For more photos of this event by Rick Nation, go here
The Bryant Lady Hornets softball team invited the young players from the Bryant Softball Association teams to attend their game on Tuesday against 6A-Central Conference rival, the Fort Smith Southside Lady Mavericks, free of charge if they wore their uniform jersey to the game.
A lot of those young girls took them up on it and, after the contest, got a chance to run the bases with the Lady Hornets then to check out the Lady Hornets’ locker room.
The joy with which those little girls ran the bases after the contest seemed to rub off on the older girls. They were all having fun.
No doubt, that helped the Lady Hornets shake off the results of the game, a 7-1 loss to the Lady Mavericks in which Bryant piled up nine hits but just couldn’t seem to get one in the clutch as they stranded seven.
Southside, meanwhile, scored six of their seven runs after two were out in a three-run second and a four-run fourth.
The setback dropped the Lady Hornets to 16-9 on the season and 6-4 in conference play, tied with Conway for third in the league going into a battle on Friday at Cabot, the league’s co-leader, after an 11-1 win over Little Rock Central on Tuesday.
Southside used eight hits to take advantage of six walks and a pair of Bryant errors.
Both teams threatened in the first. For the Lady Mavs, Madi Conklin singled then, with two out, Maliah Hunter and Ella Kohler each walked to load the bases. But Bryant pitcher Lexi Helton got Caitlyn Bagby to ground one to Meagan Chism at short, who threw to Maddie Thompson at third for a force to end the uprising.
For Bryant, Chism lined a single to right with two away then Regan Dillon drilled a double to left-center. But Hunter, Southside’s pitcher, retired Bryant’s Aly Bowers with an eye-popping catch to retire the side.
Southside’s second began with a walk to Hayley Hall. Kendall Willis sacrificed her to second then Helton hauled down a pop-up by Hana Dingman. She got a strike in on Hannah Hogue before a liner to right fell in for a single. Bowers came on strong to field the ball, forcing Hall to hold at third.
On a 2-1 count to Conklin, however, she singled to left to make it a 1-0 game. On the very next pitch, Piper Morgan singled up the middle and it was 2-0.
The count ran to 3-2 on Hunter but, a strike away from getting out of the inning, ball four was issued, loading the bases for Kohler, who drew a walk to force in a run.
Hannah Work relieved for Bryant and ended it there with a strikeout of Bagby.
In the bottom of the second, Haleigh Beck singled with one out. Hennesae Shavers came in as a pinch runner and, when a pickoff throw by Conklin the Southside catcher got away, Shavers, after a moment of hesitation, took off for second.
But the Lady Mavs’ right-fielder, Dingman charged in and fired to second in time for the out and the Bryant threat was over.
Work fanned two more in a 1-2-3 third. In turn, Joely Calhoun led off the Lady Hornets’ third with an infield hit. But Southside turned a doubleplay.
Southside’s fourth started with an infield hit by Hogue, who was 3 for 5 in the game, Conklin, who was 3 for 4, singled sharply to left then a walk to Morgan loaded the bases. Work fanned Hunter then got Kohler to hit a tapper on the infield. Work got to the ball, but she was moving away and to her left to get to it. By the time she fired the ball home, Hogue had scored.
Bagby struck out then Work came within a strike of ending the inning there. But Hall, on a 1-2 pitch, stroked a single to center to drive in two. And when the ball was bobble in the outfield, a third run scored to make it 7-0.
Willis followed with a grounder that hit the base-runner between second and third for the final out.
The Lady Hornets continued to put together threats. In the top of the fourth, Chism doubled and, with one out, scored on a single to right by Bowers. But Alissa Suarez grounded into a force at second then Beck was robbed of a hit by Hogue at short. After diving to make the stop, she flipped a throw to Kohler at second for the third out.
Work pitched around a single and another error in the top of the fifth then Hunter pitched out of a jam in the home half. Bella Herring led off the winning by reaching on an error. She stole second but remained there until, with two out, Caitlin LaCerra beat out an infield hit to put runners at the corners.
Again, however, the Lady Hornets just couldn’t come up with the big hit they needed, and it remained 7-1.
Work retired Southside in order in the top of the sixth then Dillon opened the home half with a single to center. Bowers bounced into a force then so did Suarez. Beck’s second hit, a single to left kept the inning going only to have another force end the inning.
Christine Mefford relieved for Bryant in the seventh and worked around a lead-off walk. But, in the home half, Bryant was retired on three grounders.
