Bryant ousts Texarkana, earns State bid
EDITOR’S NOTE: In this time of COVID-19, with no sports action, BryantDaily.com will be posting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
Special to the Times
TEXARKANA — Jennifer Smith handcuffed Texarkana on four hits and Andrea Hammock had two singles as the second-place Bryant Lady Hornets clinched a bid to the Class AAAAA State Tournament with a 3-1 victory in AAAAA-South Conference action Monday afternoon.
The loss eliminated the Lady Razorbacks from post-season play. Bryant gained their State bid with the win coupled with Lake Hamilton’s 19-1 win over El Dorado. The Lady Hornets also stayed within striking distance of Lake Hamilton and at least a share of the regular season conference title. With conference-season closing wins over Sheridan, Pine Bluff and Lake Hamilton, Bryant would earn at least a share of the crown and, with a sweep of Lake Hamilton, gain the league’s top seed to State.
Texarkana’s only run off Smith came after the Lady Hornets had run up a 2-0 score in the sixth inning. Texarkana came back to cut that in half when freshman
Nikki Hall singled and was sacrificed to second where she scored on a double by losing pitcher Dayna Huckabee, also a freshman.
Sophomore Lindsey Stone singled and scored the first run for Bryant (15-5, 8-3) in the fifth inning. She took second on a passed ball, third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hammock.
In the fifth, Stacy Workman singled to lead off the inning and scored all the way from first on a double by Kelli Steed.
Then, leading 2-1, the Lady Hornets got an insurance run in the seventh when Misti Phillips singled, stole second, went to third on Hammock’s second single of the day and scored on Rachel Blakley’s groundout.
Liz Hendricks singled for Texarkana (17-9, 5-7) to lead off the bottom of the seventh but Bryant turned a doubleplay to wipe out that threat and end the game.
Texarkana won the junior varsity game, 6-2.
