Busy week includes conference wins
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).
The Bryant Lady Hornets picked up a pair of conference wins and split a pair of games with the rival Benton Lady Panthers in a week of seven games.
In all, the Lady Hornets went 4-3 on the week which began with a 6-1 loss to Lake Hamilton on Monday, March 14. On Tuesday, they played an AAAAA-Central Conference doubleheader and swept Little Rock Central, 1-0 and 10-0. On Thursday, Bryant downed Benton 4-3. On Saturday, the Lady Hornets competed in the Benton Invitational Tournament and suffered a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to eventual tourney runner-up Sheridan in their opener. They bounced back to knock off Malvern 5-1 before having their stay end with a 4-2 loss to Benton.
The results had the Lady Hornets entering spring break with a 7-4 overall record, 2-0 in conference play. They were scheduled to return to action on Tuesday, March 29, at home against Malvern. After an April 1 date at Greenbrier, the team was to play in a tournament at Harrison on Saturday.
In the 1-0 win over Central, Kara Vaughn pitched the shutout and scored the only run after she had tripled. In the nightcap, Kelly Norman allowed just one hit in pitching the shutout. She struck out six.
In the win over Benton, the Lady Hornets broke out on top 2-0 in the first inning when Vaughn walked and stole a base. Kaci Melhorn singled her home then Amanda Grappe doubled to make it 2-0.
Benton cut the lead to 2-1 in the second then tied it in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the fourth, however, Amanda Grappe singled and stole a base. She scored on Tyler Cox’s groundout.
In the fifth, Haley King and Vaughn belted back-to-back doubles to make it 4-2.
Benton cut a run off the lead in the seventh and had the tying run at third when pitcher Tyler Cox got the final out on a fly to Kalin Dreher in right.
In the game against Sheridan, it was scoreless until the fifth inning. Then, Bryant drew first blood. Allison Grappe reached base on a third-strike wild pitch with one out. Kristen Dorsey beat out a bunt for a hit then Grappe swiped third and scored when King reached on an error. Lindsey Cason walked to load the bases but Dorsey was forced out at the plate on a grounder by Vaughn and Keisha Stickley grounded out to end the inning.
Sheridan tied it in the bottom of the inning and it stayed that way until the bottom of the seventh when the Lady Jackets took advantage of a one-out walk with three straight hits to gain the win.
Norman held Malvern to three hits in the second game of the tournament. She struck out five and walked one. Still, it took some late fireworks for the Lady Hornets to pull out the win. Malvern took a 1-0 lead in the fourth but Bryant tied it in the fifth when Dorsey reached on an error and Amie Hubbard doubled her home.
It stayed that way until the top of the fifth when Dreher walked and Dorsey beat out a bunt to set the table for Vaughn who blasted a three-run homer over the fence in left center. Two outs later, Cox cracked a solo shot to make it 5-1.
Vaughn hit another homer in the game against Benton. This time it was a solo shot to lead off the third inning.
Benton had taken a 3-0 lead in the second but after Vaughn’s shot, Hubbard walked, Amanda Grappe reached on an error and Cox drove in the run with a single up the middle to make it 3-2.
The Lady Hornets only managed one more baserunner the rest of the game, however. Benton tacked on an insurance run in the top of the sixth.
