Jolley takes no-hitter into seventh as Lady Hornets bounce back with 2-0 win
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continue 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).
By Bridget Bauer
NORTH LITTLE ROCK — Solid pitching and an inning of timely hits propelled the Bryant Lady[more] Hornets to a 2-0 victory over Nashville in the second round Saturday of the Tournament of Champions at Burns Park.
The Lady Hornets also played heads-up ball and escaped a threat by Nashville in the bottom of the seventh. Junior pitcher Kayla Jolley relinquished her only two hits in the seventh and had runners on second and third with two outs. Nashville’s next batter hit a ball to the shortstop area, and the runner going to third from second interfered thus making the final out and giving Bryant the final margin.
Jolley struck out four batters, walked two, and the Lady Hornets were guilty of just two errors. One was by Jolley when she lost a popup in the sun, but the errors didn’t hurt the Lady Hornets. Other than the seventh inning, Nashville had just one base runner in the third and fourth innings because of the two miscues and one in the sixth on Jolley’s walk.
“They (Nashville) could never put anything together,” Bryant Coach Debbie Clark said. “I think Kayla got tired at the end, but she did a great job.”
The Lady Hornets tallied both of their runs in the third inning. Freshman Sierra Jones singled and was followed by Breanna Sanders doing the same thing. They both eventually scored on Sydney Gogus’ two-run double.
Sanders added another single to go 2-of-2 with a walk at the plate, and Jolley was 2-of-3 with two singles. In addition to Jones and Gogus, Carly Yazza also added a single.
“We were able to get the hits and score, and that helped,” Clark said. “We also ran the hit-and-run and put the ball in play. We still had a lot of missed opportunities, but we needed this.”
The win set up a meeting with South Conference rival Lake Hamilton later on Saturday.
