Class 5A Arkansas softball final: Stanford signee Alyssa Houston has MVP performance, bats get hot as Benton completes historic 3-peat

CONWAY - Greene County Tech had Benton on the ropes in last season's 5A state finals before a weather delay with one out in the fifth inning pushed the final two and two thirds innings to Sunday and the Lady Panthers rallied to win 3-2. 

This time around was a completely different story. 

The Lady Panthers' bats were on fire recording 13 hits, and they rode another dominant performance by Alyssa Houston to blank GCT 7-0 in the final softball game of the Weekend of Champions. 

The victory secured the first ever three-peat for Benton. 

"We are just so thankful to have the opportunity to put the icing on the cake," Benton head coach Heidi Cox said. "It was a fantastic run for our senior class to do something that has not been done."

Houston was named the Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive season striking out 12 of 23 batters faced while allowing just three hits. 

"It is so much emotion right now because I am leaving some of my best friends, and I have played with a lot of them since I was four years old," Houston said. "What I really loved about today is we walked in and it did not really matter whether we won or lost, we were just joyous to be together and I think we played like that."

After Houston set Greene County Tech (25-7) down in order in the first, the Lady Panthers plated three runs in the bottom of the inning. Leadoff batter Addison Davis singled, followed by a Houston double, then a RBI-single by Lydia Bethards scored Davis. 

A RBI-single by Cameron Culclager sent Addisyn Rasburry across the plate before Bethards put the last run of the inning on the board thanks to AC Mitchell's sacrifice.

Not that she needed anymore, but that frame gave Houston an extra boost of confidence. 

"I have always said, three runs I can do," Houston said. "In the one run games a hit can always happen and they do. Having three runs is a safe cushion because you can always build on those."

Benton (29-4) added an additional run in the second inning on a two-out double to left center by Bethards that scored Azzy Morrow. The Lady Panthers missed out on an additional run in the same sequence as Rasburry got caught in a bit of a jam with the third base umpire and was tagged out at home. 

Bethards' huge day continued in the fourth inning when she hit her second double, this time scoring two runs as Rasburry and Morrow crossed the plate. Bethards finished 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs, second only to Culclager who was a perfect 4-for-4 with two RBIs. 

Benton's seventh and final run was in the sixth via Culclager's two-out, RBI-single bunt that scored Emily Reed after Reed hit a triple to center field on the previous at-bat.

Brie Sage's two-out single in the third was the first hit Houston gave up since May 2 when Benton walked off Sheridan 6-5 in extra innings. 

Over the next six games, including a 9-1 non-conference victory over GCT on May 4, Houston reeled off possibly the most dominant stretch by a pitcher in state history striking out 82 batters while walking just 3 in 35 innings.

GCT head coach David Reynolds praised his team not only for completing the tough task of making it back to the finals, but battling at the plate for seven innings.

"We knew what Benton brings and how good they were," Reynolds said. "We knew it was going to be an uphill battle and honestly not a lot of people gave us a chance. 

"That first inning was big with them getting three runs and I think that kind of took some wind out of our sails. Against a good pitcher it is hard to string stuff together. She does a good job of keeping you off balance."

Saturday's win makes it four state titles for Cox as Benton's head coach (2014, 2021-23) and she talked about the resiliency of her squad to overcome outside noise following back-to-back undefeated state championship runs while many of the current players endured defeat for the first time in a Benton uniform this year. 

"That first loss of the season (2-0 against Bryant) kind of gave us a chance to breathe," Cox said. "(Continuing the undefeated streak) Was just unrealistic and not really something we were shooting for. 

"For them to know the monkey is off of our back we were able to have a great time and enjoy each other. I just can not say enough about the senior leadership - they had some big shoes to fill and came in with something to prove and they did it."