Lady Hornets ease to twin victories in abbreviated games at Fair
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
Prior to Bryant’s conference doubleheader Tuesday against Little Rock J.A. Fair, War Eagle[more] Coach Frank Troutman asked Bryant Coach Debbie Clark if they could agree to a shortened version of the contests. They came to the agreement of three outs or three runs for each inning and a run-rule of 12 runs after four innings.
The four innings were all the Lady Hornets (5-4, 2-1 6A-South) needed in both games as they blanked the War Eagles, 12-0.
“It was a good thing we did that,” Clark said. “We saw some good things. Their pitching was not good, so we had to be disciplined at the plate, and we took a lot of walks. The huge thing we stressed if they had two strikes they had to be ready to foul off because you never knew what the next pitch would be.”
In the first contest, Bryant took advantage of 16 walks. Breanna Sanders and Katy Stillman benefited the most with three base on balls. Sydney Gogus, Kayla Jolley, Carly Yazza and Abby Staton all reached base twice on walks. The Hornets did get three hits with two of them occurring in the first inning. Kaley Coppock smashed an RBI double, and Gogus added an RBI single. Julie Ward contributed an RBI-single in the third frame.
Pitcher Kayla Jolley retired all 12 batters in order, striking out 11 of them. She only threw five balls the entire contest.
In the second game, sophomore Jordan Williams was on the mound. She recorded nine strikeouts and yielded one hit and one walk. The single happened in the first inning then she struck out the next seven batters. She gave up the walk in the fourth to start the inning but then retired the next three batters.
“We had to come to a place that’s not our field and make it our own,” Clark said. “We did a good job of focusing because there were so many distractions. But, that’s part of being in a conference.”
In the second game, the Lady Hornets were the benefactors of 14 walks, and once again tallied three hits. All three were doubles, and as in the first game, two of the hits occurred in the same inning but this time it was the third stanza. Coppock hit her RBI double, and Yazza also smacked an RBI double. Brianna Davis chipped in a double in the fourth inning.
Sanders once again reached base three times on walks while Stillman, Gogus and Jolley all got to first base twice on the free pass. Freshman courtesy runner Shayla McKissock stole three bases.
While these contests didn’t really show the Lady Hornets if they’ve improved since the first conference matchup against Benton, Thursday will reveal more when they host Sheridan.
