylee Ross in the opening round of the Class 3A state tournament.
Ross allowed just three hits and also fanned nine in the loss.
Mackenzie Childers was 1-for-2 with an RBI for Baptist Prep (20-5).
Sidney Tate and Mackenzie Biggers had Charleston's two hits.
Paris 4, Elkins 0
Sydney Ward allowed just three hits over six innings and struck out 14 in a dominant performance to lead the Eagles to a first-round win on Thursday.
Ward helped her own cause with a double and two RBIs. Jadyn Hart was 3-for-3, and pitched one inning, striking out all three batters she faced.
Sports on 05/10/2019