Arkansas 2A North softball regional roundup
By Kyle Sutherland
In what has been a recurring theme throughout this spring sports season, Mother Nature once again caused regional tournaments across the state to be delayed.
The 2A North Regional, hosted by Carlisle High School, was initially supposed to run Thursday, Friday and conclude with the championship game on Saturday but was moved to Friday, Saturday and Monday.
McCrory 14, Buffalo Island Central 5
This matchup got the day started shortly after breakfast and went back and forth for the first three innings going into the bottom of the third with McCrory leading 5-4. The Lady Jags decided they wanted to stretch it out a little more and scored four runs in that frame to make it 9-4 and there was little to nothing Buffalo Island Central could do from there.
“We threw a lot of changes and inside stuff, then adjusted,” McCrory head coach Ronnie Massanelli said. “We started putting the bat on the ball in the third inning and did a good job from then on for the rest of the ball game.”
Natalie Creasey, who had a big day at the plate, started the game at pitcher striking out a batter before moving over to first base in favor of Morgan Schaefer. Schaefer struck out three from the second inning through the sixth before Hayden Brewer came in to finish the game.
“I wanted all three of my pitchers to get in,” Massanelli said. “First and foremost, we got to win the ball game and Natalie did a good job in the first inning so I thought I would bring Morgan in then let Hayden close it out. All three did a good job.”
McCrory (23-2) will face 2A-3 two-seed Rector on Saturday at noon. Buffalo Island Central’s season ends after finishing with a record of 12-15.
“This [winning the first game of regionals] is our ticket to state, and we wanted to do whatever we need to do to get there,” Massanelli added. “I am really proud of them; they did a really good job and it was a morale booster to get the win to start off early and get things going.”
Creasey went 4-for-5 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI while Maddi Hankins went 3-4 with 3 RBI.
Riley Parker led BIC going 3-4 with a RBI.
East Poinsett County 14, England 0
In the first of two games in a row that had the run-rule enforced, 2A-3 top seed East Poinsett County exploded in the third inning for eight runs off four hits and rode the arm of ace Keegan McCorkle only needing four and a half innings to defeat 2A-6 four-seed England.
“It is always nice to get that first win in regionals to get into the state tournament,” EPC head coach Brandon Powell said. “The bottom of the lineup started hitting the ball so that is a positive for us and we look forward to the top of the lineup picking it up a little bit.”
East Poinsett County (29-2) got an early 2-0 lead in the first inning when Terrin Powell scored from third base on a wild pitch, then an RBI single from Jaycee Davis scored Natalie Dunman. They put four more on the board in the second inning initiated by Cameron Argo and Kelly Ann Lucas before an RBI double from Davis brought Dunman and Mercedes Reel home for a 6-0 lead and just continued to pick up steam from there. McCorkle followed that up by retiring two of three batters faced and East Poinsett County brought the offense back out and then suddenly it was 14-0 after eight additional runs were scored.
McCorkle is one of the top pitchers in Arkansas and threw another gem striking out 12 batters allowing only two hits. From the first to third inning, McCorkle retired nine of eleven batters faced.
“Keegan is just so tough day in and day out,” Powell said. “She works hard every day and come game time there is not much of a difference in practice or games. She competes the same way in both.”
Nearly every Lady Warrior had a good day at the plate, but they were led by Davis and Lucas who each went three for three.
EPC will face 2A-3 three-seed Riverside at 2:30 on Saturday. England’s season is over after finishing 10-6.
Rector 10, Hazen 0
In what was expected to be a pitcher’s duel between two solid aces in Rector’s Morgan Garner and Hazen’s Lexi Dulaney turned out to be a run party for the Lady Cougs as Alyse Gant ended the game with a walk off RBI in the top of the seventh inning.
“Just a complete performance up and down the lineup one through nine,” Rector head coach Chris Richardson said. “I could not be prouder of our approaches at the plate and very unselfish moving the lineup for the next girl. When it is our time to do a job whether moving the runner or scoring the runner, we did that today. We put pressure on them in all facets of the game.
Two Lady Cougs who specifically stood out were the leadoff batter, Emmah Tarno, along with catcher Madison Wolfenbarger who hit in the two spot. Combined, they went 5-for-6 with five runs batted in and scored four runs. Wolfenbarger hit a three-run triple in the bottom of the fourth inning that made it 8-0 and all but put the game out of reach. She was not only incredible at the plate, but also behind it particularly in the top of the third inning when she threw out a runner trying to steal second base. Rector had a 3-0 lead at that point and once Wolfenbarger did that, there was no stopping the Lady Cougs.
“Madison Wolfenbarger has really just built on a great season, and she showed out today,” Richardson said. “Throwing out that runner was huge, it really kind of stopped Hazen’s momentum. That three-run triple she had-she did that last year against McCrory, had some big hits in the regional tournament and I am glad she has done that in back-to-back years.”
Rector (18-3) will face off against 2A-3 top seed and Class 2A No. 1 overall McCrory in the semifinals. McCrory defeated Rector 13-2 back on March 19 handing the Lady Cougs their only out of conference loss at this point. A young Hazen squad overcame a lot of adversity, particularly with weather delays throughout the year, to finish 7-6.
Riverside 11, Carlisle 6
Ironically, as the host of the regional tournament Carlisle was the only “home” team of the day to fall, but not without a fight to a solid-hitting Riverside squad who got the bats rolling early. Pitcher/first baseman Katie Ridge helped get the first two on the board smacking a two-run homer. Ridge and Annalee Qualls were huge at the plate hitting in the four and five spots. They combined to go eight for ten with five runs batted in along with a two-run home run each.
“Boy, they came up big today,” Riverside head coach TJ Eakins said. “Ridge was zoned in, especially early. The first one was a nice shot, but I am not sure the second one to center was not hit even harder. Qualls, she has been hitting the ball really well. I have been waiting for one to sneak over the fence and today was the day.”
Riverside (14-8) retired the first nine Carlisle batters in a row with Minge in the circle, but by the bottom of the fourth the Lady Bison were finally able to respond down 3-0 scoring four runs in the inning to take the lead 4-3. Riverside regained the lead in the top of the fifth 5-4 and never gave it back after that, though Carlisle (9-11) made them earn every bit until the final out.
“I just told our girls to keep battling when Carlisle took the lead,” Eakins said. “We knew they were going to put the ball on the ground, they were going to put the ball in play, and we were going to have to make plays. At the end of the day we just have to keep scoring and we will get the outs when we have the chance.”
Riverside will play conference foe East Poinsett County on Saturday for the third time this season at 2:30 and Eakins knows the challenge his team will face-not only going up against a great team after losing twice to them this year, but a stellar pitcher in Keegan McCorkle.
“Keegan is just an incredible player, an incredible pitcher,” Easkins added. “I look forward to any opportunity we get. The fact we get to play her means that we have advanced to state so we will come out and do our best then see what happens.”
