BENTON -- In dire need of momentum following a rough stretch, Benton's softball team gained some Friday night as it built off of its sweep of El Dorado on Thursday.
The Lady Panthers scored all of their runs in the first inning Friday and staved off Greenwood 4-2 on the first day of the Benton Tournament at Everett Field.
A two-out single by Hannah Edington scored Lydia Bethards for the game's first run and a walk issued to Audrey DiGiovanna loaded the bases. During the next at-bat with Addison Barger at the plate, a wild pitch scored Chloe Bradley before Barger smacked a single to right field, bringing home Edington and DiGiovanna.
"We needed this," Benton Coach Heidi Cox said. "We have been talking about limiting strikeouts and using the two-strike approach, just really playing defense behind our pitchers. We have had one or two here and there, but it is going to happen. For us [Friday], it was not at the wrong time and we hit the ball hard. We left quite a bit of runners on base, but we will get those timely hits."
Sophomore pitcher Caroline Hicks gave the Lady Panthers 4 1/3 quality innings. Greenwood (15-2) got runners on first and second base in the top of the fifth, which prompted Cox to call on freshman Rexie Crane, who allowed no hits and walked 1 in 2 2/3 innings. Hicks gave up 3 hits, walked 1 and surrendered 2 runs, 1 earned.
"I am super proud of both of them," Cox said. "Caroline has been battling an injury, so we are just trying to make sure that she is healthy and can give us innings when she can. She did a phenomenal job, she pitched quite a bit [Friday]. We are going to have to utilize the pitching staff with her, Rexie, Londyn Burrough, along with Azzy Morrow."
Morrow has been out with an injury but could return today when Benton (9-5) takes on Valley View at noon. The Lady Panthers then play Little Rock Christian at 3 p.m. in the tournament's final game of the weekend.
The Lady Bulldogs responded with a run in both the third and fourth innings and had additional opportunities late but left a runner on third base in the bottom of the fifth inning -- mainly due to an impressive recovery by second baseman Aubree Jackson and first baseman Cam Culclager to record the final out.
Five Lady Panthers recorded a hit, led by freshman Lakin Griffin with two. Addison Barger batted in a team-high two runs and had a highlight diving catch in right field at the top of the sixth inning.
Sophomore Alyssa Lovell earned the start for the Lady Bulldogs over highly experienced seniors Tori Howard and Haley McAdams. Greenwood Coach Donald Hart mentioned he not only wanted to get Lovell experience on the road in a tough environment but also felt it would help his offense.
"Alyssa is going to be my No. 1 [pitcher] next year, and we have pitched her before and won games," he said. "We knew that we were going to have to hit with them to be able to compete. Rather than come down here to throw Tori and it be a one-run ball game, we wanted to see if we could compete with our bats."
McAdams, a Ouachita Baptist signee, pitched the final two innings for Greenwood, while Brilea Rofkhar, Bri Taylor and Piper Pitts all recorded a hit.
"We kind of got in a hole starting out, and we knew coming down here that it was going to be a battle," Hart added. " I thought we squared some balls up, but Benton made some great plays. Win or lose, it did not really matter to me as much as coming down and playing quality competition."
VALLEY VIEW 1, HARDING ACADEMY 0 Lacey French's fourth inning RBI-single brought L.J. Thomas home, which was all Valley View (13-5) needed as it escaped with a victory over Harding Academy (12-2). University of Mobile (Ala.) signee Riley Smith struck out 12, including 7 of her first 9 batters she faced, while surrendering just 2 hits. Sophomore Ace Ellis had a quality outing of her own, allowing only two hits and struck out seven, all swinging.