FARMINGTON — Bryant Lady Hornets head coach Lisa Dreher has said that her team can hit with anybody. The difference is going to be how well they pitch and play defense.
Admittedly, it’s a work in progress.
On Friday, the Lady Hornets committed seven errors and the Farmington Lady Cardinals slugged three home runs, two triples and two doubles. The result was Bryant’s first loss of the young season, 16-6 as they opened their two-day tour of northwest Arkansas.
Now 1-1 on the season, the Lady Hornets were expected to play Rogers and Bentonville West on Saturday.
Bryant matched Farmington’s 12 hits. Bella Herring and Caitlin LaCerra each had three knocks. Regan Dillon added two including a double and a homer. She drove in three.
Keely Stout hit two homers for the Lady Cardinals. Carson Griggs also smacked a round-tripper.
Bryant led 6-5 going into the bottom of the third but Farmington erupted for six runs then tacked on four in the fourth and another in the fifth to extract the victory.
Bryant grabbed a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. LaCerra beat out a grounder to short for a hit then stole her way to third. She scored on a groundout to short by Abby Gentry.
With two out, Herring blooped a fly to right then raced home on a Dillon’s double.
Farmington got a run back in the bottom of the inning. Stout and Remington Adams singled then when a base hit by Grace Boatright was misplayed in the outfield, Stout scored.
But the Lady Hornets turned a doubleplay and, despite another error and a walk, they got out of the inning without further damage.
LaCerra’s two-out infield hit and a double by Gentry made it 3-1 in the top of the second.
But Farmington surged into the lead on Stout’s three-run blast. Adams tripled and scored on an error and it was 5-3.
Bryant took its turn in the top of the third. Herring led off with a single then Dillon blasted her homer to tie the game. With one out, Christine Mefford singled and, with two away, Marissa Bracey lined a single to right. When the ball was misplayed in the outfield, runners moved up to second and third. Avari Allen, in to run for Mefford, sprinted home on LaCerra’s tapper that the Farmington pitcher couldn’t get to in time.
Bracey took third then tried to sneak home but was caught in a rundown and tagged out.
A pair of walks and an error tied the game in the bottom of the third. Stout belted a two-run homer. After a double, a walk and a single loaded the bases, the Lady Hornets threw it around. All three runs scored on the play, which included two errors.
Herring managed a single with two down in the top of the fourth. In the home half, a pair of walks and an error set the table for a two-run single by Boatright and a two-run triple by Treat.
Griggs’ homer in the bottom of the fifth made it a run-rule win for the Lady Cards.
